As you search different combinations of the phrases you came up with through Heuristics, use the Google Operators we discussed on Zoom to narrow down possibilities of our overarching FAKE NEWS topic to one more interesting to you, or more narrow and manageable in general, to credible sources. Remember, this is a trial and error start, so you are just using search engines to expand your knowledge and see what you can learn about the connections through these phrases. This will begin your holistic research journey, where the credible information inspires you to critically think and analyze until you create your own truth / thesis from what you read.
Don’t be discouraged if a few articles are useless. Just feel like you are that much closer to a good one.
Your goal for this week is to find FOUR credible sources you have learned from, and to record the following information from each one
1. Record the title of the work, title of the website, title of the newspaper, magazine, periodical, journal from which this source appears. Find the date of publication in print, and the date of publication online (these are often different); record the page numbers of the article from beginning to end; publisher information; copy the link so you can go back to it easily.
2. Underneath this list of source information, paste important quotations from each article, word for word. (Choosing Appropriate Citations will help you get into the mindset of choosing solid quotes. Make sure to read it, if you have not already.)
3. After each quote, in a different color font, answer the following:
- How do you know this article is credible? Did you research the author? Is it biased? (It is okay, so long as you know it is.)
- Summarize this quote, and how it represents the article. This should be as long as the quote or longer. Never shorter or the quote takes up more room than your voice and overpowers you.
- How does this relate to fake news? Why does this quote matter enough to save?
- What does this quote make you think about? Do you have ideas for solutions or something the author is not yet pointing to? Explain.
- Any reflections? Is it surprising and why or why not?
- Pose a question to the author: Does this quotation make you question something? What specifically?
- What else do you have to research/
You should have 4 lists with 4 citations from 4 different, credible sources. These may or may not be used in your final paper, and that is okay. They will never be a waste of time if you learn something, if they bring you to a new place in your thoughts, or lead you to another source.
Keep in mind that your reflections are as important as the quote — they are shaping your analysis, your thesis, and your plan for more research, and the color coding helps to keep you organized.
Here is an example:
“A Final Visit With Prince: Rolling Stones Lost Cover Story Scenes from an intimate 2014 interview at Paisley Park.” Brian Hiatt, Senior Writer, Rolling Stone Magazine. https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/a-final-visit-with-prince-rolling-stones-lost-cover-story-61472/
“As we walk along, he shows no sign of reported double-hip-replacement- surgery no limp, no cane, no apparent discomfort. His brown eyes are alert, and his wit is quick looking back, its nearly impossible to square his affect with posthumous rumors of an opioid addiction. He claims not to feel the passage of time, and says mortality doesnt enter his thoughts: I dont think about gone.’ To the contrary, he is immersed in the moment, invested in a creative future that he believes will be long and bright. The pause between albums seems to have been healthy for him, as is the youthful, enthusiastic, near-worshipful presence of the 3rdEyeGirl members. For the first time in years, hes been opening up Paisley Park to local fans for spontaneous events. Theres talk of staging one of these shows on the night of my visit, though it evaporates with no notice.”
- A Final Visit With Prince: Rolling Stone’s Lost Cover Story, is written by Brian Hiatt, a Senior Writer at Rolling Stone Magazine who has written more than 65 cover stories and hosts the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. While the magazine has been celebrated and respected in the music industry for decades, it leans left, according to AllSides.com though has a high rate of factual reporting. This article is based on Hiatt’s own experience with Prince, so someone else may have an entirely “other” recollection on the Artist’s health, mindframe, or well-being before his death, but it is absolutely a credible source for this paper as there are no politics involved, so the right-side won’t be ignored.
- Though Prince was reported to have had hip surgery, and an addiction to the pain killers which were prescribed either before or after it, there is no sign of the pain reported by many sensationalist outlets. His alertness and wit indicate he was not “drugged” as was also reported, or out of it as many said. He was not thinking of death or feeling his age at the time; instead he was looking to the future, and he was excited about the possibilities of new acts he was mentoring, opening up his long private home and studio, Paisley Park, in Minnesota, to the public, and he was even looking to do a show the night of the interview there, as though it were a possible plan, or as though Prince could do a show at a moment’s notice on any given day — it is always a possibility. This indicates there were no obvious signs to the singer’s struggles, pain, or death.
- This relates to fake news because many people have many truths about this time in Prince’s life and take it upon themselves to share it. The information could be conflicting, based on the experiences shared, or it is based on someone’s opinion, or even “bullshit” because they are proving to their audience they knew more or they knew better than other sources or people close to Prince, but it does not get to the truth of what really happened around what seems a mysterious death.
- This makes me think that Prince was so smart about his career and audience-aware that he would never let on that anything was wrong, in fact, he didn’t, so how could we trust an interview he knew would be published by such an important magazine? He was not who he was/ is because he didn’t know how to work the media. And, if the media got worked, are they reliable? Why are they not pointing to his ability to persuade? Are they working on how “cool” they looked, hanging out with him? Isn’t that bullshit, as Frankfurt claimed?
- It is surprising how open Prince seems here, when he was notoriously not. He obviously had something to prove to do this article, this way. Also, it was 2014! Why is this being presented as newer? Like, right before he died?
- Question to the author: did you get worked by Prince? Do you think you would have seen him in a way he did not want you to?
- Research others’ encounters with prince, interviews from this week, plans he had, and symptoms / signs Prince displayed before death.