With the increasingly deceptive and hostile political environment in the U.S., it is more important than ever to understand current events. Here are ways to avoid deceptive news headlines and understand media polarization, which is more prominent today than ever before

In recent years the news has shifted from bipartisan reporting to political pandering and fear-mongering. Here are some important steps to take when reading the news to ensure you understand the context of what you’re reading:

1. Utilize Bias and Reliability Checkers. While modern-day news can be deceptive, there are tools to help you understand the reliability and bias of news sources. A great example of this is the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart. This chart shows hundreds of news sources, as well as bias and reliability ratings with example articles from each source attached. Tools like this are critical to media literacy and understanding the news.

2. Read From Both Sides of The Political Spectrum. Now that you understand whether the news organization you read from is biased and how biased they are, it is important to find a neutral point. The easiest way to do this is simply to switch to a news outlet with a lower bias rating and higher reliability rating; good examples are NPR, USAFacts, and Newsnation. Another way to do this is to find a counterpoint to your current news source. For example, if you currently follow FOX News, with a bias score of 8.22, try cross-referencing this with a source like Vice, with a -9.39 bias score. This way you never fall into the trap of having facts skewed just toward your beliefs.

3. Avoid Using Headlines as Summaries. It is incredibly easy to read a headline and summarize a news story for yourself. This has become so normal in recent years that oftentimes news organizations will make headlines intentionally vague or misleading to spark emotion or anger before you even read the article. If you ever find yourself shocked or outraged at a news article, it’s essential to read through and understand exactly what you’re outraged about.

4. Avoid Social Media Echo Chambers. With social media being so prominent in news reporting, it is easier than ever to get caught in an echo chamber. But what is an echo chamber? This is when all of the news and opinion pieces on your social media feeds are coming from one side or one specific subset of the political aisle. While echo chambers come in all shapes and sizes, it is much more common to see with radical left or radical right groups. When scrolling social media, remember that the algorithm is designed to fit your personal beliefs; so make sure to access articles from journalists who oppose your political views as well.

5. Never Discredit the Other Side. While it is normal to be confident in your beliefs, it is important to maintain an open mind when reading the news and forming opinions on world events. It can often be hard to admit being wrong about a topic and change your mind given new information, but it is important to do so. There is never shame in being wrong; showing growth in opinion is a larger sign of intellect than it is defeat. Next time you get into a debate, approach it thinking, “How can I better my worldview,” rather than, “How can I prove this person wrong?”.

While many things in this article may seem like common sense, think about examples where you or people close to you have fallen into some of these partisan traps. Maybe your aunt or uncle went on a political rant at a family gathering which turned out to be entirely untrue upon a quick Google search. Or you’ve had an argument in which you were so stubborn that you completely refused to see the other person’s viewpoint. It’s important for everyone to have a strong sense of media literacy, and even more important for people to understand the news they’re reading.