This is an important question as many sources, especially those on topics you would choose for a persuasive essay, will be biased. What may be more important than finding a completely unbiased resource is being able to recognize that a resource is biased. Once you say to yourself, this resource is taking this side of an issue so I may not get the whole story, you can take in the information as a more informed reader and react to it accordingly. It is also helpful in a persuasive essay to find resources from both sides of the issue in order to see the counter-arguments.
One thing that can help you determine the bias is looking at who is writing the resource or what group is putting the information out there. For example, if I see that a resource is put out by the NRA or Greenpeace, I know enough about the organizations to know that they will be providing a lot of information on one side of the issue. You can also use websites like Snopes, Politifact, and ProCon to help factcheck the article for biases and other inaccuracies, as well as to examine the pros and cons of an argument.
