Class slides

1. Analyzing
Sources
Nicole Branch
Santa Clara
University
Library
Image courtesy of Flickr user DeShaun Craddock
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.

2. Today we will…
• Define and recognize media bias, and editorial perspective
• Define elements to evaluate and analyze when considering media
sources
• Use Trust Indicators as a way to analyze the quality and rhetoric of a
source
Image courtesy of Flickr user Dave
Crosby.

3. Platform
Shares content
Does not produce original
content
Not responsible for
content/journalistic
practices/standards
News Outlet
Shares content
Produces content, through
individual reporters/journalists
Responsible for journalistic
practices/standards
Not all news outlets have the
same standards

4. Our media consumption
• Brainstorm media sources
• Include any you know about (like/dislike)
• Share in the chat

6. Reflection
• How was it (hard, difficult) completing this exercise?
• What kinds of things did you consider when deciding where to place
things?
• Was there anything you felt could fall into more than one category
and why?

7. Image courtesy of Flickr user Dave
Crosby.

8. Defining Terms
• Media bias
• Journalistic standards
• Editorial perspective

9. Media Bias
• Information that is unfair, unbalanced or incomplete
• Often lacks context and diversity
• May rely on stereotypes, loaded imagery, easy explanations or highly
partisan influence
• Can be intentional or as a result of poor journalistic practices

10. Speaking of journalistic standards…
Code of Ethics
• Seek the truth and report it
• Minimize harm
• Act independently
• Be accountable and transparent
⮚ Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics

11. Editorial perspective
• Every reporter, editor or publisher has a point of view.
• Transparent POV vs. hidden POV
• Types of news sources (editorials, blogs, investigative journalism)

12. Trust Indicators:
Determining validity and biases
of sources

13. • Launched in 2017
• Partner with news
companies and search
engines/social media
companies
• Developed “Trust
Indicators” based on
interviews with real
people

14. Trust Indicators
• Best Practices
• Author/Reporter Expertise
• Type of Work
• Citations and References
• Methods
• Locally Sourced
• Diverse Voices
Newspapers by Dave Crosby is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

15. Best Practices
• What are the news
outlet’s standards?
• Who funds it?
• Is there a mission
statement?
• Is there any information
about commitments to
ethics, diverse voices,
accuracy, making
corrections and other
standards?

16. Author/Reporter
Expertise
• Who wrote this?
• Can you find any
relevant details or
information about the
journalist(s), their
expertise, credentials,
other stories they have
worked on?

17. Type of Work
• What is this?
• Are there any labels to
distinguish opinion,
analysis and advertiser
(or sponsored) content
from news reports?

18. Citations and
References
• What are the sources?
• For investigative or in-
depth stories, is there
access to the sources
behind the facts and
assertions?

19. Methods
• How was this story
built?
• Also, for in-depth
stories, is there
information about why
reporters chose to
pursue a story and how
they went about the
process?

20. Locally Sourced
• Do you know when the
story has local origin or
expertise?
• Was the reporting done
on the scene, with deep
knowledge about the
local situation or
community?

21. Diverse Voices
• What are the
newsroom’s efforts and
commitment to bringing
in diverse perspectives?
• Are certain voices,
ethnicities, or political
persuasions missing?

22. Questions?
Nicole Branch
Subject Librarian
nbranch@scu.edu
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curriculum created by Amy Sonnie,
Emily Weak, Kathleen DiGiovanni and Christine Ianieri, Oakland Public Library.