Learn · Civics, no lecture
Reading the news before your first vote
Three habits for first-time voters: read the claim not the headline, notice who’s speaking, and double-check what makes you furious.
Read the claim, not the headline. Headlines are written to travel; nuance falls off in the feed.
Notice who is speaking: campaign surrogate ≠ independent analyst ≠ anonymous official. Different jobs, different weight.
When a story spikes your anger, that’s when to open a second source. Outrage is cheap to manufacture and expensive to undo once you’ve reshared it.
Clad grades whether the coverage told you the truth. What you do with that truth — including how you vote — is yours.
Practice on the morning quiz. Free account unlocks grades on every report — create one. Campus hub: Clad for students.
More explainers
- What does a C− mean? — Letter grades, decoded
- How to read the lean meter — Left · Center · Right
- Verified, disputed, missing context — Claim tags
- Why every report lists sources — Receipts
- How to spot spin in 30 seconds — Patterns