last updated
9/25/2014
Media Messages
Information Evaluation Presentation Assignment
Your next
(team) project involves analyzing the print-media news
article your team has been assigned in order to determine the accuracy
of the information provided in the article and the likely reasonableness
of the conclusions that a reader might well take away from the article.
Begin this
assignment with each member of the team individually reading the news
article carefully. Take care to note the following in your close
reading of the article:
-
Does
the article appear to be making a clear point, expecting the reader
to draw a particular conclusion? If so,
what is that thesis or
main conclusion(s)?
-
Does
the author appear to have a particular point of view or approach to
the topic? Does this article seem to be persuasion OR does the author
seem to be making a relatively objective effort to answer reasonable
questions readers may have about the topic?
-
What
are the key issues or topics that make up the article? What
conclusions does the author draw concerning each?
-
What
sorts of evidence and reasoning does the author use to support each
of his/her main conclusions? Note specifically, all facts the
author cites in the article. Can you determine if they are
accurate?
-
What
kind of general impression(s) would you expect the typical reader to
take away from the article after reading it?
After you
have each read the article closely , meet as a team.
Compare notes with each other and come to a team decision identifying
answers for each of the 5 questions above. Writeup and
email Professor McGaan your team answers to questions 1, 2 and 3 above.
Once you
have made
determinations about the substance of the article, you should begin the
primary task of this assignment, which is preparing a presentation to
the class on the accuracy of the key features of your article. The
following steps may be helpful:
-
Assign
to several people on the team some or all of the specific facts you have
identified as used in support of conclusions in
the article. Those individuals will use their research skills to
check the accuracy of those facts. You may discover those facts
can be confirmed as accurate, inaccurate, disputed, or
"cannot be confirmed at all" through independent/reliable other
sources. Working with a reference librarian will be helpful in
this process. Be sure to keep careful records of what you find
out about the accuracy of the facts and where and how you are able
(or unable) to check on these facts.
-
Assign
at least one member of the team to discover whatever background you
can on the author of the article and the publisher. Does what
you find explain anything about the point of view your team has
identified in the article?
-
Assign
one or more members of the team to attempt to determine if other
sources tend to agree or disagree with the major conclusions of the article (if any can be found on either
side).
After team
members have completed their research, the team will need to gather again
to begin the process of creating a team report to the class (about 12-15
minutes long). In this oral report, with visual aids (likely a
PowerPoint slide show and handouts), your team should present the results of your
evaluation concerning the facts and overall accuracy of the news
article. In the report, be sure to:
-
Clearly
describe/summarize the thesis and major content, facts and conclusions of the article. Include title, author and publication information,
too.
-
Present
the results of your fact checking, including your conclusions on
accuracy.
-
Explain the
methods and
strategy you used (i.e. data-bases, kinds of sources sought,reasons
for selecting certain facts as key) to confirm or
disconfirm facts and major conclusions of the article. [This
is a key element of the assignment and
the presentation]
-
Discuss
the degree to which the various conclusions the author makes stand
up to your review, esp. in terms of how the general conclusions
compare to other sources
-
Indicate the degree to which you believe the news story leads the
typical reader to a reasonable understanding of the topic.
-
Conclude with observations on what you have learned about the
contigent nature of truth in news reporting and commentary, as well
as any thoughts you have on the ethics of your assigned article and
of news reporting in general.
-
The visual aid / slide show should be designed to support the oral
presentation but appear in form like a "poster" presentation in the
sciences (that is, highlight key background and findings and be
understandable to a person who reads the slides without hearing the
presentation.
[There are
several possible answers your team may have in terms of the accuracy
of the article's facts and conclusions: "they are likely
correct; they are likely false; they are in serious dispute; or,
we can't figure it out." What we are most interested in knowing
is, what methods did you use to check accuracy, what sources did you
explore? One of your slides should list the sources you
used in checking the article's accuracy.] At the time of the
presentation you are expected to submit a detailed outline of the
presentation as well as sending a file of your PowerPoint to the
instructor.
Presentations
will be graded on the following basis: how clear your descriptions are
of the article, its facts and conclusions; how clear and thoughtful are your explanations of
the accuracy checking process, how well documented your conclusions
are (use of sources for confirmation), how insightful are your analysis of the "accuracy" of the major
claims of the article including the quality of your search strategy, how insightful your overview of accuracy in media
are, and how well organized and well delivered the presentation is (including
the quality of support materials and visual aids, oral fluency, and team
participation).
Presentation
Evaluation Form
DUE DATE: Thursday, Oct. 23 - in class team reports
Print Articles for Information Checking
-
Carpenter, Zoe. "ICE's Widening Net." The Nation
229.12 (2014): 14-18.
-
Fang, Lee. "The Anti-Pot Lobby's Big Bankroll." The
Nation 229.3 & 4 (2014): 12-17.
-
Gillespie, Nick and Emily Ekins. "Generation Independent."
Reason 46.5 (2014): 22-29.
-
Kay, Katty and Calaire Shipman. "The Confidence Gap." Atlantic
313.4 (2014): 56-66.
-
Pearce, Fred. "TV as Birth Control." Utne Reader 183
(Summer 2014): 48-51
-
Williamson, Kevin D. "Where the Sidewalk Ends." National Review
66.14 (2014): 29-32.
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