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 Checklist:
Detroit Free Press
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
HTML INFORMATION: To make your links in a comment "clickable" use this formula:
< a href="URL GOES HERE">url or key word here< /a >
REMEMBER to remove spaces before the < and > brackets!
Note: Top image, "Fact or Crap," from Calendars.com.au.
"Nuclear, renewables options to coal Proposed Peace River plant will cost $9.4B to build, forum hears"
ReplyDeleteIn the first line an improper use of the word alternative can be found: Alberta needs to find alternatives to coal-fired power generation plants, and nuclear power can be part of the mix, a forum heard Sunday.
Of course alternative is meant to be singualr, not plural.
Link to site: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Nuclear+renewables+options+coal/2507629/story.html
"Relief Groups Seek Alternative Routes to Get Aid Moving"
ReplyDeleteThe improper use of the word 'Alternative' here is the grammatical error. The word 'alternative' implies only ONE other choice, while the word 'routes' is plural, implying more than once choice and subsequently contradicts the meaning of the word before it.
Here's the link to the original story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/americas/16relief.html?scp=1&sq=Alternative&st=cse
"Every so often we are lucky enough to witness a game of such magnitude and enormity that it needs no introduction. "
ReplyDeleteThe word enormity, as we learnt today in class, does not mean size, but rather means outrageous or wickedness. Because of this, the word is being used incorrectly in the quote above. The correct sentence would appear as such:
"Every so often we are lucky enough to witness a game of such magnitude that it needs no introduction. "
See the article for yourself!
In the article Living down to Earth.
ReplyDelete"Health Canada advises we seek low-emission alternatives for all, if we can."
Alternatives should be options because an alternative is when there is one other option. Any more than two and it becomes options.
"Health Canada advises we seek low-emission options for all, if we can."
An article written in the February 1st issue of the online version of the Edmonton Journal by Chris Zdeb, titled "Accessing the inner vixen, Hip Hop in Heels empowers women to embrace their sexy side", has a few problems.
ReplyDeleteTYPO MISTAKE
First, the last line in the seventh paragraph has an unnecesary hard return after the word “heels”, which makes the rest of the sentence look like a new line. To fix this typo problem, put a comma after the word heels and press the backspace key until the word “that” is beside the word “heels”, making the sentence complete.
MISIDENTIFICATION MISTAKE
Next the second paragraph uses the term “more loose”. To fix this problem change the word to be “looser”.
MISUSED PRONOUN
The third paragraph from the end uses the words “than myself” when the correct word to use would be “me”.
In the St. Albert Gazette I found an error in the subhead of an article which was posted on March 12, 2008.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2008/0312/enviro1.htm
The subhead reads:
"Better alternatives available, Green candidate argues"
The term "alternatives" is used incorrectly, this isn't even a word. The term alternative refers to having only two options, having multipe options would be better stated as such. For example:
Better options available, Green candidate argues
This would make this subhead grammatically correct.
Edmonton Sun error: dilemma
ReplyDeleteThe use of the word dilemma is incorrect.
"Fox executives likely were faced with this simple dilemma. Cowell’s contract was ending, and he wanted to leave American Idol to start up The X Factor. So rather than losing him completely, Fox now will have both shows, even if they sort of mow each other’s lawns."
Correction: Fox exectuvies likely were faced with this simple decision.
Things aren't so bright at The Sun.
ReplyDeleteHere's there mistake:
"The enormity of the disaster means thousands of bodies are left untended as rescue workers continue to try to save the living trapped beneath the rubble."
I would've simply used the word magnitude.