There are traditional news mediums, and then there is Yahoo News. Many of us now look to AOL and Yahoo for news stories, but are these sources really creditable? Yahoo pulls their news stories from a variety of different sources. Before trusting the facts you read in a story you get from Yahoo or AOL, readers should identify the news source. It is also important to find out if you are reading a news story or an opinion piece.

Journalists know the difference between a news story and an opinion piece, but do you? When writing a news story, journalists typically keep biases out, and simply relay the facts to the public. The basic idea is to leave judgment up to the public. On the other hand, in an opinion piece a journalist can incorporate their own style and spin. They include their opinion about a news story or important issue. In an opinion piece, a journalist is able to incorporate their opinion no matter how biased it may be.

Why is it important to recognize the difference? As a reader, you should know if you are reading the facts or someone's opinion. For example, if a journalist is covering the recent meeting between Obama and BP officials for a news story they will summarize the main points in an unbiased way. However, a journalist writing an opinion piece can attempt to sway the audience in one way or another. If they have a less favorable opinion of BP, the journalist could paint officials in a bad light.

Journalists can give their opinion of how BP officials came off in an attempt to sway the audience in their favor. As a reader, you should want to make your own decision based on the facts. You should at least be able to identify opinion pieces, so that you can read opinions from both sides of an issue. When reading Yahoo and AOL news stories always make sure to check the news source and format used.

There are better sites to get your news from. Try checking sites like MSN or CNN, the Los Angeles or New York Times, and other news publications. These sites will have opinion pieces as well, but they focus on real news stories, not the random fluff you find on Yahoo and AOL. For example, today's Yahoo stories include: "Twilight's New Female Vampire" and "Megan Fox Engaged." On AOL they featured a story entitled, "Man Comes Face to Face with Bigfoot." Stories like, "When it's OK to hold debt," sound helpful, but it was published by a site called MainStreet.com. Before following any advice, it is a good idea to check the background of a publication or website.

If you're looking to hear the latest gossip, reading Yahoo and AOL news stories can't hurt. For those who want to know the facts, and read legitimate news stories, should search for articles on creditable sites.