CLARITY METHOD — How to Spot Reliable Sources

Learn a 5-step Reliability Checklist + the 3 Ps to spot red flags quickly and protect your time, peace of mind, and integrity.

Resources for this Episode

Before we trust a message, we should check the messenger. In this episode, we use a simple Reliability Checklist—Author, Evidence, Transparency, Reputation, Cross-Check—to spot red flags fast and protect our time, emotions, and integrity. You’ll see how the 3 Ps—Pause, Pinpoint Truth, Proceed with Purposeful Forethought—turn media noise into clarity, then practice applying the checklist yourself.

🧭 Practice Challenge 🧭

- Pick one of your go-to sources.

- Choose a recent article, video, or post from that source.

- Run it through the Reliability Checklist

Author – Who wrote it or published it? Are they qualified to speak on this topic?

Evidence – Does the piece back up its claims with data, documents, or named experts?

Transparency – Does the article explain what is not yet known?

Reputation – Does this source have a track record of accuracy and corrections?

Cross-Check – Can you confirm the same information with another independent, trusted source?

Join the conversation on the American Together YouTube channel under How to Spot Reliable Sources | American Together video, or in our upcoming community space (coming soon).

🛠 3 Ps in Action: Comment Edition 🛠
Need a little extra help shaping your reply? This quick guide uses the same 3 Ps process I use myself: Pause, Pinpoint Truth, Proceed with Purposeful Forethought.

🔎 Full Sources & Further Reading 🔎

• Episode Sources (clickable)

  1. ‍American Heritage Dictionary. (n.d.). Bait. In American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (ahdictionary.com)

  2. Associated Press. (2019). The Associated Press Statement of News Values and Principles. (ap.org)

  3. BBC News. (n.d.). BBC editorial guidelines. (bbc.co.uk)

  4. CBS News. (n.d.). About CBS News. (paramount.com)

  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). About CDC. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (cdc.gov)

  6. Media Bias/Fact Check. (n.d.). Media Bias/Fact Check. (mediabiasfactcheck.com)

  7. NBC Miami. (2021, January 8). Health experts investigate doctor who died weeks after receiving COVID vaccine. NBCUniversal Media. (nbcmiami.com)

  8. News Literacy Project. (n.d.). News Literacy Project. (newslit.org)

  9. NPR. (n.d.). About NPR. National Public Radio. (npr.org)

  10. Pew Research Center. (n.d.). About Pew Research Center. (pewresearch.org)

  11. Reuters. (n.d.). Reuters fact checks. (reuters.com)‍

  12. U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Census.gov. U.S. Department of Commerce. (census.gov)‍

• Further Resources (clickable)

  1.  News Literacy Project — Free lessons and tools that help people of all ages spot misinformation and verify sources.

  2.  Media Bias/Fact Check — Outlet database with bias and factual-reporting ratings; use it to compare perspectives, not crown one “right.”

  3.  Stanford History Education Group – Civic Online Reasoning — Research-based digital-literacy lessons on evaluating online information.

  4.  American Psychological Association – Psychology topics — Hub of readable articles on cognition, reasoning, misinformation, social media, and more.

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