New Search

Investigate the Source: Is the Babylon Bee a good source for news?

SKILL: Investigate the Source

DIFFICULTY: Simple

SUBJECT(S): Politics/Current Events

In this example, students will use Wikipedia to learn that The Babylon Bee is a satire website

Related Lesson

CTRL-F Lesson 2: Investigate the Source (sign-in required)

Link to Example

After Using FBI To Suppress Son’s Crimes And Raid Political Rival’s Home, Biden Warns Democracy In Danger
Did Joe Biden say Democracy is in Danger?

Background

In August of 2022, FBI agents in the US raided the residence of former President Donald Trump to investigate crimes relating to him keeping classified documents. This angered some Republicans and other supporters of the former president, who saw the raids as politically motivated. In response, some of those on the political right in the US have accused current President Joe Biden of taking excessive measures to defeat his political rivals.



About the Example

This article from a site called The Babylon Bee has a provocative headline commenting about U.S. President Joe Biden: “After Using FBI To Suppress Son’s Crimes And Raid Political Rival’s Home, Biden Warns Democracy In Danger.”

The tone of the article is similarly inflammatory. Before we get too caught up in the content of this story, however, it’s time to stop and do a reputation check of the source. 

Wikipedia describes The Babylon Bee as “a conservative Christian news satire website that publishes satirical articles on topics including religion, politics, current events, and public figures.” This site is for entertainment, not for news. 

 



Activities 

  1. Provide students with the example link: “After Using FBI To Suppress Son’s Crimes And Raid Political Rival’s Home, Biden Warns Democracy In Danger.” Does the Babylon Bee seem like a good source of information? Why or why not?
  2. Have students look up the source using Wikipedia. They can either use the Wikipedia trick (remove everything in the URL after “.com” and type “Wikipedia”), or do a search for “Babylon Bee Wikipedia.” What did they find?

Optional Discussion

  • Further down in the Wikipedia article is a section called “Mistaken for factual reporting,” which provides some cases in which people thought that the satirical articles written on The Babylon Bee were real. Have students read this section, and discuss it with the class. Should satirical sites do more to make sure that readers understand that their content is satire?


Related Resources