Media Bias Tool a Boon for Thoughtful Educators

One of our newest and most profound challenges as educators is navigating the poorly charted waters of truth and falsity in our media stream.  Of course, there have been news sources of questionable repute in the past, but the volume and rapidity of the media stream, both creating, and as a result of, increased political polarization, is something none of us have ever seen.  And we simply have to help our students learn to navigate these waters, discerning fact from opinion, truth from falsity, and expertise from mythology, or we are all in big trouble.

I have shared this resource in the past; now Ad Fontes Media, a non-political group of largely volunteer analysts have updated their interactive Media Bias Chart to version 5.0.  At a minimum, it is a great discussion-starter, and hopefully a valuable resource for older students as they engage in work around the news of the day.  Perhaps one or more of your students will want to volunteer as a media bias analyst for their team!