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Elections Then and Now: News

News

glass display case with items
Description: News display case

The 1936 election divided American Catholic over their prior support for Franklin Roosevelt. Concerns ranged over the success of New Deal programs to fears of Communism and fascism. Two Catholic figures framed the debate.

Display Items

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Description: Fr. Charles Coughlin’s Social Justice, July 27, 1936 questions the progress of Roosevelt’s administration over the prior four years. Coughlin, a former supporter of Roosevelt, had soured on the President’s economic and social policies and accused him of being a Communist (Social Justice collection).
Source: Social Justice Collection, The Catholic University of America.
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Description: “Roosevelt Safeguards America” speech, text, notes, and clippings, October 1936.
Source: John A. Ryan Papers, The Catholic University of America; American Catholic History.
newspaper
Description: Msgr. John A. Ryan, a CatholicU professor, provided a radio broadcast in defense of Roosevelt’s policies on October 8, 1936. The address sought to counter Coughlin’s economic critiques and refute the argument that Roosevelt was a Communist.
Source: John A. Ryan Papers, The Catholic University of America; American Catholic History.

Navigating the News Today:

 

Keep the following in mind as you seek out the news: 

  • Read beyond the headline, read the full article for context
    • On social media it can be easy to just scroll by headlines without giving them much thought, but more often than not, you won't understand the article without reading the whole thing.
  • Watch out for attention-grabbing headlines
    • With everyone encountering so much information every day, many headlines are written in a way to provoke an emotion in you (often anger). 
  • Pay attention to the sources of information 
    • What are the credentials of the people quoted or interviewed? 
    • Investigate the news source, is it generally reputable, reliable, and accurate? 
    • What is the original source of a claim being made? 
    • What data is being shown on any graphs? How is it labeled? 
  • What are other publications saying on the same topic? 

 

Even when information is based in facts, every news source has its own perspective, so it's important to read from a variety of perspectives. CU has many news sources in our databases, check them out by clicking "Newspapers" above SearchBox on the Library Website! 

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Learn more about evaluating the news using the SIFT method:

 

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Visit https://pressbooks.pub/introtocollegeresearch/chapter/the-sift-method/