Media Literacy for Student Fact Checkers
An Introduction to Writing in the University | Summer 2019 @ Cornell University
Continue reading “Move 3 (cont’d): Reading laterally on recent studies”Most studies are data points–emerging evidence that lends weight to one conclusion or another but does not resolve questions definitively. What we want as a fact-checker is not data points, but the broad consensus of experts. And the broad consensus of experts is rare.
Mike Caulfield, Chapter 20
Continue reading “Move 3: Read laterally”Lateral readers don’t spend time on the page or site until they’ve first gotten their bearings by looking at what other sites and resources say about the source at which they are looking.
—Mike Caulfield, Chapter 16
Continue reading “Move 2: Go upstream”Going upstream means following a piece of content to its true source, and beginning your analysis there. Your first question when looking at a claim on a page should be “Where did this come from, and who produced it?” The answer quite often has very little to do with the website you are looking at.
Chapter 10 of Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers
Today we will be busy talking about emotional+sharable content and practicing Caulfield’s first move by finding previous facts-checks and Wikipedia notes.
But first, let’s look at the schedule for our conferences for tomorrow: [link to schedule]. Even if you are scheduled for a conference during our class time, you’ll have time to work. Plan to do so independently: either on Fact-check #1, your assigned reading for Monday, or by bettering your WordPress site. If you find the room distracting, you are welcome to move to room 189.
When meeting with me, be ready by having your draft loaded and shared with me on Google Docs. We’ll read through the draft together a few times, looking for opportunities to add edits and comments, ultimately developing a plan for revision. You’ll then develop the draft from Google Docs into your first post on WordPress, which we’ll look at again next week.
Continue reading “Move 1: Looking for previous work”