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News Credibility Research

Research two news articles from any two sources of your choice. One of these sources should be one that you believe to be credible, trustworthy source of news, while the other should be from a source that is not reliable. While you do not need to bring in a copy of each article, you must:

  1. Provide an accurate MLA formatted citation:
    • Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Article Title.” Name of Website or News Organization, Names of Additional Contributors (such as editors), Volume/Season Number, Issue/Episode Number, Publication Date, Page number or URL. Access Date (for web sources)
      • If your source does not include any of these items, you can omit them from the citation
      • for example, a web source may not have a Volume or Issue Number, but a Newspaper may; similarly, a news program (like Frontline or 60 Minutes) or podcast may have a season and episode number
  2. Include a summary of the news article’s subject, its main points, and any conclusions that it reaches. 1 paragraph
  3. An exploration of how reliable each source is, & - most importantly - why. 1-2 paragraphs. Consider:
    • How long has the source been around? A long history of publication generally means more reliable.
    • Who is the author? A long publishing history means more reliable. Anonymous authors are not reliable.
    • Where does it get its information? Does it quote sources with expertise? Does it provide references or direct links to where the original source can be found so that you can fact check their information?
    • Does the source try to present relevant information and the perspectives of others or is it trying to make its own argument? Is it an opinion piece?
    • Do the other articles from this source suggest a bias? Are most of the articles a defense or attack of one point of view, or do they attempt to report on a variety of current events?
Earlier Event: February 27
Reading Log (1/30-2/20)