duPont Library: News and Views: Finding a Balance: Getting Started

Why?

In current society, there are more perspectives than ever vying and jockeying for position in informing us concerning what is happening and why. It is very easy in this environment to seek only what agrees with our own preconceived notions of life and the world. It is everyone's responsibility to create a "balanced diet" of news and viewpoints in order to be a responsible and informed citizen.

Please use this guide as a starting point for creating a balance, and contact us for any questions you may have!

The Filter Bubble

Tools for Bursting the Filter Bubble
Tools to help read beyond the narrow perspective of a pre-existing perspective (particularly political perspectives).
Bursting the Facebook Bubble
Social media has made it easy to live in filter bubbles, sheltered from opposing viewpoints. So what happens when liberals and conservatives trade realities?
Quiz: Do you live in a bubble?
A set of questions about class and participation from PBS News Hour. Based on another quiz from author Charles Murray.

Read Across the Aisle

Read Across the Aisle
"Just as your Fitbit reminds you to get up and walk around after an hour of inactivity, this app will notice when you’ve gotten a little too comfortable in your filter bubble—and it’ll remind you to go see what other folks are reading."

Finding Reliable News in Your Library

U.S. Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Time period: 1980-present
Location: United States
U.S. Newsstream (from ProQuest) enables users to search current U.S. news content, as well as archives that stretch back into the 1980s. This contemporary news collection delivers current, full-text news sources including newspapers, newswires, news journals, television and radio transcripts, blogs, podcasts, and digital-only websites. The collection offers access to major national sources including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN Newswires, and the Huffington Post. It also offers exclusive access to over 80 Gannett regional newspapers and includes hundreds of other local, regional, and national titles from throughout the U.S. All content can be searched together or separately.
The following U.S. regional collections are included:
- U.S. Midwest Newsstream
- U.S. Southeast Newsstream
- U.S. North Central Newsstream
- U.S. Northeast Newsstream
- U.S. South Central Newsstream
- U.S. West Newsstream
Key U.S. titles include:
- The New York Times (from 1980 forward)
- The Wall Street Journal (from 1984 forward)
- The Washington Post (from 1987 forward)
- Los Angeles Times (from 1985 forward)
- Chicago Tribune (from 1985 forward)
- The Boston Globe (from 1980 forward).
Proquest News and Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Contains the content of several national and Tennessee newspapers, both historical and current. Indexes can be searched individually or in combination by names, events, and subjects. Updated daily.
Historical: Atlanta Constitution 1868-1945. Christian Science Monitor 1908-1996. New York Times 1851-2007. Wall Street Journal 1889-1993. Washington Post 1877-1994. Current: Chicago Tribune 1985-present. Los Angeles Times 1985-present. New York Times 1980-present. Wall Street Journal 1984-present. Washington Post 1987-present.
News (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
A full-text newspaper database that provides access to more than 1,000 major U.S. regional, national and local newspapers as well as leading titles from around the world. Allows users to search articles instantly by title, headline, date, author, newspaper section, or other fields. Also includes thousands of images, radio, and TV broadcasts, and transcripts.
Proquest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Time Period: 1851-1997
Location: North America
Includes The Atlanta Constitution (1868-1945); The Christian Science Monitor (1908-1997), The New York Times (1851-2007), The Wall Street Journal (1889-1993), The Washington Post (1877-1994.)