LibGuides: Black Lives Matter Resource Guide: News and Research Tools

How To Spot "Fake News"

From the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

Background & History

Understanding Civic Unrest in Baltimore: From the '68 Riots to the Uprising of 2015 and Present Day
A library guide from Maryland Institute College of Art's Decker Library. The purpose of this guide is for students, faculty, and interested parties to use the resources found here to investigate and understand civic unrest, with a particular focus in Baltimore, from 1968 through present day using books, articles, images, art, archives, and more.
From the Courtroom to the Streets: A Timeline of the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter Movements
Every major accomplishment in the history of advancing civil rights in this country has been preceded by a pushback against racist policies and allowances, united acts of civil disobedience, and periods of turmoil. Remember that the strife of this moment is no different. HeinOnline has put together a brief timeline overview of the Civil Rights Movement leading up to today.

Evaluating Media Bias

When reading about police violence and protest movements in the news, it is important to evaluate sources for bias. Both left- and right-wing sources can be biased in their reporting, but there are some strategies and tools you can use to asses their validity.

Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart
An interactive, updated version of the Media Bias Chart that was going around social media a few years ago. They use a team of analysts across the political spectrum to rate the content of news and media publishers. See here for information about their methodology.
Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart Methodology
While the above chart is a useful shortcut for determining a source's bias, it can also have its own hidden biases or errors. Ad Fontes Media has released the methodology they use to create the chart in order to let you decide for yourself.
AllSides Media Bias
AllSides is a news aggregator site that displays the top stories from each part of the political spectrum. They evaluate the publications based on blind surveys of people across the political spectrum, multi-partisan analysis, editorial reviews, third party data, and tens of thousands of user feedback rating
FactCheck.org
A fact-checking source for U.S. politics created by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center. Transparency is provided via pages on funding and fact-checking process.
Media Bias/Fact Check
Another media bias-evaluation site that has information for more than 2100 sources. Media Bias/Fact Check methodology includes looking at biased wording, sources, viewpoints, and political affiliation. News sources are ranked as Left Bias, Left-Center Bias, Least Biased, Right-Center Bias, or Right Bias.
NPR Fact Check
National Public Radio (NPR) provides this fact-checking source for U.S. politics. NPR is rated as a center (unbiased) source of news by AllSides and a little left of center (which is due to its editorial section--its news section is considered very factual and has a "least biased" rating) by Media Bias/Fact Check and the Media Bias Chart.
Politifact
PolitiFact is a nonpartisan fact-checking website to sort out the truth in American politics.It is run by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists. It also has state-level websites for a number of states, including Pennsylvania, run by partnering news organizations.

Kline Faculty Publications

What Does the Constitutional Right of Assembly Protect? What Counts as “Peaceable”? And Who Should Decide?
Professor Tabatha Abu El-Haj, Just Security, June 9, 2020
"The protests in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25 have been notable for their breadth and persistence and shocking for the initial extent of destruction in certain cities. But they are just the most recent iteration of a disruptive form of outdoor politics that returned to prominence with Occupy, continued with Black Lives Matter, and increasingly raises the question of how much protection the First Amendment provides to angry, disruptive crowds?"
Donald Trump Is Trying to Start a Race War And with the Insurrection Act, he has the statutory authority to do so
Professor David S. Cohen, Rolling Stone, June 2, 2020
"Racism courses through Donald Trump’s blood and is one of the foundational principles of his presidency. Which is why, when faced with one of the greatest uprisings against police brutality this nation has seen, a movement led by black people around the country and joined by all other people of color and white people as well, his only policy solution is to start a race war. And unfortunately, American law gives him the authority to do so."

Black Lives Matter Resource Guide: News and Research Tools

New!

How To Spot "Fake News"

Background & History

Evaluating Media Bias

Kline Faculty Publications