Source Evaluation

How good is your source?

Craap Test

  • Currency - Timeliness of the information

  • Relevance - Importance of the information for your needs

  • Authority - Source(s) of the information

  • Accuracy - Content reliability, truthfulness, and correctness

  • Purpose - Reason the information exists

Craap Test Oct 2015

Gricius Source Eval in a Post Trust World

CRAAP Test Activity #1

  • Find a news source you trust - many are listed in the Media Bias Chart below,

  • Using  this source you trust, find one article that does not meet the CRAAP  standards.

  • Explain why your article did not meet the CRAAP standards - where did it fall short?

  • Explain how this failure to meet the CRAAP standards affects your trust in this news source.​

CRAAP Test Activity #2

  • Find a news source you do not necessarily trust - many are listed in the Media Bias Chart below,

  • Using  this source you do not necessarily trust, find one article that meets the CRAAP  standards.

  • Explain why your article meets the CRAAP standards.

  • Explain how this success in meeting the CRAAP standards affects your trust in this news source.

Media bias ratings

Generally speaking media is rated as Left, Left Leaning, Center, Right Leaning and Right

Sticker - What should you trust? ask the right questions:

  1. Source: Who and what are the sources cited and why should I believe them?

  2. Type: What type of content is this?

  3. Interpretation: Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence?

  4. Completeness: What is missing?

  5. Knowledge: Am I learning every day what I need?

  6. Evidence: What is the evidence and how was it vetted?

  7. Ramifications: What are the consequences of your findings?

STICKER Activity #1

  • Find a news source you trust - many are listed in the Media Bias Chart below,

  • Using  this news source you trust, find one article that passes the STICKER test.

  • Explain why your article gets a STICKER.

  • Using this new source you trust, find one article that fails the STICKER test.

  • Explain why your article doesn't get a STICKER.

STICKER Activity #2

  • Find a news source you do not necessarily trust - many are listed in the Media Bias Chart below,

  • Using  this news source you do not necessarily trust, find one article that passes the STICKER test.

  • Explain why your article gets a STICKER.

  • Using this new source you do not necessarily trust, find one article that fails the STICKER test.

  • Explain why your article doesn't get a STICKER.

Fact Checker Sources

News source Bias

Liberal vs conservative sources  Definitions from Encyclopedia Britannica

Political Liberalism - a political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the individual to be the central problem of politics. 

  • Liberalism is NOT another name for the Democratic Party - even if they are often viewed as being more liberal. 

  • Liberalism is NOT another name for Socialism - even if some people think it is.

  • Liberals are often referred to as being LEFT on the political spectrum.

  • Government is necessary to protect the individual from harm.

  • Government itself can pose a threat to liberty.

  • "Government is a necessary evil" - Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776.

  • Government action leads to equal opportunity and equality for all.

  • It is government's duty to reduce community issues and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights.

  • Guarantee that no one is need.

  • Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for government to solve people's problems.

  • Concerned with reducing economic disadvantages and helping the poor.

  • Fosters a plurality of different ways of life or life styles.

  • A modernizing and anti-traditional movement dedicated to the correcting of the evils and abuses resulting from the misuse of social and political power.

  • Insistence on individual choice.

  • Insistence on the right to freedom of speech

  • Consciously articulates abstract theories.

  • The United States was founded on the liberal principles of the Founding Fathers.

  • Endorses a larger role of government in society.

Political Conservatism - a political doctrine that emphasizes the value of traditional institutions and practices. 

  • Conservatism is NOT another name for the Republican Party - even if they are often viewed as being more  conservative.

  • Conservatives are often referred to as being RIGHT on the political spectrum.

  • ​Prefers historically inherited institutions and practices.

  • Favors institutions and practices that evolve gradually - manifestations of continuity and stability.

  • Government's responsibility is to be the servant, not the master of existing ways of life.

  • Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems.

  • View society as a collection of closely connected independent members. 

  • Believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

  • Suspicious of government activism.

  • Distrust of human nature.

  • Rejects the optimistic view individuals can be morally improved through political and social change.

  • Assume that human beings are driven by their passions and desires - naturally prone to selfishness, anarchy, irrationality, and violence.

  • Purpose of the government is to bridle and subdue.

  • Ethical behavior and use of liberty is the result of the restraining power of government and law.

  • Has an aversion to abstract argument and theorizing.

  • Embraces concrete traditions.

  • People are what they are because they have inherited the skills, manners, morality, and other cultural resources of their ancestors.

  • Throughout the world, conservatism is marked by division not unity.

Pew Research - Political Typology Quiz Take this anonymous quiz to determine your political typology (17 questions):

Identify The Bias Activity

Read each article and identify the bias - Centrist or Conservative or Liberal.
Explain why you chose that particular bias.
Search two Fact Checker sources and explain what you found out about the topic. 

  1. Topic One - Voter Fraud in American Elections​

US Elections do Postal Ballots lead to Voting Fraud

Republicans are right Election Fraud is real they are Perpetrating it

Voter Fraud is real heres how Democrats want to steal the 2020 Elections

Score the Source Rubric