Links to primary sources and American founding documents:

The Avalon Project@ Yale University National Archives National Center for Constitutional Studies Bill of Rights Institute The Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Institution

Other: For those interested in political process: see, How a Bill Becomes a Law- the classic view of political “sausage making” or making laws.

Not everything has to be so serious! Check out these “funny” “off” sites: The Onion calls itself “the finest news source.” Often the funniest commentary and satire on today’s whacky news cycle. Also, see The Borowitz Report which is satire from the New Yorker and “not the news.” Also, PoliticsGirl, another send up.

Fact checking sources:

In a world where there are “alternative facts,” good fact-checking sites are a must. Fact-checking used to be standard in most media and especially magazine sites. It is hit and miss today, but we do have the following invaluable sites where you can do your own. .

PolitiFact: (PolitiFact is fact-checking site which checks claims by elected officials and others in the public eye. They use what they call a “Truth-O-Meter.” PolitiFact is a nonpartisan fact-checking website which is run by the Poynter Institute, a well-respected journalism school in St Petersburg, Florida. The Poynter Institute also has an international fact-checking site.

FactCheck.org: Factcheck.org is a fact-checking site run by the well-respected Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) located at the University of Pennsylvania. The Factcheck.org project describes its mission as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.” They look at policy, news reports, speeches and any other public pronouncements which may be misconstrued “

Fact-Checker: Fact Checker is a project of the Washington Post and is infamous for ‘Pinnochios’ depending upon the degree of misrepresentation in a piece of news. The subtitle of the project is notably, “The Truth Behind The Rhetoric.” For the biggest “Pinocchios” of 2021 and the most popular fact checks of 2021 go to Fact Checker.

Collections of “best fact” checking site lists are available on numerous sites and are often used by students and journalists. Some of the better ones are: The Middlebury University Library, University of California Berkeley, Library guides, MakeUseof.com (especially good for fact-checking technology issues), and Pressbooks, which is also good at pointing out specialty and foreign fact-checking sites.

Finally, the site which is known for checking fact checks, hoaxes, rumors, and true stories is the site Snopes. They also look at the history of the internet culture as well. Buzzfeed is not a fan of Snopes. Check the link to see why.

Media Matters is an unusual site that is a cross between a fact-checking source and an investigative site on media bias. You can start with the very informative section on Ukraine which illustrates which news outlet and who is reporting what on Ukraine.

On finding, nibbling and devouring information without getting indigestion:

As hard as it may be to believe, especially to millenials and gen X’ers; many of us grew up with three main television news outlets where one kind and “trustworthy” father figure delivered the news to us at dinner-time each evening. Even if one switched to another network, the news was generally the same, but the father figure was different. We also had a regional or local newspaper to read at breakfast or on our way to work. Often these papers had “the funnies,” cartoon strips, the sports’ pages, and a daily crossword puzzle. The ‘Funnies” have become graphic novels, the sport’s pages have morphed into ESPN, and the crossword puzzle has turned into not only puzzles but “tiles,” and sudoku. Not only don’t most of us share breakfast and dinners together now; but we also have so many more, seemingly endless, news outlets available to us- magazines, newspapers, television, radio, pundits, books, movies and podcasts- all on our smart phones which we carry around with us.

Most of these magazines, journals and newspapers can be viewed and perused digitally and many fear that as citizens, we will become too narrowly focused in our viewing and in our approach to information and edutainment online. This kind of “narrow casting” or “siloed viewing” is often suggested as one reason the country is so divided. Perhaps we only reinforce our own existing beliefs and prejudices rather than remaining open to other points of view? I am not convinced about this, given that divisions within society, even in the past, often result due to emotional narratives and prejudices rather than authentic research and clarity of information. The digital world provides us with an amazing buffet of knowledge and resources and is not going away any time soon. There is no doubt however, that even incorrect information or perhaps especially incorrect information (“fake news”) can move faster, reach more people and have more influence than ever before. Consequently, I am listing as sources, traditional newspapers and media which attempt somewhat old fashioned reporting. Not all reporting is “partisan,” overtly ideological or equivalent, but articles and research are ideally transparent , fact checked and reasoned. Still others may represent outlying, conspiracy theories or even extreme prejudices whether, right, left, or libertarian. My belief is that we all can tell the difference with a little help.

Instead of tearing your hair out on any specific issue, find the publication or outlet that seems most reasonable to you and check its contents with another. Here you will have two sources and (not so bad if you consider students today have to look for at least three and by the way, they cannot use wikipedia* as a source). If your sources agree and they appear reputable, meaning non prejudicial or at least you can recognize their biases and take these into consideration while reasoning through their argument, even if you have to seek out a third, you can reason your way to your own judgement. Toward this end, I have also listed some standard fact checking sites.

As CivicSources,com grows as an information space on the net, I sincerely hope that our readers will contribute their own favorite news sources, books, pundits and podcasts and even their own opinions and editorials. All in all, the internet is an amazing instrument. Let’s use it as such and let CivicSources,com help you explore to find nearly everything you want or need to know!

At CivicSources.com we prioritize the amazing breadth of the internet and all the (valuable) information which is at our fingertips.

*A note on wikipedia, which can be unreliable at times. Although it is not recommended to be used as a source; I do recommend the source lists and footnotes at the bottom of many articles as starting points for good research.