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Smarts Project #1—Truthiness

Truth vs. “Truthiness”

Are the news media telling us what/how/when/why? we think?

“Truthiness is what you want the facts to be as opposed to what the facts are, what feels like the right answer as opposed to what reality will support.”

—Stephen Colbert
pundit/philosopher

The Project: This project asks you to pick a current news topic, and compare the facts of the issue (as confirmed by a variety of nonpartisan news fact-checking services, listed below), and how the issue is reported/framed by 1) Fox News and 2) Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report.”

Rationale: Fox News is the most-watched cable news network, attracting twice as many viewers as the other two cable news networks, CNN and MSNBC. Research shows that only 29% of Americans “say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.” At the same time, “faux journalist” Jon Stewart is cited as the “most trusted” newscaster in America, and many self-described conservatives believe that Stephen Colbert shares their values and beliefs. Further, despite its “fair & balanced” claims, Fox seems more overtly partisan than other news networks (which all have their own biases, too), and so Fox misstatements are easier to identify.

Project Goal: Research, analyze and compare the true facts of a newsworthy issue, and then compare the facts to the ways the issue is framed by Fox News and by “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Fox is “real” news” and Stewart/Colbert are “faux” news. Whose “truth” is truer to the facts, as you can find and present them?

Directions:
1. Select a topic (see some on the list below or propose your own current issue to research).
• “Birthers” Movement
• Gulf oil drilling
• Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Gays in the military
• Global warming/climate change
• Health care reform
• Immigration
• Racism & President Obama
• Same-sex marriage
• Other: describe and make a case

2. Research the topic for its “truth” from the non-partisan online fact-check sources below. Document the facts of your issue. How confident are you about what you think is true about the facts?
• News media or scholarly research (fully documented—How true/truthy are these?)
• Annenberg Political Fact Check
• Fact Checker
• Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
• Media Matters for America
• PolitiFact

3. Framing:
A. How have the topics been framed by Fox News channel?
• Are audiences presented with more “truth” or “truthiness” by Fox journalists and pundits?
• How well are Fox’s fact-claims supported by evidence? Are any fact-claims erroneous? Is important information omitted, distorted, or taken out of context?
• Do the sources cited reveal favoritism, partisan bias, or omission of relevant viewpoints?
• Be specific, using several examples to support your arguments.

B. ... And by Stewart/Colbert?
Compare the facts from your research to the “coverage” of the topic on “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”
• How does Fox coverage of your topic compare to the “fake” news reporting by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert?
• Which represents more “truth”?

5. Relate your findings to code of ethics for journalists, media effects theories/concepts. Be specific. (See mass comm theories and list of ethics codes.) Here’s the point: Journalistic ethics codes all espouse “truth” and “do no harm” and other central principles of social responsibility of the mass media. How do your news reports perform? Be specific.

6. Include URLs for clips of specific episodes and news segments to support your conclusions. (Video clips of most news segments are available online.)

Reporting Options
You must report on your project to the class. Send essay/blog URL to Dr. Ted, who will post your report to the class blog.
1. Essay: You may write a 1,200- to 1,500-word essay (plus bibliography and endnotes). Click here for essay guidelines.
or
2. Blog (or other multimedia blockbuster): Create a multimedia project (blog, power point presentation, or “documentary”). Click here for a past Smarts student YouTube example. Part1. Part2.

Deadlines:
• Proposal: Propose a fully developed topic and rationale to Dr. Ted (by email) by Monday, Oct. 4
• Project Due: Monday, Oct. 18

Content: Your project simply identifies and reports the facts (according to reliable sources) on an important social/cultural/political issue, examines how it is framed by Fox and Stewart/Colbert, and evaluates how well We the People are being informed. Consider the mass comm. theories and media literacy concepts we’ve examined: How is the issue framed? How is it skewed? What is the agenda being set by the way the issue is presented? What larger perceptions are cultivated by the mass media? Are we (in the immortal words of the syllabus) being lied to, boys and girls? In what specific ways?

NOTE: Although media pundits and commentators do not have the same ethical responsibilities as news journalists, pundits do share many of their ethical responsibilities. For example even opinion writers and pundits must:
1. Tell the truth.
2. Never report anything known to be false.
3. Never manipulate images or sounds in ways that may be misleading.
4. Resist distortions that obscure the importance of events. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
5. Clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders.

ALSO . . . The object is NOT for you to take a position on your topic. This is not about your opinion, but about your analysis of how the issues are reported in these news media, and how well the reporting you find conforms to ethical goals of responsible journalists.