Fake News
- Fake news
- Misinformation and disinformation
- Artificial intelligence and fake news
- Scams and fraud
- Reliable information sources
- Test yourself!
Chat With A Librarian
Need help determining if something is real, fake or fraudulent? Ask a librarian! We may not know the answer immediately, but we are happy to investigate a suspicious claim. This Chat service is staffed by PCC librarians during most library open hours, and by partner librarians 24/7.
Click the button to open the chat window.
Reliable Information Sources
Using research sources that you can trust is more important than ever. Recent research studies have shown that asking people to “do the research” on fake news stories makes them seem more believable, not less. This happens because a Google search on a fake topic may retrieve multiple results from low-quality information sources that can mislead the researcher into believing that the false story is real.
Find reliable research sources by searching trustworthy news sources and library databases, which provide access to published information in magazines and academic journals.
Search library databases
Library databases provide access to published articles from magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. Unlike some of the search results you will get from a web search, the published articles in databases are almost always written by (human) professionals and reviewed by an editor, which improves reliability. Learn more in this 4 minute video: What Are Library Databases?
Choosing which database to search depends on your topic. To find out which database would work well for your topic, you can use the subject-based research guides for your topic's discipline. You can also use the Articles and Databases link for a complete listing of available databases. Or Ask a Librarian! Here are some good options for many topics:
- Popular Magazines (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowFeatures full text coverage of the top 1,000 most searched magazines across Gale's InfoTrac. Current events, sports, science, health and more.
- EBSCOhost This link opens in a new windowSearch from a wide range of research databases for magazine and journal articles. Updated daily. View the EBSCOhost handout
Mobile URL: EBSCOhost Mobile - PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowStart here if you are looking for scholarly (peer-reviewed) psychology articles. PsycINFO is the single most comprehensive psychology article collection. Full-text articles from PsycARTICLES are included here. View the PsycINFO handout.
- US Major Dailies This link opens in a new windowFull text newspapers from five U.S. national and regional newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune
Tips for searching databases
Trustworthy news sources
No news source gets everything right 100% of the time, nor is any source completely free of bias. Here are some characteristics of the best news sources.
- Practice fact-based journalism grounded in professional ethics
- Clearly separate opinion (editorial) and news stories
Read more about the Characteristics of Reputable News Sources (from UC Merced library guide)
Examples of news sources that practice fact-based journalism:
- New York Times (center-left perspective)
- Wall Street Journal (center-right perspective)
- Al-Jazeera and BBC (international perspective)
- U.S. Major Dailies (library databases that searches five of the nation's top news sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune)
Consider the political bias of news sources and read stories from multiple perspectives:
- Ground News: current event stories presented from reliable news sources with different perspectives.
- Media Bias Fact Check: evaluation of the reliability and media bias of a wide range of information sources
- All Sides: "Balanced News from the Left, Center and Right"
Free subscription to the New York Times online for PCC students!
Google News Custom Search
This Google Custom Search only searches the following 10 news sites, selected by PCC librarians and instructors, as reasonably reliable news sources that practice fact-based journalism. The sites searches include a mix of national and interrnation news sources: Al-Jazeera; BBC; Christian Science Monitor; Economist; New York Times; ProPublica; PBS; Reuters; Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
How to choose your news (TED-ED five minutes)

- Last Updated: Feb 11, 2025 2:11 PM
- URL: https://guides.pcc.edu/fakenews
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