Below is an element-by-element overview of the entire "Practicing Quality Journalism" lesson. To the left of longer elements, you will find short summaries of those elements. In each assessment element, a yellow highlight indicates a correct answer. Whenever relevant, we also include teacher tips💡and definitions of important words from NLP's word wall 💬*.*
Practicing Quality Journalism- Get Started
Not all information is created equal.
The standards of quality journalism function like a set of guidelines that journalists follow as they report and present news stories.
Identifying whether a piece of information meets these standards can be challenging.
"Today, just about anyone has the power to create, publish and distribute information to a global audience online ... even if what they’re putting out there isn’t true. Viral rumors, hoaxes and outright falsehoods often show up in our social feeds, alongside credible information that has been checked for accuracy. This makes it appear as though all information is created equal ... but it isn’t. So how can you recognize credible information?
I’m Enrique Acevedo. In this lesson, you’ll learn about the standards of quality journalism — what they are and how you, as a news consumer, can identify them — so you can separate fact from fiction in every piece of information you encounter. These standards function like a set of guidelines that journalists follow as they report and present news stories. As a news consumer, you need to be able to identify whether a piece of information meets these standards. If it doesn’t, it may not be credible, and you shouldn’t believe it, share it or act on it. Most of these standards are common-sense — for example, journalists should only report information that they have confirmed to be accurate. But this is a lot easier said than done. News gathering is challenging, for lots of reasons. Often, breaking news scenes are chaotic, with conflicting information flying around from a variety of sources. Some of those sources may have only pieces of the story; some may believe they're telling the truth, but have false information; and some may be lying. There are times when important sources aren't available, or aren't ready to share what they know for any number of reasons. And sometimes, in the race to report a story — and perhaps to be first in doing so —reporters make mistakes. The best way for you to learn what these standards are and how they work is to put yourself in a reporter's shoes, which is exactly what you're about to do. Ready? Let’s go!"
<aside> 💬 Word wall: Standards of quality journalism are policies and practices designed to ensure that journalists keep an open mind and produce work that is truthful, accurate, fair and reliable. Standards are intended to minimize bias and human error to the greatest degree possible by enforcing objective methods; however, they also require journalists and news organizations to be accountable for errors by acknowledging and correcting them.
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<aside> 💬 Word wall: Truth is a statement that can be verified or shown to be true. Facts are the basis for credible news reports.
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<aside> 💬 Word wall: Bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
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You're on the scene!
Welcome to the team!
You’ll play the role of a new reporter, gathering and verifying information along the way. As you do, you’ll learn what it takes to follow the standards of quality journalism.