This post topic probably seems a bit on the late side since Banned Books week was back in September this year, but a recent issue has arisen that has my blood boiling.
In case you were unaware, a school board in Florida has decided to place a ban on books that include "profanity, cursing, or inappropriate subject matter." You can read about it in more detail here. This directive is ridiculous and appalling. What is "inappropriate" subject matters? Who gets to decide what is "inappropriate"? What if I find certain topics inappropriate that others don't? The frightening part of this directive is that it will undoubtedly be used to silence the voices of marginalized groups. There have been plenty of studies that examine the connection between empathy and fiction readers. They've even done studies focusing specifically on Harry Potter! If you don't have access to library databases, you can do a quick google scholar search and come across a multitude of results. It might seem an odd notion to some, but students need access to materials that contain profanity, cursing, and inappropriate subject matter. They need to see that some things are just human nature. It also helps students be able to frame and contextualize situations that may seem foreign to them. By not allowing students to access stories and information, we're stunting their growth. One could even make the leap and say we are stunting the growth of our society. We should be encouraging younger generations to be better than us - to be more open, more accepting, more inclusive. Reading is about broadening your horizons, opening yourself up to new experiences in a safe environment. It's about reflection; it's about examining what makes you uncomfortable and why. It's about learning.
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This past year has been abuzz with the term "fake news". There are constantly articles and guides written about what it is and how to spot it. I don't want to add to the clutter or just post a general guide about how to tell if something is fake or not. So, I decided that I would give some general information and then use that to work through a specific example and point things out. I'll warn you in advance - this post is going to be quite long. What type of news exist? There are many different types of news reports out there in the world. Many get lumped under the "fake news" umbrella, even though they really aren't fake. So what types of news exist?
It is important to understand that Media Bias and Fake News are not one in the same. While an article with media bias may be skewing or interpreting the facts in a particular way - it is still reporting on facts. Fake News does not report on credible facts AT ALL. How To Spot As I mentioned earlier, there are many different guides available on how to evaluate for fake news. I particularly enjoy the one put together by the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). Example So, let's use this guide and pair it with a news article to see the results. The article we are going to use is titled "Was Trump born in Russia? Obama asks to see Trump's birth certificate" and it is from The Daily Squat. Step One: Consider the Source If we scroll to the bottom of the webpage, we can see an "About Us" section. If we click on it, we can clearly see that The Daily Squat is "a satirical news site founded in 2015". So, right from the start we know everything on this website is satire. We are going to continue to use this example though so it is easy to point out things since we know right from the start the article is satire. About Us sections are great places to go to get information about news sites. Let's compare the about section for Daily Squat with BBC. You can clearly see that the Daily Squat has very little information about the writers and the website in general - apart from indicating that it is a satirical news site. The BBC on the other hand contains a lot of information - including information on how it is run, FAQs, partners, etc. When the organization is very forthcoming and open with information about themselves, it can help validate the credibility. Step Two: Read Beyond Take a minute to search what the article is claiming. See if it is being reported anywhere else. If it is, what types of websites are publishing that information? Are they more questionable news sites or are they mainstream media? If mainstream media is reporting on it, the core of the article is probably true. If more questionable websites are reporting on it, then what you are reading is most likely false. If we did a google search for Obama claiming that Trump was born in Russia, nothing would come up that relates to our search. Step Three: Check the Author Most credible news organizations will have author biographies at the end of an article or somewhere on the website. You can use this information to check the validity of the author. You can also search for the author via a search engine (like google or bing). If I searched for David Marrs, author of the Daily Squat article, I would not be able to find much information because he doesn't really exist. If I search for Tara Garcia Mathewson, a writer for The Hechinger Report, I will find many references to her previous work and biography in my results list. Step Four: Supporting Sources? If the article mentions or links to references (or sources), check them out. Are they credible sources? Are they questionable sources? If the source is questionable, then the article is probably questionable. Can you verify them with an additional search? If the article references a study - can you find that study? If not, then you are probably not looking at a reliable news article. Step Five: Check the Date The article should have a date listed somewhere on it. Is it current? Just because the date is current, doesn't mean it is credible. It does help determine if it is something that happened recently though. Step Six: Is It A Joke? As previously mentioned, if we did some research on the Daily Squat site we could clearly see that the whole website is satirical news. If we look at the particular article on Obama claiming Trump was born in Russia, we can clearly see it is a joke and making a point about Trump claiming Obama was not born in the United States. Step Seven: Check Your Biases
While you may not agree with what the article is saying, it doesn't mean that it is fake news. Checking your own biases is especially important when one is trying to claim media bias is fake news. Media Bias is not fake news, it is news with a prejudiced slant. Fake news is outright lies. Step Eight: Ask the Experts Librarians! We are here! Ask us! Librarians have the stereotype of only dealing with books - that is far from the truth. We are experts in information, managing information, evaluating information, etc. Information comes in many forms - not just books. Ask a librarian if you are unsure if something is fake or not. Another great fact checking resource if you cannot contact a librarian (for some odd reason) is Snopes. TL;DR If this post was too lengthy for you to read and you came down here to find the summary of the post, do us all a favor and ask a librarian if you aren't sure about the legitimacy of an article. Don't post or share something you aren't 100% sure about. |
AuthorI have worked in Education my entire life moving from K-12, to a community college, to my current position at a four year. I am fascinated by weird things and information in general. Archives
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