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Searching for truth? Start at the library

  • Posted by: Daniella Snyder
  • Posted Date: February 26, 2019
  • Filed Under: Library News

In 2019, we fully recognize that power of news and the media at large. However, even though media is now at our fingertips, the news feels like it’s never been harder to get. 

Instead of journalism, we get sensationalism, biased political media organization created content, and shallow click-bait. It leaves our Facebook timelines, Twitter feeds, and even our family dinner conversations oversaturated with “fake news.”

Now, more than ever, we are presented with an ethical question every single time we read a news article, watch a video, or listen to a podcast:

Where is the truth?

Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer to that question. However, Villanova wants to equip you with some of the tools to search for truth in a “fake news” era.

Villanova now offers its students and faculty full, online access to both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and with those subscriptions urges us to begin the difficult process of ethical media consumption.

Founded in 1851, The New York Times has won 125 Pulitzer Prizes (more than any other newspaper), three Peabody awards, and is ranked second in the country.

The Times has developed a national and international reputation for its thoroughness (Yale University). The paper employs highly-regarded journalists, and was ranked #1 in a 2011 “quality” ranking of U.S. newspapers by Daniel de Vise of The Washington Post. de Vise used an objective ranking tool that considered the number of Pulitzer Prizes won, circulation, and perceived web site quality. However, like many other U.S. media sources, the Times is witnessing a decline in public perceptions of the paper’s credibility.

American philosopher, historian, and social critic Noam Chomsky said that he looked at the New York Times every morning. “Despite all its flaws– and they’re real– it still has the broadest, most comprehensive coverage of any newspaper in the world,” Chomsky said.

Ultimately, Villanova wants you to read The New York Times, but they’re asking you to read The Wall Street Journal too. While you’re at it, download the push notifications on your phone. Listen to The Daily, skim USA Today, and be sure to check out The Philadelphia Inquirer too.

News informs the way we build our lives. It tells us the television we should watch, or the music we should listen to. The news tells us which food to buy, and which food to avoid. It informs our voting decisions, the way we raise our children, and our opinions about every event happening in the country and the world.

News informs the way we build our lives. Don’t let that information be false.


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Last Modified: February 26, 2019

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