This document provides an overview of news literacy in the information age. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of finding information online, how to identify reliable sources, and how to minimize disadvantages. Key points include: the growth of internet usage, top news sites, information overload online, challenges like inaccurate information and blurred lines between news and opinion, and how to evaluate websites based on factors like date of content, citations, independence, and transparency of authorship. The document emphasizes that popularity and speed do not guarantee reliability and provides tips for fact checking information found online.

1. Week 15
News Literacy
in the Information Age

3. Who Is George Turklebaum?

5. Three Questions Today:
1. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of finding information
on the Web?
2. How do you identify reliable
information on the Web?
3. How can you minimize the
disadvantages and maximize the
advantages?

6. Context: The Growth of Online Usage
1968 First Internet-type file-sharing
1989 Tim Berners-Lee, working in Geneva (Switzerland)
invents World Wide Web
1995: 9% of Americans are online
2000: 57% of Americans are online
2010: 79% of Americans use the Internet
The Average American Adult Now Spends
13 Hours A Week on the Internet
Source: Harris Polls

7. News Sites on the
Internet
Versus, How We Get News

8. Where Top News Sites Stand
Overall
Alexa.com
Rankings 2011

9. Where Top News Sites Stand
Overall
#4 Overall
#53 Overall
#86 Overall
#87Overall
#44 Overall
#1 Overall
Alexa.com
Rankings 2011

10. What’s Changing?
Information Overload

11. Abundant information?
48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting
in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day
More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than
the 3 major US networks created in 60 years

12. The Information Age?

13. News on the Web -
Disadvantages
Emphasis on Speed Over
Accuracy
Blurring of Lines Between News,
Opinion, and Advertising

14. News on the Web -
Disadvantages
Abundance Doesn’t
Guarantee You’ll Choose
Quality
“Disinhibition Effect” Makes
Comment Sites Troll Habitat
Underfunding of Newsrooms
Erodes Quality of Journalism
With No “Filters” There Are
Also No Barriers to Partisans

15. News on the Web -
Disadvantages
Speed over accuracy

16. News on the Web -
Disadvantages
Lines blur between news,
advertising

17. News on the Web -
Disadvantages
• Privacy and

18. News on the Web -
Disadvantages
With no Filters, Partisans face few

19. Did the characteristics of reliable
information change when news moved
online?
Verification
Independence
Accountability
(Mnemonic device: “Via”)

20. News on the Web -
Advantages
• Fast • Customizabl
• Convenient e
• Democratic • Archival
• Participatory • Multimedia

21. Speed Kills…Errors
http://www.regrettheerror.com/

22. News on the Web
Up-to-date…Always,
Everywhere
New Forms of Delivery Make It

23. News judgment, democratized

24. The Web Empowers Watchdogs
http://www.psdisasters.com

25. How the Internet is Changing the
News
With RSS
feeds, you
choose
the news that
comes to you.

26. News Comes To You,
Customized

27. 27

28. The Internet Provides Information in New
Ways
Newsday plots crime reports on a map

29. On the Web, You Distribute News
News Can Disseminate Quickly
on Social Networking Sites Like Twitter

30. On the Web, you also gather
news

31. The Consequence of Increased User
Power is…
You
Have More
Responsibility
“With great power comes
great responsibility,”
-Uncle Ben

32. Your Responsibility:
Judging Reliability

33. How Do We Know What to Trust?
MartinLutherKing.org

34. How Do We Know What to
Trust?
MartinLutherKing.org

35. How Do We Know What to
Trust?

36. How Do We Know What to
Trust?
Stormfront.org

37. Key Lesson
Rank ≠ Reliability

38. How Do We Know What to
Trust?
Facebook Updates

39. Key Lesson:
Popularity ≠
Reliability

40. Evaluating Web Pages:
V
• Dates for page creation
IA
and content updates are
provided
• Links are working (don’t
lead to dead or outdated
pages)
• Information on the page
is not out of date

41. Evaluating Web Pages:
• Information is IA
V independent and
verifiable
• Multiple sources are cited,
ideally with a variety of
viewpoints
• Links out to
reputable ,
independent,
or authoritative sites
• News and opinion are
clearly labeled

42. Evaluating Web Pages:
VIA
The person/organization
providing the
information is
INDEPENDENT, informed
and knowledgeable. By
virtue of experience,
data collection,
observation, training,
credentials, access, they

43. Evaluating Web Pages:
VIA
• “About Us” easily found,
and with robust
information about
funding, ownership,
contact numbers for
corrections, etc.

44. Look at the ‘About Us’
Page
Can You Identify Who Is Responsible For the
Site?

45. Who Runs
the Site?
Look Up Who
Owns and
Runs the Site
on “Whois”

46. .COM
.COM can be purchased by any
person or company from any country
 It is suggested that .COM be
reserved for commercial interests
(businesses). There are no
restrictions for use.

47. .ORG
.ORG can be purchased by any
person or company from any country
.ORG is often used to denote
Organizations, specifically Non-Profit
Organizations, BUT, there are no
restrictions for use.

48. .NET
.NET can be purchased by any
person or company from any country
 It is suggested that .NET be
reserved for internet providers and
the like, BUT there are no
restrictions.

49. .EDU
.EDU IS RESTRICTED!
 It can only be used by regionally
accredited, degree granting
institutions. Each institution may
only hold a single .EDU domain.
Mostly used for US schools.

50. .GOV
.GOV IS RESTRICTED!
 It can only be used by United
States governmental organizations.
Registration is done through the
US government directly.

51. How do we know WHOM to trust?

52. The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New
Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20)only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the
copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.
52

53. Information on the Web:
Advantages and
Disadvantages

54. Wikipedia Edits
Aren’t Always Accurate
John Seigenthaler’s Wikipedia

55. Wikipedia Responds to
Criticism and Adds
Editors

56. Watch for tags, warnings, and captions . . .
. . . which can help you spot problems in articles.

57. Due Diligence

58. Shortcuts: Is It a Hoax?
Check Snopes

59. Look who we found on Snopes…

62. Reviewing this Lecture:
Information on the Web:
Advantages and disadvantages
How to identify reliable
information on the Web
How to Minimize the
Disadvantages and Maximize
the Advantages

63. The Big Lessons
You have the power
to slow down the rush of information
Don’t Let The Speed of Information
Drive the Pace of Your Critical Thinking
Rank and popularity do not guarantee
reliability
Remember VIA!

64. Due today
• Final Essay
• TV deconstruction
assignment (NewsU)

65. Extra credit
• Student rating of this class (release
your name)

66. Final Exam
• Emailed to you tonight
• Four questions, 25 points
each
• Last half of the course

67. Farewell....