Web & News
Unlike scholarly sources (like academic books and peer reviewed journal articles), popular sources (like newspapers, reviews, blogs, tweets, etc) are not original research, instead tending to be either opinion-based or written about other people’s original research.
These materials are fine to be used to illustrate a point, or for otherwise current news, but not to build your argument.
Evaluate web sources very carefully before including them in your research. The main conditions for evaluating websites are:
- Who is the author? It is important to check the author's credentials to determine whether he/she has the knowledge and authority to supply credible information. Check to see if any contact details are provided.
- How current is the information? See when the document was created and when it was last updated.
- What is his/her interest in the material? Can you detect any bias in the content and are you able to determine the purpose of the site? Check the address to identify the type of organisation producing the document. Be aware the commercial interests and some politically motivated sites may not represent a balanced view.
- What sort of content is there? Can the content be considered comprehensive and of good quality? Does it provide links to other documents? Check on the audience the information is aimed at (e.g. primary school students or university students)
- Newsbank - Access Global Newsbank This link opens in a new windowIncludes access to the West Australian, and Australian papers. Further provides access to more than 12,800 U.S. and global news sources, including political science, journalism, English, history, environmental studies, sociology, economics, education, business, health, social sciences and more.
- Australia & New Zealand Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Access leading Australian and New Zealand newspapers. Combining content from Fairfax Australia and Fairfax New Zealand, News Limited, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and APP newswires, ANZ Newsstand provides the very latest local, regional and national news. - Business Source Ultimate This link opens in a new windowBusiness Source Ultimate provides access to over 3,500 full-text journals (including Forbes and Harvard Business Review (HBR)).
- International Newsstream This link opens in a new windowProvides the most recent news content outside of the US and Canada, with archives featuring newspapers, newswires, and news sites in active full-text format. Includes The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC Monitoring series of publications.
- National Library of Australia - Digitised Newspapers This link opens in a new windowContains digital reproductions of newspapers, journals, books, maps, personal papers, as well as archived websites and other born-digital content. It also brings together records and digitised content from libraries, museums, galleries, universities, archives, data repositories and other organisations around Australia.
- US Newsstream This link opens in a new windowAccess the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Offers exclusive access to the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and co-exclusive access (with Factiva) to The Wall Street Journal.
Newspapers
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ipl2 (Newspapers & Magazines) -- Provides links to newspapers from around the world
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Perth Now -- News website produced by the Sunday Times
Television news
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ABC News -- News website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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BBC News -- News website of the BBC in the United Kingdom
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CNN -- Cable Network News channel from the United States
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TV News -- A searchable database of news and current affair stories, as well as documentaries, broadcast on free-to-air television. Stories are accessible within the database as compressed video
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World News Australia -- News website of SBS
Websites
Fake news is not new, but increasing discussions of "fake news" have surrounded political campaigns and the rise of satire news publications.
It is important to be aware that not all "news" published on the internet is reliable, and similarly, that not all news claimed to be "fake news" is in fact fake. Just because you disagree with the news piece doesn't make it fake.
Fake news can include content created by non-news organisations to drive web users towards ads (i.e. clickbait) or to spread false information (rumors, conspiracy theories, propaganda etc).
There are a number of websites devoted to fact checking news. A select few have be identified below.
If you come across another fact checking website and want to know if you can rely on it, check if the International Fact-Checking Network has accredited the website.
A joint project of RMIT University and the ABC
Created by Amnesty International. Focus on validating video content.
A worldwide network of scientists sorting fact from fiction in climate change media coverage.
An Australian based website. All FactChecks are blind reviewed by a second expert.
A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Centre. US focus
The UK's independent fact checking charity.
The Snopes.com web site was founded by David Mikkelson, a project begun in 1994 as an expression of his interest in researching urban legends that has since grown into the oldest and largest fact-checking site on the Internet, one widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and laypersons alike as one of the world’s essential resources.
A fact checking site with a focus on American politics.