Purpose: With publication so easily available in our current society (social media posts) and a very divisive news reporting system (different companies standing for and using propaganda—including “fake news”—for their political agenda) it can often be hard to know what is actually true. Very few news stories deal with objective truths. Because of this, you need to be discerning about what you believe when you read/see it.
Assignment: You will research something related to your major or career goals using contradicting sources. This may require you doing some digging. You should use two contradictory news sources, including (but not limited to) a conservative-leaning news channel (Fox News, among others), a liberal-leaning news channel (CNN, among others), or a satirical news channel (The Babylon Bee, among others). Try to find two sources (articles, videos, etc.) that are about the same specific topic. Your goal is to see what both chosen channels are saying (similarly and contradictorily) about this same topic. What do they agree about? How do they spin it to their agenda? What tone is being used?
You must include a short summary of each source, covering what is being said about the topic. And then you must give your analysis of both sources, where you compare/contrast what they say about the topic and how they say it. What did you learn about research and the news by completing this research and analysis?