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News, Spin, and Fake News: Political Bias versus Fake News

This guide is for anyone wanting to learn more about how to distinguish between spin and fake news and how to identify and avoid fabricated news stories.

News Sources and the Political Spectrum

While fake news refers to fabricated journalism for a variety of purposes, media bias usually refers to what stories are covered, which sources are used, and the implications of how a given story is presented. Put simply, when people talk about bias in the news, they are usually talking about how liberal or conservative a news outlet is perceived to be.

These are some sources that can help with determining political slant:

AllSides

This news site provides stories from multiple sources side by side in order to compare scope and nature of reporting depending on political leaning (left, right, or center). It also features the AllSides Ratings page that allows users to filter news sources by bias. 

Pew Research Center -- Political Polarization

Survey data from this "nonpartisan fact tank" reveals which news sources are favored by people depending on political belief.