Vetting the Media
We used to read newspapers and watch the 7:00 news shows. Not any longer. Since we're getting our news from all sorts of sources, here are some questions to ask yourself about your news source of choice (Kovach, 32):
- What kind of content am I encountering?
- Is the information complete; and if not, what is missing?
- Who or what are the sources, and why should I believe them?
- What evidence is presented, and how was it tested or vetted?
- What might be an alternative explanation or understanding?
- Am I learning what I need to?
When I realized that all the politicians and newspapers nationwide were reading the early editions of the New York Times to decide what stories they needed to spin that day, I started reading the NYT religiously. Things are shifting since the NYT has started charging for its site (although that charging seems to pretty non-intrusive, even for this pretty heavy user). I've been pausing a bit to decide whether I'll pay the Times for their content or trust other sites to give me "good enough" news. That list, above, will be part of the test process I use as I look at new sites and sources. The news business is in the midst of disruption. What to do is an interesting question.
Reference
Kovach, Bill and Tom Rosenstiel. Blur: how to know what’s true in the age of information overload. Bloomsbury USA. 2010.