HIST 151: News & Current Events
News and Current Events - Library Collections
Use Library Databases
Use UHMC Library's databases to get the college level articles you need for your research faster. 
The library subscribes to a few essential news collections (articles) and opposing viewpoint databases (reports). These resources are considered essential for college-level research because they are carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized by educational professionals with the student in mind. Using these resources can save you a lot time and hassle because much of the source evaluation work has already been done for you!
- Newspaper Source Plus
A large digital collection of the world's major news content. It includes millions of articles from newspapers, newswires and news magazines. In addition, it offers television and radio transcripts and ongoing daily updates from popular news sources. Includes the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. For publications covered, see the Newspaper Source Coverage List. - AP Newswires
News harvested from the Associated Press and organized into an EBSCO database. The Associated Press (AP) is a not-for-profit news agency owned by its contributing newspapers, radio, and television stations in the United States. The AP is considered "least biased" based on balanced story selection, and it ranks high for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record.
- TOPICsearchCurrent events database covering over 500 diverse sources, including international and regional newspapers, current events and "weeklies" magazines, biographies, public opinion polls, book reviews, pamphlets, and government information.
- Issues & Controversies
A collection of reports providing objective, in-depth analysis of today's hot topics. Updated weekly, this resource presents the key facts, arguments, history, and current context of today’s most important issues—an ideal resource for research papers, debate preparation, and persuasive writing assignments.
- CQ Researcher
CQ Researcher provides in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day. The reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked.
Use Credible News Sources
Use Credible News Sources
The most credible news sources have established a strong reputation for accuracy and dependable facts. They should have minimal bias and use very few loaded words.
The following is a short list of well-established, award-winning news and media sources with the highest level of factual accuracy:
- Associated Press (neutral)
- C-Span (neutral)
- The Economist (neutral)
- Reuters (neutral)
- Financial Times (neutral)
- NPR (left-center bias)
- Real Clear Politics (right-center bias)
- NBC News (left-center bias)
- ABC News (left-center bias)
- Forbes (right-center bias)
- Wall Street Journal (right-center bias)
- Cato Institute (right-center bias)
- BBC News (left-center bias)
There are hundreds of smaller, or lesser-known, media outlets that would be considered credible, based on their minimal bias and high factual reporting. The Media Bias Fact Check website has published that list here.
News Evaluation Strategies
Start by Asking Yourself These Questions
- Is the information coming from a scholarly or commercial source?
- Does the author present facts objectively or draw opinion-based conclusions?
- Is the message positive, negative, or both?
- In addition to detecting any bias of the source, consider your own reactions and the factors that may impact how you interpret the information.
- Read past the headline. Is the sensational headline just a hook to grab your attention?
- Does the content of the article match the headline? If not, be extra skeptical when evaluating the source and its message.
- How are other sources reporting the same story?
Tools for Checking Media Bias & Factual Accuracy
Everyone has bias including the media. Here are some sources that can help you further investigate the news.
- Media Bias Fact Check
Media Bias/Fact Check is a web site that rates factual accuracy and bias in news media. The site classifies media sources on a political bias spectrum, as well as on the accuracy of their factual reporting. Although MBFC's methodology is ultimately subjective, it appears to be relatively consistent and reliable in its ratings. MBFC has extensions for both Firefox and Chrome as well as a mobile app.
