This blog post, written by members of the Library's Information Integrity Team, is part of a series that covers disinformation and other related subjects. The goal is to help create a well-informed citizenry of active participants who shape our world.
We have so many options for information these days: The 24-hour news cycle, comedic interpretations, stories shared through social media, and comments from family, friends, and strangers. Wherever we turn, someone is telling us something. It makes it hard to determine fact from fiction. One key element is recognizing the difference between fact (news), opinion (op-ed pieces), and satire (The Daily Show and The Babylon Bee, for example). Here are their standard definitions:
Fact
- A thing that is known or proved to be true.
- Information used as evidence or as part of a report or news article.
Opinion
- A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
- The beliefs or views of a large number or majority of people about a particular thing.
Satire
- The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
What does it all mean?
Those are a lot of good words, but what do they actually mean? It’s tricky, because opinion and satire very often contain kernels of truth. This is where it can be difficult to determine what is news and what is not.
We’ve all tried to read a news article only to find that it is paywalled. As most news has moved online, news organizations may require subscriptions to read articles. This leads to many free articles actually being opinion pieces. These articles typically take a current event and present it as the author sees it. Because the topics of the articles often refer to events which are recent or ongoing, it is easy to think that they are factual news articles. However, it is important to note that the facts, statistics, and ideas presented will be used to back up only the author’s views of the event, and the purpose of an opinion piece is to influence you to the author’s side. Of course, you can agree (or disagree!) with the author, but it is a good idea to be aware of the intention of what you are reading.
How to tell what you're reading
There are a few ways to tell if what you are reading is actually news, is someone’s opinion, or is satire of the news.
News
News is the breakdown of an event that has already happened: “A building caught fire in New York City. Firefighters put out the blaze within two hours.” Some good sources for rapidly updated current events are the Associated Press and Reuters.
Opinion
Opinion is the breakdown of the same event with someone’s personal thoughts: “A fire took more than two hours to extinguish. This could happen again. We need more firefighters to ensure it won’t take that long.” Nearly all major news sources offer opinions and analysis of events.
Satire
Satire is a humorous spin on current or historical events: “Today in New York City, a building burned down. Firefighters took many hours to put out the fire, as they were busy getting hot dogs when it started.” Some popular satire sources are Saturday Night Live, The Onion, and The Borowitz Report.
We're happy to guide you!
If you are ever confused on how to determine fact from fiction, feel free to reach out to library staff! We are happy to guide you, and make sure the information you receive is helpful!
Pima County Public Library offers free access to the Arizona Daily Star and the New York Times online, as well as titles like USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and other local news sources in our 27 branches. Using library resources is a great way to get a full picture of current events.
Additional Resources
- Interactive Media Bias Chart
- Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints (a PCPL E-Library resource)
- Gale in Context: Global Issues (a PCPL E-Library resource)
