Freshman Year Seminar

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Dominique M. Sears
Due September 17, 2014
Freshman Year Seminar
Were you Just Persuaded by Misinformation?
The controversy surrounding student athletes' salaries has become a topic of intense
debate in recent weeks. In an Article from Newsday, Michael Dobie supplies his take on the
topic. Though, at first, it reads like a factual article, informing the reader regarding the
ongoing dispute around college students' labor status, a second reading and deeper
examination reveal that Dobie is in fact heavily opinionated. Dobie's bias in favor of student
athletes is clear in his language, his sources, and the way he presents his information.
Language is a powerful indicator of bias. While two words may have the same
dictionary definition, their emotional meanings may be very different. Words like sham and
hypocrisy have no positive meaning, and the author's opinion on the matter is obvious from
his use of these words to describe the NCAA. Betrayed and threatening are used to describe
the NCAA's interactions with college athletes, painting the students in question as victims of
the regulatory organizations. (Dobie, Michael." A Rim-rattling..."). Text designed to produce
an emotional impact can't be unbiased, and therefore Dobie is writing an opinion piece,
whether he realizes it or not.
Dobie makes several important claims in his article. Like anyone writing an
informational piece, he must support these positions for them to be credible. However, the
article includes no works cited, no quotes, and no credited sources. Dobie could be making

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up every word of his stories about athletes being victimized by the NCAA. To make a
educated decision on this article you must read every word, and check every argument
Dobie makes. Checking the Newsday Website and browsing every database you can find
nothing on Dobie except that Dobie works at Newsday as a member of the editorial board
(Dobie, Michael. "We can Build..."). Further research show that the Magazine/ Website is
completely opinionated. Its not scholarly so using it in a paper would be inappropriate to use
for a debate or actual evidence.
The way Dobie presents his information is an important indication of bias, as well.
While a neutral author would have simply written "A new ruling classifies college athletes as
employees, allowing them the benefits allowed to other industries like unionization and
wage bargaining." Dobie, on the other hand, sees fit to add extraneous wording, voicing his
dislike of the NCAA. "An ace has fallen from the NCAA's house of cards.", he says (Dobie,
Michael. "A Rim-rattling..."). It's clear from the presence of statements like this that Dobie is
not writing a factual article, but is instead forming an opinion piece.
From these telltale signs, the articles are clearly not factual. Further proof of this can
be found in a simple Google search for Dobie's name, revealing that he is on the Editorial
Board for Newsday, which means that his job is to write opinionated pieces to spark
discussion and debate. These articles would have been found in the Editorial section of a
newspaper and not presented as factual, but since they can now be found online on the
newspaper's Web site, they could easily be mistaken for fact.

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In another sense he is for the cause. But only because it is obvious that he is a fan of
sports. Even if it was opinion-based he is not a coach, student- athlete, or part of the NCAA.
Therefore he is not able to give a credible statement. Using this article could help the
researcher form an opinion but not be able to argue with it.
Dobie starts off his article by saying in March of this year that the National Relations
Board ruled that football players at Northwestern University were indeed employees not
student-athletes. In fact this statement is true but the information was found on a more
credible site. The Nation published a section about The National Labor Relations Boards
ruling in Northwestern University players. The article was written by Dave Zirin. It was a
small article in the magazine, very short and just stated the facts (Zirin).But even though it
was in a magazine, is may be false information as well. That is why a smart reader should
check everything about the article; starting with the author. Zirin is a sports editor for The
Nation with multiple books and is also in a host on a Sports Sirius XM radio (Dave). Next you
check the company/ website it was published. The Nation is a nonbiased magazine that
pushes toward equal distribution of information ("About and Contact..."). That is just one
example, and the claim happened to be true. But the information credited through a
nonbiased site and from a experienced professional, who writes and talks about sports for
an occupation. The difference between the credibility of the writers is staggering. Yet when
a researcher reads the two articles. Dobie and Zirin make many of the same points but Zirin
is more qualified and is completely non-biased. If Dobie was qualified in the world of sports
or even working in NCAA, then he would be credible.

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Misinformation has grown rapid through the use of the internet. On the internet you
an post your opinion, wrong or not, where everyone has access to it. While doing research
each article, website, author, and publisher have to be checked and investigated. Just
because a site has ".edu" or ".org" does not make it credible. Even a book from a library has
to be researched and be found credible. In a nutshell Dobie and his article "A Rim-rattling
Ruling in College Sports; Athletes aren't blind to the billions they earn for the NCAA, Change
in Coming..." and all of the articles on sports he may write, unless cited, with professionals
and credible beings, is strictly opinion and can be used to misinform. Dobie uses emotion to
persuade a reader to believe in his opinion. To help cease the spread of wrong information,
a reader must investigate every article read and decide whether its credible enough to be
used in conversation, class, or any research paper. With these skills, a reader can make
informed decisions, and can make the smart determination between a Dobie article and a
Zirin article.

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Works Cited
"About and Contact | The Nation." About and Contact | The Nation. N.p., n.d. Web.
17 Sept. 2014.
Dobie, Michael. "A Rim-rattling Ruling in College Sports; Athletes Aren't Blind to the
Billions They Earn for the NCAA. Change Is Coming..." Newsday. N.p., 30 Mar. 2014. Web.
15.Sept. 2014.
Dobie, Michael. "We Can Build - and Still Protect Water;." Newsday. N.p., 17 Aug.
2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
Zirin, Dave. "Are Student Athletes Workers?." Nation N.p., April 21, 2014. Web 16
Sept. Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 17, 2014.
"Dave Zirin | The Nation." Dave Zirin | The Nation. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.