Student Handouts Lecture 9

8/3/2019 Student Handouts Lecture 9

1/11

10/20/201

Says Who?

Critical Evaluationof Sources interviewed

for News Reports

What is her/his self-interest?

Does anyone else say so?

Is it verified fact, or assertion?

How would this source know?

Who, exactly, is this source?

(Dont copy these. Wait for the mnemonic device)

Smart Questions About Sources:

Says Who?

Cellonplane.wmv



s it verified fact, or assertion?



(Dont copy these. Wait for the mnemonic device)

Smart Questions About Sources:

Critical Thinking isCritical Thinking skills: Why Sources Matter


2/11

10/20/201

Why Sources MatterWhat Are the Consequences

When The Press Gets it Wrong?

U.S. Invades Iraq to Capture WMD

Why Critical Thinking About Sources Matters To Be Fair"Iraq is a long way from [here], but

what happens there matters a great

deal here. For the risks that the

leaders of a rogue state will use

nuclear, chemical or biological

weapons against us or our allies is the

greatest security threat we face."

Madeleine Albright, Feb. 18, 1998.

"Saddam Hussein has spent the better part

of this decade, and much of his nation's

wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi

people, but on developing nuclear, chemical

and biological weapons and the missiles to

deliver them."

President Clinton, Jan. 27, 1998.

"Fateful decisions will be made in the days

and weeks ahead. At issue is nothing less than

the fundamental question of whether or not

we can keep the most lethal weapons known

to mankind out of the hands of an

unreconstructed tyrant and aggressor

Sen. Joe Biden (D, DE), Feb. 12, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass

destruction again, as he has ten times since

1983."

Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security

Adviser, Feb. 18, 1998 (later convicted of stealingdocuments from the National Security Archive)

The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject

matter, but many shared a common feature. They

depended at least in part on information from a circle of

Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on regime

change in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under

increasing public debate in recent weeks.



Is it fact, or assertion?



Today: Five Smart Questions About Sources:


3/11

10/20/201

Journalists are people who need people

What Kind of People?Sorry dean, I tried to build the video, but

I ran out of time.

Housekeeping/News Matters

Direct Evidence:

How Journalists Pursue the TruthLook Whos Talking: Wreck Scene

Driver of Car

Eyewitnesses

Arms LengthEvidence:

Lawyer for Driver

Campus Police

University Officials

Friends and

Relatives of Victims

Students onCampus

Family of Driver

Breathalyzer Report

Driving Records

Accident Reportsfor the Road

Judging the Reliability of Sources

Named Sources Are Better Than Unnamed SourcesAuthoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than Uninformed Sources

Independent Sources Are Better Than Self-Interested Sources

Sources WhoVerify Are Better Than Sources Who AssertMultiple Sources Are Better Than Single Sources

IM VAIN

Judging the Reliability of SourcesIndependent Sources

Are Better Than

Self-Interested Sources


4/11

10/20/201

Self Interest vs. Selfishness

Intellectual

Religion/politics

Financial

Familial/Romantic

A Self-interested source

An Independent source Independence: Rival Praises Finding

Decoded DNA Reveals Details Of Black Death Germ Scientists have used DNA lurking inside the teeth of

medieval Black Death victims to figure out the entire

genetic code of the deadly bacterium that swept

across Europe more than 600 years ago, killing an

estimated half of the population...

The Natural History Museum of Denmark's Thomas

Gilbert is one of the scientists who tried to find

plague DNA in Black Death victims in the past

without success. He says the new technique used in

this study is exciting and the analysis is compelling."It's a great result. It looks very, very convincing,"

Gilbert says. "There's no reason why the data

shouldn't be real."

NYT (October 13, 2011) People with eating disorders like

anorexia have opened up a new battleground in the insurance

wars, testing the boundaries of laws mandating equivalent

coverage for mental illnesses.

How is this source self-interested?

Does that mean the story is unreliable?



5/11

10/20/201

Independence: A Ruthless Standard Judging the Reliability of Sources

Multiple SourcesAre Better Than

Single Sources

Multiple Sources vs. Lone

Source Multiple Sources Trump a Lone Source?

Stories based on 1 Lone Source

Weaker than corroborated

sources

Reconstructing the BlackwaterIncident in Nusoor Square


6/11

10/20/201

Blackwater.wmv

In Pursuit of TruthBlackwater shooting


Sources WhoVerifyAre Better Than

Sources Who Assert

The Tokyo citizens groupin

consultation with the Yokohama-based

Isotope Research Institute, collected

soil samples from near their own

homes.

Some of the results were shocking: the

sample that Mr. Hayashida collected

under shrubs near his neighborhood

baseball field in the Edogawa ward

measured nearly 138,000 becquerels

per square meter of radioactive cesium

137, which can damage cells and lead

to an increased risk of cancer.

Verifying or Asserting?

Verifying or Asserting? Sources Who Verify vs.Sources Who Assert


7/11

10/20/201

Just Like We

Always ask:Did the Reporter

Open the Freezer?You can also ask

Did theSource

Open the Freezer?

A Corollary to Last Weeks Lesson: Judging the Reliability of Sources

Authoritative/Informed SourcesAre Better Than

Un-informed Sources

Authoritative vs. UninformedAuthoritative/Informed Sources vs. Un-informed Sources


Named SourcesAre Better Than

Unnamed Sources

Who Was Deep Throat?

The Most Famous Unnamed Source in History


8/11

10/20/201

Named Sources vs. Unnamed SourcesAnonymous Source Characterized

Characterizing Unnamed Sources Vaccines are Dangerous?

Sez Who?

VaccineBachman.wmv

Evaluating Anonymous Sources Evaluating Anonymous Sources

TransparencyCharacterization

Corroboration (evidence/sources)


9/11

10/20/201

Evaluate The Sources Sources Outlets

Evaluate The Sources

COOPER200mIL.WMV

Evaluate The Source

When Is A Self-Interested Source

A Reliable Source?

Evaluating Sources: Mr. Ureche, the Student


10/11

10/20/201

1

Evaluating Sources: Self-interest Cuts Both Ways

CampDeath.wmv


Named Sources Are Better Than Unnamed SourcesAuthoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than Uninformed Sources


Sources WhoVerify Are Better Than Sources Who AssertMultiple Sources Are Better Than Single Sources

IM VAIN

Evaluate Sources

Key Lesson:

Evaluate Sources

Evaluate Sources

Evaluate Sources

To Find Reliable Information

With Which You:

Make a decision

Take Action

Make a judgment


11/11

10/20/201

Preparing to Deconstruct the News

1) What Do I Know?

2) How Do I Know It?

3) What Dont I Know?

Assignments:

Each lecture will pastescreengrab of their

BlackBoard homework site

here.

Documents

Student Handouts Lecture 9