What constitutes a credible source?

When there is a crowd of fake news and unimportant information, check the credible source in the article to help you out!

Do you feel annoyed when others keep sending you fake news or wrong information through social media? You can always consider the credibility of the source to identify whether it is fake news or not.

According to the University Writing Center (n.d), credible sources are the sources trustable by the readers. If a journalist quoted somebody who is non-credible, it can damage his or her relationship with the readers and the reputation of the journalist.

What considered a credible source? There is a source test called IMVAIN. From the article by Digital Resource Center (2018), multiple sources are needed to support each and every source. According to Hogg, C. (2011), there is a golden rule for the journalists to follow, which including multiple sources in the news. You should use a minimum of three to five sources for every article, no matter they are the talents or links to the background info that is related to the news (Hogg, C. 2011). But there is always an exception for this rule, which is when you are reporting the news from the police or the government officials and it is impossible to find another source to support the says by them, then you can only use the quotations from the only one talent (Hogg, C. 2011). St. Petersburg College (2018) stated in an essay that stories are more balanced when multiple viewpoints are presented.

The sources in the news should be attributed or named. A named source is always more credible than an anonymous source (Marquit, M. 2012). Marquit, M (2012) stated this in her article, The Canadian Association of Journalists said we may use unnamed sources when there is a clear reason to protect the anonymity or the material gained from the confidential source is of strong public interest.

In this high technology era, the news is mostly user-generated. Double-check the sources before you forward the news to your love one.

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Reference:

Digital Resource Center. (2018). Introducing IMVAIN. Retrieved on August 28, 2018 from http://drc.centerfornewsliteracy.org/content/introducing-imvain

Hogg, C. (2011). Using multiples sources when publishing ‘In the Media’ articles. Digital Journal. Retrieved on August 30, 2018 from http://www.digitaljournal.com/blog/10272

Marquit, M. (2012). Anonymous Sources – is it ethical to use them? A Ghost Writers Blog. Retrieved on August 28, 2018 from http://www.seo-writer.com/writers/index.php/2012/08/13/anonymous-sources-is-it-ethical-to-use-them/

St. Peterburg College. (2018). How to write a news article: Naming Sources. Retrieved on August 30, 2018 from https://spcollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=254319&p=1695316

University Writing Center. (n.d). Credible versus Non Credible Sources. Retrieved on August 28, 2018 from https://writingcenter.appstate.edu/sites/writingcenter.appstate.edu/files/Credible%20v%20Non-Credible%20Sources13.pdf