Lesson 3: Identifying Quality Journalism

In this lesson we will examine the concept of opinion journalism and learn to distinguish between opinion journalism and "trash talk." We will also learn two mneumonics that help us evaluate information that we receive. One will remind us how to tell if a piece of information is news or something else. The other will help us remember that factors that are used to judge how reliable an news story is.

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Explain the role of opinion in journalism.
Identify true opinion journalism.
Explain the difference between journalism and other information sources.
Use the VIA and IMVAIN mneumonics to explain the differences between journalism and other information neighborhoods and the factors used to judge the reliability of a news story respectively.
Summarize the characteristics of quality journalism.

Following Up On Lesson 2

Let's start with a class discussion of the questions below. Based on the topics discussed in lesson 2:

What questions, if any, still remain unanswered? What additional information do you need on the topics covered in lesson 2?
What did you include on your list of news drivers? Let's see if we can further refine the list by including the whole class in the discussion.
What is the difference between sites like Google News, AOL News, and Yahoo! News and sites like The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast? Is this difference important? What is the impact on news consumers? What does it mean to you?
Does how you get your news (print, radio, television, Internet, cell phone) make a difference in the type of news you are exposed to? If so, how and why? Let's look at the results of the class survey and get an idea of what news sources are important to the class.

Other People's Opinions - Who Needs Them?

WARNING! The following discussion may get heated. Keep it civil. Remember the point of this exercise is to learn to recognize when someone is presenting their opinion rather facts. The point is NOT to change your classmate's position on any issue. If you find yourself having a problem listening to opinions different than your own, please take a moment to read Section 4: Be Reasonable and A How-To List for Dysfunctional Living in Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking. Remember listening to someone else's opinion doesn't mean you have to agree with that opinion.

During the Who's A Journalist? exercise in lesson 2, we discovered that many of the people evaluated were actually know for providing their opinion or commentary on topics rather than providing actual news reporting. However, some of those same people hold positions at highly respected news outlets. Why is that? What's the connection? What are some indications that something is an opinion piece rather than a news report? In your groups, discuss and document the role of opinion in journalism. Because you may not be familiar with reading this type of material and to help you understand the difference between true opinion journalism and just plain out opinion, include a review of the stories below as part of your discussion. Decide which are examples of true opinion journalism and are not.

How the Food Industry Eats Your Kid’s Lunch
Glenn Beck You Are Not Alone The 9 12 Project
Bill O'Reilly: Nancy Grace On The Casey Anthony Verdict
Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Things to think about:

What is the purpose of the editorial section of a newspaper? What types of pieces are included there?
How can you tell when someone is engaging in true opinion journalism? What are some good practices for journalists engaged in this type of journalism to follow?
What are the benefits of opinion journalism?
How do news reporting and opinion journalism work together?

Taking it further:

Do you think some commentators discuss their opinion to get people worked up? Does it happen on both sides of the political spectrum? Is it just about politics? Or is something else going on? How do you refer to those people?
What is bias? What are some clues that information being presented to you is biased information?
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of cognitive dissonance, do some reason to make yourself familiar with the concept. Think about the benefits and disadvantages of cognitive dissonance in terms of improving your thinking skills.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of confirmation bias, do a search on that phrase. Think of topics that you feel strongly or passionately about. Have you ever been guilty of confirmation bias? How so? Why do you think that is?

Quality Journalism

Let's build upon our understanding of the news media and journalism by investigating the characteristics of quality journalism. Going back to lesson 1 and our information neighborhoods exercise where we created a chart showing the differences between various information neighborhoods, what is it about journalism that makes it different from the other information neighborhoods? Once you understand what sets journalism apart, think about how you would define quality journalism. Work with your group to discuss, decide, and document the results of your discussion.

Things to think about: There's a mneumonic for remembering the main things that set journalism apart from other information neighborhoods. It's VIA. What do the letters VIA represent?

What are the 5 W's and 1 H of journalism? What questions should news reporting answer?
What do people use news information for? How does that relate to characteristics of quality journalism?
There is a mneumonic to help you remember some of the factors used to determine the quality of a news story. The mneumonic is IMVAIN. Try to work out what each letter stands for.
Do news stories change over time? Can you think of examples? What do you think happens in cases like that?
After today's discussions, does the definition of news that you came up with need to change? If so, please update it.

Preparation For The Next Lesson

Think back to lesson 1 and reflect on your personal definition of "news."
The name of this course is News Literacy. What does that phrase mean to you? How do you relate it to the topics we've discussed in class?
Do you think news literacy is important? Why or why not? Think about whether or not you've learned anything in this course that might cause a change in your behaviour. Why have you decided to change?

Exploring Further On Your Own

FactCheck.org
SPJ Code of Ethics | Society of Professional Journalists
Code Words | The SPJ Ethics Committee Blog
SPJ Applauds ABC For New Checkbook Journalism Policy
How To Detect Bias In News Media
Op-Ed: Public 'Sins,' Media Bias And How To Gain Trust In The News

News Literacy Overview
News Literacy Glossary
News Literacy Lesson 1
News Literacy Lesson 2
News Literacy Lesson 4
Porfolio Page
ETAP 623 Fall 2011