Monday, October 24, 2022

3 TV (Not Really): A Report on Reporting???

From the text you just sent to the Twitter threads about celebrities cheating and the other thread about the great scheme of capitalism, people are constantly distributing information. Maybe it's valuable information or maybe it's just interesting, but either way someone in the world has access the things that we put out there. However, how often do we think to analyze the information we're given? Even if one were to go to all of their personally trusted websites, how can they tell they are being given credible information? 

Some people may say that they can tell information is credible if it is found in multiple sources or if it just makes sense logically. However, even information that is factual and logical can be skewed by personal bias, which can create slanted reporting. 

For instance, a news article in The Independent Arizonan, was discussing the amount of education funding that is available. Specifically, the article said that "Arizona's schools and teachers thought they had finally received  the funding Arizonan's voted for... Governor Ducey included $1 billion in new K-12 education funding that should have been available to Arizona schools on July 1, 2022" (Arizona). Although the article is not blatantly saying what they want to happen in response to this issue, their use of the words such as "finally" and "should" add emotion into what their saying, which leads the reader into feeling a certain way about a topic. 

This kind of reporting doesn't automatically make people believe one thing or another, but if people are unaware of how the wording of an article may be leading them in a certain direction, then they are more likely to be influenced. However, if more people can learn about how to spot slanted reporting, then they're more likely to be able to develop their own opinion rather than borrowing someone else's. 

-Celeste

Sources: 
 “Arizona Schools Waiting on Funding.” The Independent Arizonan.

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