Project 2: Fake News Introduction
Overview
Everyone has heard the term “fake news,” but do you know what it really means? Fake news is not new, but how it is being used in today’s environment is something to be considered. There is growing evidence that fake news has the power to shape public opinion and even sway elections. As more Americans get their news online, it is increasingly vital that you know how to verify sources and spot fake news or images, which often appear indistinguishable from a reliable source. Do you know the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Definitions of terms associated with false information:
Term
Definition
Sources
fake news
“purposefully crafted, sensational, emotionally charged, misleading or totally fabricated information that mimics the form of mainstream news”
Fake News: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age
misinformation
“false content that is unintentionally or unknowingly disseminated”
Essential Guide to Understanding Information Disorder
disinformation
“false content that is intentionally disseminated with intent to harm”
Essential Guide to Understanding Information Disorder
General Expectations
You must complete this project on your own. Please read Fake News in Chapter 5 on page 119 and Chapter 15 on page 382. Understanding the various ways that false information is shared and the motives and appeal behind it. And, evaluating the information you find online and elsewhere to determine its use and truthfulness is a key life skill.
You must complete this project on your own. Please read Fake News in Chapter 5 on page 119 and read Chapter 15: Media Ethics. It’s important to understand the various ways that false information is shared, the motives behind it, and the power of its appeal. And, evaluating the information you find online and elsewhere to determine its use and truthfulness is a key life skill.
This project must be in an academic paper that requires in-text citations and end-of-work references in APA format. This project is due by Monday, May 2 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time Zone. This project will require approximately 40 hours and weighs 20 percent of your final grade.
The first task is to read and view featured resources:
Claire Wardle of FirstDraftNews.com has created the helpful visual image below to help us think about the ecosystem of misinformation and disinformation.
YouTube video: Why Do Our Brains Love Fake News?
What Kind of Fake News Exists? According to media professor Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College, there are four broad categories of fake news.
YouTube video: How to choose your news?
Read the article: Here’s what non-fake news looks like
The second task is to pick one of nine articles below and answer questions:
Where was this piece of information first published? Who created it?
What do you think the main purpose is (to persuade, inform, distort, entertain, sell, publicize)?
What is the overall tone? Is the language neutral, or do you detect some bias? Provide specific examples and suggest more neutral language.
What are specific claims made?
What evidence is provided to support the claims that are made?
What is your honest emotional reaction to the claim(s)? Are you hoping that one or more of the claims are true or untrue?
What is your quick assessment of the quality of the evidence provided to support the claims? (rank from 1=low quality to 10=high quality) Explain your ranking.
Do you feel certain about the accuracy of one or more of the claims? Which claims? Why or why not?
What could you do to confirm the same details and claims?
Do you think this piece of information represents the subject and the people involved in a manner that is fair? Explain.
Articles:
Bogus Antifa Claims Follow Capitol Riot – Keyna
Do the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility? – Moosa
Kamala Harris Is Eligible to Serve as President – Jenica
Donations to Black Lives Matter Group Don’t Go to DNC – Jadzia
Bogus Claims of ‘Crisis Actors’ in Death of George Floyd – Manal
Does the U.S. provide medical insurance and voting rights to immigrants in the country illegally? – Brielle
Has the Food and Drug Administration announced that vaccines cause autism? – Mara
Did Donald Trump tell People magazine in 1998 that if he ever ran for president, he’d do it as a Republican because “they’re the dumbest group of voters in the country” and that he “could lie and they’d still eat it up”? – Omar
“The Wisconsin voter roll has over 120,000 active voters who have been registered to vote for over 100 years.”
Written Paper Guidelines: I highly recommend consulting the writing center for this element of the project:
Length and format: The paper length will be 11-12 pages maximum (do NOT go over the page limit), double spaced, and typed (this does include your title page or references page). You must include a cover sheet with the title of your paper and your name. Finally, references should be listed on a separate page after the body of the paper. Margins should be no wider than 1″. Please number your pages. Your academic paper should follow the APA format.
The number of references: Your paper should include a minimum of six (6) references. I want you to use scholarly sources, excluding our textbook, and cannot be used in Wikipedia or any blogs. End-of-work references and in-text citations must adhere to the APA format. You may find online tips for using APA (7th Edition) at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).
File Format
To grade work on time, you need to submit by the due date to the correct location in a DOC file format that I can access. If you submit the wrong file, or I cannot open the file, you may resubmit; however, the submission will be counted as late. Please include your last name, followed by the project name (e.g., Dzougoutov_project_02), to label all files submitted for grading.
