351 lecture_9

Sources

Week 8

• Take-home style exam

• Submitted on Turnitin.com

• Available November 2

• Due November 8

• Short answer and essay on material presented up to Week 6.

• Study guide now online

Midterm Exam

Says Who?

Critical Evaluation of Sources interviewed

for News Reports

ü What is her/his self-interest?

ü Does anyone else say so?

ü Is it verified fact, or assertion?

ü How would this source know?

ü Who, exactly, is this source?

Smart Questions About Sources:

Critical Thinking is…

Critical Thinking skills:

Why Sources Matter

What Are the ConsequencesWhen The Press Gets it Wrong?

U.S. Invades Iraq to Capture WMD

Why Critical Thinking About Sources Matters

To Be Fair…

"Saddam Hussein has spent the be1er part of this decade, and much of his na7on'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.

To Be Fair…

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there ma1ers 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.

To Be Fair…

"Fateful decisions will be made in the days and weeks ahead. At issue is nothing less than the fundamental ques7on 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

To Be Fair…

"He will use those weapons of mass destruc7on again, as he has ten 7mes since

1983."

Sandy Berger, Clinton Na7onal Security Adviser,

Feb. 18, 1998

“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.”

May 26, 2004

üWhat is her/his self-interest?

üDoes anyone else say so?

üIs it fact, or assertion?

üHow would this source know?

üWho, exactly, is this source?

Today: Five Smart Questions About Sources:

Judging the Reliability of Sources

Named Sources Are Better Than Unnamed Sources

Authoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than Uninformed Sources

Independent Sources Are Better Than Self-Interested Sources

Sources Who Verify Are Better Than Sources Who Assert

Multiple Sources Are Better Than Single Sources

(Mnemonic Device: I’M VAIN)


Independent Sources Are Better Than

Self-Interested Sources

Self Interest vs. Selfishness Intellectual

Religion/poli7cs Familial/Roman7c

Financial

A Self-interested source…

An Independent source

Independence: Rival Praises Finding

Decoded DNA Reveals Details Of Black Death GermScien/sts have used DNA lurking inside the teeth of medieval Black Death vic/ms to figure out the en/re gene/c code of the deadly bacterium that swept across Europe more than 600 years ago, killing an es/mated half of the popula/on...

The Natural History Museum of Denmark's Thomas Gilbert is one of the scien/sts who tried to find plague DNA in Black Death vic/ms in the past without success. He says the new technique used in this study is exci/ng 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."

How is this source self-‐interested?Does that mean the story is unreliable?

NYT – (October 13, 2011) People with eaFng disorders like anorexia have opened up a new baKleground in the insurance wars, tesFng the boundaries of laws mandaFng equivalent coverage for mental illnesses.


Independence: A Ruthless Standard



Multiple Sources vs. Lone Source

Multiple Sources Trump a Lone Source?

Reconstructing the Blackwater Incident in Nusoor Square

In Pursuit of TruthBlackwater shooting


Sources Who Verify Are Better Than

Sources Who Assert

The Tokyo ci/zens’ group…in consulta/on with the Yokohama-‐based Isotope Research Ins/tute, 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 radioac/ve 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

Just Like We Always ask:

“Did the Reporter Open the Freezer?”

You can also ask”“Did the Source

Open the Freezer?

A Corollary to Last Week’s Lesson:


Authoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than

Un-informed Sources

Authoritative vs. Uninformed

Authoritative/Informed Sources vs. Un-informed Sources


Named Sources Are Better Than

Unnamed Sources

Who Was ‘Deep Throat’?

The Most Famous Unnamed Source in History





Characterizing Unnamed Sources

Vaccines are Dangerous?Sez Who?

Evaluating Anonymous Sources

TransparencyCharacterization

Corroboration (evidence/sources)

Evaluate The Sources

Sources Outlets

Evaluate The Source


Named Sources Are Better Than Unnamed Sources

Authoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than Uninformed Sources


Sources Who Verify Are Better Than Sources Who Assert


(Mnemonic Device: I’M VAIN)

Evaluate Sources

Key Lesson:

Evaluate Sources

Evaluate Sources

Evaluate SourcesTo Find Reliable Information

With Which You:Make a decision

Take ActionMake a judgment

Preparing to Deconstruct the News

1) What Do I Know?

2) How Do I Know It?

3) What Don’t I Know?

• Take-home style exam

• Submitted on Turnitin.com

• Available November 2

• Due November 8

• Short answer and essay on material presented up to Week 6.

• Study guide now online

Midterm Exam

351 lecture_9

News & Politics

reliability of sources

uninformed sources

sources matter

better thanuninformed

source selfinterested

lone source

fair iraq

biological weapons