Activity 1:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/rheingold/detail?entry_id=42805
Perform the “CRAP” test on Rheinghold’s article
Write a blog entry (not a comment) on your findings
Include an image that relates to your topic
Remember: remain professional and neutral in your writing style and tone
CRAP Test:
Currency –
- How recent is the information?
- How recently has the website been updated?
- Is it current enough for your topic?
- What kind of information is included in the resource?
- Is content of the resource primarily opinion? Is it balanced?
- Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?
- Who is the creator or author?
- What are the credentials?
- Who is the publisher or sponsor?
- Are they reputable?
- What is the publisher’s interest (if any) in this information?
- Are there advertisements on the website?
- Is this fact or opinion?
- Is it biased?
- Is the creator/author trying to sell you something?
Examples of Common Mistakes
Names and titles - these go wrong more than anything else
Numbers and math – “Anytime journalists get their hands on numbers and math there’s a huge probability that things will go wrong” ~ Craig Silverman
Typos -You can blame spell check programs for some of these though it's best not to rely on these programs
Misquotes and misidentifications – “I’ve seen a lot of men become women, mothers become daughters" (Silverman). It can get really bad when identifications are mixed up and a crime is involved.
Activity 2:
Go online
Look for a factual or grammatical error in a local news publication
Add your finding (with a link to the original article) and correction as a comment to today’s lecture post
20 minutes
Checklists:
In a 2000 article for the British Medical Journal, James Reason (one of the world’s leading researchers of human error) emphasised that “it is often the best people who make the worst mistakes - error is not the monopoly of an unfortunate few.”
Examples of Checklists:
Detroit Free Press and the San Jose Mercury News
We Regret the Error - Accuracy Checklist:
Activity 3:
Find a news story in a local publication
Go on a fact-checking mission
Complete as many of the accuracy check-list points
Create a blog post
Include all bibliographic information of your chosen story
Include your analysis of accuracy errors and corrections
Embed an image appropriate to your topic
Write a short paragraph on the importance of accuracy in journalism
Homework:
Read Chapter 4
Note: Top image, "Fact or Crap," from Calendars.com.au.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/columnists/yukon_jack/2010/01/09/12402706-sun.html
ReplyDeleteA column in the Sun by noted radio personality Yukon Jack contains the word "octopi". Octopi is not a real word, as it applies Latin naming conventions to the Greek word "octopus". Technically, it should by "octopodes", or just plain "octopuses".
"I'm not in a position at the moment to confirm or refute the weighted numbers. What we've been going by is the actual numbers," -- Edmonton Police Chief pledges to solve more crimes, Dec 18, 2009
ReplyDeleteIt is 'to confirm or DENY the weighted numbers. This police chief should stick to words he knows, and stop trying to sound so magniloquent when he speaks to the press.
Here be a reference for ye.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/plurals
http://www.edmontonsun.com/sports/football/2009/08/12/10433856-sun.html
ReplyDeleteThe enormity (outrageousness) of this lead shocks and disturbs me: "It doesn't take a big guy to realize the enormity of tomorrow's game against the Calgary Stampeders."
Tool.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Basement+workouts+hard+core/2481308/story.html
ReplyDelete"It gives me the sense that people are looking for alternatives besides going to the gym."
Alternatives is the word that was used incorrectly. The correct way to say this sentence is "It gives me the sense that people are lookinf for other options besides going to the gym.
"Finally, the myriad problems of the United States -- which, given its prominence become the world's dilemmas, especially here -- were going to be sorted out by adults. The troubles were manifold, and not easily fixed, but change offered brilliant promise".
ReplyDeleteFrom:http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/editorials/capitals+year+later/2458032/story.html
This story has a grammatical error near the beginning of the sentence. "Finally, the myriad problems..." should have the preposition "of" between myriad and problem in order to make the word myriad belong to the word problems.
http://www.stonyplainreporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2273824
ReplyDelete"Stony Plain RCMP received a call on Saturday around 9:30 p.m. from a concerned parent who 15-year-old son and his 15-year-old friend had gone snowmobiling near Carvel but had run out of gas."
This is the expand the lead from an article from the Stony Plain Reporter. For this to be gramatically correct, "who" should be changed to "whose." As well, the end ("but had run out of gas") sounds a bit awkward; ideally, this sentence should be split into two seperate sentencees.
http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/lifestyle/story.html?id=dd3b18bd-a39b-4104-8999-ad840cb9597c
ReplyDeleteThe Edmonton Journal has, in more than one occasion, misspelled the name of a local fashion designer (who happens to be my sister) Cherrie Cruz.
http://www.intercamp.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=744:friendship-in-the-modern-era&catid=38:opinion&Itemid=30
ReplyDelete"But the busier our lives get, the more demanding we are to have fast and frictionless friendships."
Corrected: As our lives become busier, the more they demand fast and frictionless friendships.
Still a dumb sentence...
This is the heart of the dilemma: How do universities reconcile a "scholarly obligation to search for the truth in an honest and open manner" with the pursuit of knowledge to maximize corporate profits?
ReplyDeleteThis is NOT a dilemma, because "truth in an honest and open manner," along with "the pursuit of knowledge," are two positives. Where are the negatives?
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/corporate+values+undermine+universities/2401441/story.html
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Girls+just+wanna+have+style/2431963/story.html
ReplyDeleteThe leap to grown-up clothes brought grown-up problems -- namely, when sexy outfits elicited leering looks from adults -- something a 12-year-old who likes horses, candy and dolls might not know how to deal with.
The tween years continue to present a fashion dilemma to girls and their parents, said Elena Grant. This is how the mother of three came to start Sofia-bella ( sofiabella.ca),an age-appropriate online boutique for girls that launched in September.
The tweens aren't choosing between two negative outcomes therefore it is a problem rather than a dilemma. The writer is using "dilemma" and "problem" synonymously.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/citizenship+guide+opens+chapter+history+immigrants/2209362/story.html
ReplyDeleteAll Canadians need to understand the enormity of sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform.
As stated earlier, enormity does not pertain to size.
No space after bracket......
ReplyDelete“[The event]was to engage participants in dialogue as to what types of initiatives should be engaged upon through the committee, and to discuss and acknowledge the unique issues of GLBTQ students, staff, and faculty at MacEwan,” said John-Paul Hermano, Vice-President Academic of the Students’ Association. Hermano is at the helm of the diversity initiative at the
University http://www.intercamp.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=751:breaking-down-barriers-to-achieve-diversity&catid=34:news&Itemid=28
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/haiti/2010/01/26/12620726.html
ReplyDeleteIt is seize the day, but has suddenly become more urgent here, as people fight to be heard and fight to survive.
I can't tell what this sentence means
their efforts overshadowed only by the enormity of the tragedy.
ReplyDeletemmmm,yes.
Octopi ain't no word, son.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete