Sunday, March 19, 2017

Week Three: Reliability and Misinformation

Class

1. The problem: What's legitimate information? What is dubious information? How can we tell the difference? Why does being able to tell the difference matter?

Evaluate and report:

A. Here is a sample of the homepage for Slate.com. Identify which of the numbered items is a news story, and which is an advertisement. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Egjt-4g-yZaUgza0pnTEM0TGs/view?usp=sharing

B. Does this post provide strong evidence about the conditions near the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant? Explain your reasoning.  http://imgur.com/gallery/BZWWx

What about the original posting? https://twitter.com/san_kaido/status/603513371934130176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

C. Why this tweet might and might not be a useful source of information?https://twitter.com/moveon/status/666772893846675456?lang=en

More on the Fukushima Mutant Flowers
Discuss (in pairs) and report:

A. What is and is not "fake news"?
  • Satirical news from a site like The Onion (“Dolphin Spends Amazing Vacation Swimming With Stockbroker”) 
  • The daily clickbait in our social media feeds (such as the one written by the "new yellow journalists" Paris Wade and Ben Goldman).
  • Outright invented news, like pieces that claimed, just before the election, that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald J. Trump, or that Donald Trump had once said that “Republicans are the dumbest group of voters.”
  • Erroneous interpretation of a fact that is distributed without fact-checking (as with the  Fukushima Mutant Flowers). 
  • "Native advertising": Advertisement passing as news (as in Slate.com).  
  • News that shows a highly partisan bias. 
 B. Are some of these forms of unreliable news more dangerous than others? Which? Why?

C. What happens when mainstream media is labeled “fake news” by those who see certain stories as hostile to their interests?

2. How do the internet and web help and hinder fake news? 

Reflect, write a journal entry, and report: In a recent letter to the world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee reminded us that he imagined the world wide as "an open platform that would allow everyone, everywhere to share information, access opportunities and collaborate across geographic and cultural boundaries." In what ways do the specific characteristics of the internet and the world wide web, especially in its 2.0, 3.0, and mobile versions contribute to the boom of fake news? Use the readings from the first class (Postman) and second class (Rosenzweig and the rest) as well as Eli Pariser's TED Talk “Beware online ‘filter bubbles’” to support your views.

3. Possible solutions

A. Discuss (in pairs) and report: The different handouts on dealing with fake news we gave you last class (pages 49-53 of your reading packet and C.R.A.A.P handout). What surprised you? What did not?

B. Write, then "Give One, Get One": Of all the advice given by these handouts, what makes most sense to you? Divide a sheet of paper into two vertical columns. Label the left side “Give One” and the right side “Get One.” Write down your ideas on the left-hand column on your paper in list form. Walk around and find a partner to share items from your list. For example, Partner A shares his/her responses until Partner B hears something that is not already on his/her list. Partner B writes the new response in the right column on the paper, along with Partner A’s name. Once Partner B has “gotten” one, your roles switch. Repeat this process with other peers until time runs out.

Other ways to fact check information

Fact-checking sites:
Browser plug-ins:

For next class

George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Chapter 1. (in reading packet)

Choose one reading and answer the 6Ws for it:
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