Media Literacy Assignment 2

This assignment has multiple parts. You’ll complete a few simple activities, then write a short reflection on what you learned and what insights you gained.

1. Visit the Pew Research Center website and take the 10-question quiz on distinguishing factual and opinion news statements: http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/news-statements-quiz/

Note your results to include in your reflection paper.

2. Visit at least two reputable news websites of your choice to look for articles on a single news topic of current interest. Choose one news story and one opinion piece on the same selected topic to evaluate. Note that opinion pieces are often labeled as opinion, analysis, or editorial. Copy and paste the exact URL of each piece to include in your reflection paper. If you would like, use the Fake News Checklist pdf included here to help ensure your articles are from a reputable source.

3. Carefully read the two pieces you have chosen. Be aware that reputable news stories sometimes include opinions, such as in a direct quotation from a named source, and opinion pieces sometimes include facts, such as statistics or other information to support the writer’s arguments. Note significant statements of fact and of opinion in the two articles you are evaluating. Consider the following questions: Are opinion statements you find in the news article the opinion of the writer or are they quotations properly attributed to a named source? In the opinion piece, how does the writer try to persuade you to agree with his or her argument? For factual statements, what objective evidence does the writer provide to indicate that the factual statement is accurate?

4. Write a short (200-300 word) response paper reflecting on your ability to distinguish fact from opinion in news coverage. Include at least one sentence about your results on the Pew quiz and a few sentences about what you learned by analyzing the news and opinion pieces on the current news topic. Be sure to include complete, correct URLs for the two pieces you analyzed. Proofread your paper to ensure you used correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You may copy and paste the response into this assignment or upload a Word document as an attachment.