PBS Website Hacked – A Teachable Moment?

By now you’ve likely heard that the PBS website was recently hacked. While this incident is incredibly unfortunate for PBS and Tupac fans, skilled librarians and media specialists can use it as a prime example during information literacy workshops and discussions with students. Many people would likely assume that PBS is always an accurate new source; however, this situation proves how very important it is to fact check and to consult a variety of sources before using and citing information from all sources, even those thought to be “reliable”. You never can be too careful!

Online News Sources on the Rise

It will likely come as no surprise that the latest PEW Research Center publication, titled State of the News Media, that news accessed online is the only type of news source that is on the rise. As you’ll see from the graph embedded in the brief article, all other sources of news have actually declined. Traditional news sources experiencing a decline in use include cable television, magazines, audio, newspapers, and local TV.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadian/197440773/ by hellomike