Research two news articles (not opinion pieces) from any two sources of your choice, covering the SAME TOPIC. One of these sources should be one that you believe to be a 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

1. Include a summary of the news article’s subject, its main points, and any conclusions that it reaches. 1 paragraph

2. An exploration of how reliable each source is, & - most importantly - why. 1-2 paragraphs. Consider:

   1. How long has the source been around? A long history of publication generally means more reliable.

   2. Who is the author? A long publishing history can create credibility. Anonymous authors are not reliable.

   3. 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? Reliable sourcing and specific reference suggest credibility.

   4. Does the source try to present relevant information and the perspectives of others or is it trying to make its own argument? Does it tend to give its own opinion? Presenting a variety of perspectives can suggest reliability, but providing its own opinion will not.

   5. 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?

Goals are to identify qualities of reliable and unreliable news while meeting the expectations of the prompt (citation, summary, detailed explanation)

Exemplary Work will be carefully written to identify specific aspects of each source that contribute to reliability, with specific quotations and analysis.