1. Week 8
Sources

2. • Take-home style exam
• Submitted on
Turnitin.com
Midterm • Available November 2
Exam
• Due November 8
• Short answer and essay
on material presented
up to Week 6.
• Study guide now online

3. Says Who?
Critical Evaluation
of Sources interviewed
for News Reports

4. Smart Questions About Sources:
 What is her/his self-interest?
 Does anyone else say so?
 Is it verified fact, or assertion?
 How would this source know?
 Who, exactly, is this source?

5. Critical Thinking is…
Critical Thinking skills:

6. Why Sources Matter

7. What Are the Consequences
When The Press Gets it Wrong?
U.S. Invades Iraq to Capture WMD

8. Why Critical Thinking About Sources Matters

9. To Be Fair…
"Saddam Hussein has spent the be1er part of
this decade, and much of his na7on's wealth,
not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on
developing nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons and the missiles to deliver them."
President Clinton, Jan. 27, 1998.

10. To Be Fair…
"Iraq is a long way from [here], but
what happens there ma1ers a great
deal here. For the risks that the leaders
of a rogue state will use nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons against
us or our allies is the greatest security
threat we face."
Madeleine Albright, Feb. 18, 1998.

11. To Be Fair…
"Fateful decisions will be made in the days
and weeks ahead. At issue is nothing less than
the fundamental ques7on of whether or not we
can keep the most lethal weapons known to
mankind out of the hands of an unreconstructed
tyrant and aggressor …”
Sen. Joe Biden (D, DE), Feb. 12, 1998

12. To Be Fair…
"He will use those weapons of mass
destruc7on again, as he has ten 7mes since
1983."
Sandy Berger,
Clinton Na7onal Security Adviser,
Feb. 18, 1998

14. “The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject
matter, but many shared a common feature. They
depended at least in part on information from a circle of
Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on ‘regime
change’ in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under
increasing public debate in recent weeks.”
May 26, 2004

15. Today: Five Smart Questions About
Sources:
What is her/his self-interest?
Does anyone else say so?
Is it fact, or assertion?
How would this source know?
Who, exactly, is this source?

18. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Independent Sources Are Better Than Self-Interested Sources
Multiple Sources Are Better Than Single Sources
Sources Who Verify Are Better Than Sources Who Assert
Authoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than Uninformed Sources
Named Sources Are Better Than Unnamed Sources
(Mnemonic Device: I’M VAIN)

19. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Independent Sources
Are Better Than
Self-Interested Sources

20. Self Interest vs. Selfishness
Intellectual
Religion/poli7cs Familial/Roman7c
Financial

21. A Self-interested
source…

22. An Independent source

23. Independence: Rival Praises Finding
Decoded DNA Reveals Details Of Black Death Germ
Scien/sts have used DNA lurking inside the teeth of
medieval Black Death vic/ms to figure out the en/re
gene/c code of the deadly bacterium that swept
across Europe more than 600 years ago, killing an
es/mated half of the popula/on...
The Natural History Museum of Denmark's Thomas
Gilbert is one of the scien/sts who tried to find plague
DNA in Black Death vic/ms in the past without
success. He says the new technique used in this study
is exci/ng and the analysis is compelling. "It's a great
result. It looks very, very convincing," Gilbert says.
"There's no reason why the data shouldn't be real."

24. NYT – (October 13, 2011) People with ea/ng disorders like
How is this source self‐interested?
anorexia have opened up a new baYleground in the insurance
Does that mean the story is unreliable?
wars, tes/ng the boundaries of laws manda/ng equivalent
coverage for mental illnesses.

25. Independent Sources Are Better Than Self-Interested Sources

26. Independence: A Ruthless Standard

27. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Multiple Sources
Are Better Than
Single Sources

28. Multiple Sources vs. Lone Source

29. Multiple Sources Trump a Lone Source?

30. Reconstructing the Blackwater
Incident in Nusoor Square

31. In Pursuit of Truth
Blackwater shooting

32. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Sources Who Verify
Are Better Than
Sources Who Assert

33. Verifying or Asserting?
The Tokyo ci/zens’ group…in
consulta/on with the Yokohama‐based
Isotope Research Ins/tute, collected soil
samples from near their own homes.
Some of the results were shocking: the
sample that Mr. Hayashida collected
under shrubs near his neighborhood
baseball field in the Edogawa ward
measured nearly 138,000 becquerels
per square meter of radioac/ve cesium
137, which can damage cells and lead to
an increased risk of cancer.

34. Verifying or Asserting?

35. Sources Who Verify vs.
Sources Who Assert

36. A Corollary to Last Week’s Lesson:
Just Like We
Always ask:
“Did the Reporter
Open the Freezer?”
You can also ask”
“Did the Source
Open the Freezer?

37. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Authoritative/Informed Sources
Are Better Than
Un-informed Sources

38. Authoritative vs.
Uninformed

39. Authoritative/Informed Sources vs. Un-informed Sources

40. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Named Sources
Are Better Than
Unnamed Sources

43. Who Was ‘Deep Throat’?
The Most Famous Unnamed Source in History

44. Who Was ‘Deep Throat’?
The Most Famous Unnamed Source in History

45. Who Was ‘Deep Throat’?
The Most Famous Unnamed Source in History

46. Characterizing Unnamed Sources

47. Vaccines are Dangerous?
Sez Who?

48. Evaluating Anonymous Sources
Transparency
Characterization
Corroboration (evidence/sources)

49. Evaluate The Sources

50. Evaluate The Sources

51. Sources Outlets

52. Evaluate The Source

54. Judging the Reliability of Sources
Independent Sources Are Better Than Self-Interested Sources
Multiple Sources Are Better Than Single Sources
Sources Who Verify Are Better Than Sources Who Assert
Authoritative/Informed Sources Are Better Than Uninformed Sources
Named Sources Are Better Than Unnamed Sources
(Mnemonic Device: I’M VAIN)

55. Key Lesson:
Evaluate Sources
Evaluate Sources
Evaluate Sources

56. Evaluate Sources
To Find Reliable Information
With Which You:
Make a decision
Take Action
Make a judgment

57. Preparing to Deconstruct the News
1) What Do I Know?
2) How Do I Know It?
3) What Don’t I Know?

58. • Take-home style exam
• Submitted on
Turnitin.com
Midterm • Available November 2
Exam
• Due November 8
• Short answer and essay
on material presented
up to Week 6.
• Study guide now online