It’s no secret that the media like to twist a story to make readers feel a certain way about a subject. You could read 100 articles on one event and not one single article would tell the full honest truth. Everybody wants to avoid being manipulated, so we’ve made a list of things to be mindful of when you’re trying to find out the truth.

1- Know the views of the source. Especially with regard to newspapers, the views of the team behind the stories has a massive effect on the impression the reader gets. Just look at these two headlines of the same story:

Muslim women’s segregation in UK communities must end – Cameron

David Cameron says migrant families could be broken up and mothers deported if they fail new English test

The first in from the BBC, who have been accused in the past of being too right wing. The second is by the Independent, who are said to be in the “centre left”. Clearly, the language in the first one gives off an impression of agreement with Cameron, making out that he is trying to help Muslim women. The second implies that Cameron plans to ruin the lives of migrants and “break up” families.

2- Read more than one article. It is often striking how different two articles reporting the same story can make you feel. Again, using the above example, we can see that headline two is supposed to make us see Cameron as a villain. Reading more articles on the same story can help you gather all the facts and form your own opinion.

3- Pay attention to the word play. Words like “may” or “could” imply that the writer doesn’t know something for a fact, they are merely just speculating. Notice the word “could” in the Independent article; the writer is not able to say “will” as the next part is not (yet) a fact.

To conclude, if someone had only read the first or the second article, they would come away with a very different opinion of the situation than if they’d read the other too.