IREL 217 Environmental Conflict & Security: Evaluation

A reputable newspaper...

• Publishes accurate content; checks facts, and if errors are made, corrects them
• Uses reputable sources (people, documentation) and verifies those sources
• Presents headlines which accurately represent the article content (that don't play on readers' emotions)
• Identifies authors of articles clearly with bylines
• Produces its own content; doesn't merely aggregate content from other sources
• Identifies content types clearly (e.g. report vs. editorial)
• Conducts reporting not just editorializing
• Employs journalists who follow the profession's code of ethics
  • Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics, four main sections: Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, Be Accountable and Transparent
  • 10 Elements to Good Journalism (American Institute Press), selected from Kovach and Rosenstiel's book The Elements of Journalism.

Evaluating sources allows you to select and vet relevant information that will inform your research, provide evidence for your arguments, and enter you into the scholarly conversation about your topic.  Evaluating sources can happen in phases: when you first find a source (quick evaluation), and when you review your collected sources as you narrow down to which ones you will use.

QUICK EVALUATION (mental checklist)
Tip - write down the bold words below on a post-it to keep while you look for sources.

Purpose and audience: Why was this source created?  Who is the intended audience?
Objectivity: Does the source contain fact, opinion, propaganda, or bias?
Accuracy and reliability: Is the information well researched? Is it scholarly or popular? 
Authority: Who are the author and publisher? 
Currency: When was the source published?

FULL EVALUATION
Purpose and intended audience:

• -Why was this source created?  
• -What is the author’s intent for the source (inform, persuade, other)? 
• -Who is the intended audience (scholars/experts, general population, other)?

Objectivity or bias: 

• -Does the source contain fact, opinion, propaganda, or bias?
• -Is the information presented in the source objective (unbiased) or subjective (biased)?
• -Does the information have a political, religious, economic, or social agenda?
• -This may require finding more information on the author, publisher, and funding sources.

Authority and credibility: Credibility Video

• -Who is the author?
• -What are the qualifications of the author? 
• -How was the source published?
• -Who is the publisher? Is the publisher creditable?

Accuracy and reliability: 

• -Is the information in the source well researched?  
• -Did the author cite their sources of information?  
• -Who and what did they cite?

Currency and timeliness: 

• -When was the information created and/or published? 
• -Is current information required for your topic?