Newspaper Articles, Websites, and Other Print Media

Newspaper Articles and Other Print Sources

News articles from reputable city newspapers can provide local information and insight into some candidates.

Small town local newspapers typically carry an article about a candidate early in the campaign, but what often is not clear is that most of those are campaign announcements provided by the candidate rather than one in which the reporter researched the news story, checked sources, and sought out a variety of opinions and information. Those articles can be considered public relations content rather than an investigative news story. No one has checked or vetted it for accuracy. Small newspapers have very small staffs and are unable to do that research.

Candidates' websites can provide information on the candidates' background and the issues they care about. However, be aware that it is biased in the candidate's favor.

National, state, and county political parties don't usually endorse a political candidate before the primary election. Instead they wait for voters to pick the candidate who will appear on the ballot in the general election.  Besides parties, many cities may have multiple clubs for each of the parties, often centered on a particular subdivision or neighborhood, or an interest group such as Jewish Republicans or Environmental Democrats. Political clubs are likely to interview and endorse candidates, so political parties may collect that information and make those endorsements available to voters as they research the candidates.

Social Media and Certain Websites

Social media like Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, or Instagram have little or no vetting of content on their platforms. The content there should be constantly checked against news sources off of the platform. If a search for the information on a search engine like Google does not show anything about it, then it is very unlikely to be credible, particularly if you specifically tie the question you ask to news.

Some websites are legitimate news platforms producing vetted content. Others are sources of conspiracy theories and content favoring one political party over another.

Trustworthiness of Sources

Self-interest makes statements from candidates about both themselves and their opponent something that should be taken with a grain of salt until they can be vetted with other sources.

Traditionally newspapers and news organizations require sources of information to be checked to find out if other sources confirm a story, assess whether a source might have a motive for or against a candidate, and so forth. Some news organizations place sensationalism above vetting, because the number of people who see a "news" story from that organization is a commodity the company can use to sell advertising. Higher prices can be charged to advertise in a publication with more views, making sensationalism tempting.

A good tool to use to figure out the level of bias (toward or away from) the left or progressive side or conversely, toward or away the right or conservative side is The Media Bias Chart. Not only does it show the degree of bias left and right, it also charts the reliability of the news organization and the degree to which its news stories can be confirmed by other news organizations.