Endnote: Find Facts Here

If facts are what you’re looking for, here’s where you’ll find them in abundance:

• The New York Times.
• The Wall Street Journal.
• The Washington Post.
• The BBC.
• The wire services: The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg News.
• National Public Radio and local public radio stations.
• Network news: ABC News, CBS News, NBC News.
• Local newspapers. (Here’s another database as well.)
• Local TV news network affiliates.
• National, regional and local magazines, organized here by state and category.

When digging deeper for news that fits the definition given in Chapter I, stick with news databases. They include legitimate news sources, eliminate the risk of stumbling onto disinformation or biased news and are quite comprehensive:

• Nexis Uni.
• Factiva.
• US Newsstream.
• Newspaper source plus.
• News & Observer newspaper database.
• World news connection.

To more deeply understand the news landscape, turn to these media literacy organizations:

• Center for News Literacy. A nonprofit from the Stony Brook University School of Journalism, it features resources on news literacy.
• The News Literacy Project. It focuses on increasing news literacy in middle school and high school students but also includes resources for all ages of news consumers.
• Poynter. This nonprofit teaches students, journalists and members of the public about different aspects of news and how to judge credibility.

Run across something you’re not sure about? Utilize these fact-checking sites:

• Fact Check.org.
• Hoaxy.
• Media Bias/Fact Check.
• Politifact.
• Snopes.
• Duke Reporters’ Lab.

For in-depth information about legislative and social issues important to governmental leaders and citizens, you can look to government sources of information. Despite those who would try to convince you otherwise, government information agencies have a mission to be nonpartisan because they function no matter what party is in power. If they do stray, we as citizens have the power to call them out and insist on changes.

• CQ Almanac offers original accounts of every major piece of legislation that lawmakers consider during a congressional session.
• CQ Magazine (formerly CQ Weekly) reports on America’s legislative bodies.
• CQ Researcher offers unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. It’s written by journalists.
• CQ Voting and Elections Collection is a database of election data, analyses, explanations and historical materials to help researchers investigate and understand voting and elections in America.

You can also look to opinion-oriented publications and the opinion sections of news publications. For facts? Yes — facts with added context. Legitimate opinion writing features a clear thesis backed up by reporting and strong arguments. When created to inform rather than manipulate, they can help readers understand issues more deeply.

• The New York Times features writers from all perspectives, heavy on the progressive.
• The Wall Street Journal opinion section is a must-read for Washington Republicans and anyone who wants to understand arguments for conservative issues.
• National Review has been the standard-bearer of conservative editorial magazines. It had its heyday under the editorship of William F. Buckley.
• The New Republic is a liberal opinion magazine that has published the writing of George Orwell, Philip Roth and Virginia Woolf.

Other sources of credible information include

• USA Today.
• CNN.
• Politico.
• The New Yorker.
• Forbes.
• The Atlantic.
• Government Executive
• Ballotpedia
• ESPN
• The 19th
• The Athletic

Journalists sometimes utilize reference websites for simple facts. Here are a few examples:

• IMDB
• Sports-reference.com
• Zillow.com
• Find a Grave
• Box Office Mojo
• Federal judges’ financial disclosure reports
• Aviation safety reporting system
• Open vertebrate project