{"id":263376,"date":"2024-10-29T01:31:46","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T01:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/29\/20-questions-to-help-students-think-critically-about-news\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:10:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:10:41","slug":"20-questions-to-help-students-think-critically-about-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/29\/20-questions-to-help-students-think-critically-about-news\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Questions To Help Students Think Critically About News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p>            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><!-- HFCM by 99 Robots - Snippet # 9: Recommended Books --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/end HFCM by 99 Robots --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" alt=\"20 Questions To Help Students Think Critically About News\" class=\"wp-image-49508 perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-1024x768.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-150x113.png 150w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-100x75.png 100w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-750x563.png 750w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-1140x855.png 1140w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news.png 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-1024x768.png\" alt=\"20 Questions To Help Students Think Critically About News\" class=\"wp-image-49508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-150x113.png 150w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-100x75.png 100w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-750x563.png 750w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news-1140x855.png 1140w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/critical-thinking-questions-think-about-news.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p><em>This post was originally published in 2019 and updated in 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<p>by<strong> Terrell Heick<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1.  In the article, headline, or social share, \u2018who\u2019 is saying \u2018what\u2019? That is, what specific author and publication are making what kind of claim about what topic or ideas?<\/p>\n<p>2. Is what\u2019s being stated or claimed fact or opinion?<\/p>\n<p>3. Does this headline seem true? (This is especially critical for \u2018fact-based\u2019 headlines.) If so, by whose standards? Who would disagree with it and why? How can it be fact-checked? Is the author using \u2018grey areas\u2019 of \u2018truth\u2019 in a way that seems designed to cause a stir, cast doubt, influence thinking, or otherwise change the opinion of readers?<\/p>\n<p>4. Is this headline entirely \u2018true\u2019\/accurate or based instead on partially true information\/data? Misleading information is often based on partial truths and then reframed to fit a particular purpose: to cause an emotion such as anger or fear that leads to an outcome of some kind: a \u2018like,\u2019 donation, purchase, signup, vote, etc. <\/p>\n<p>5. Are there any embedded logical fallacies in the headline itself\u2013especially straw man arguments, emotional appeals, or charged language intended to polarize, rally, or otherwise \u2018engage\u2019 readers?<\/p>\n<p>6. Is the topic the headline is based on important? Worth understanding more deeply?<\/p>\n<p>7. Who would this seem to benefit if accepted as \u2018true\u2019?<\/p>\n<p>8. Is this information, angle, or \u2018take\u2019 new or something that\u2019s been said before (and either fact-checked or debunked)?<\/p>\n<p>9. Is the data (fact-based) or position (opinion-based) inherent in the headline shared by other credible publishers or does it stand in contrast to the \u2018status quo\u2019? If the latter, how does this affect the headline?<\/p>\n<p>10. What background information would I need to be able to evaluate its credibility? Where can I get more information on the topics in the headline to better evaluate its credibility? What do I stand to gain or lose if I accept this as true?<\/p>\n<p>11. Does the \u2018news story\u2019 accurately represent the \u2018big picture\u2019 or is it something \u2018cherry-picked\u2019(in or out of context) designed to cause an emotional response in the reader?<\/p>\n<p>For the second set of questions to think critically about news headlines, we\u2019re turning to the <a href=\"https:\/\/newslit.org\/\">News Literacy Project<\/a>, a media standards project that created a set of questions to help students think critically about news headlines.<\/p>\n<p>12. Gauge your emotional reaction. Is it strong? Are you angry? Are you intensely hoping that the information turns out to be true or false?<\/p>\n<p>13. Reflect on how you encountered this. Was it promoted on a website? Did it show up in a social media feed? Was it sent to you by someone you know?<\/p>\n<p>14. Consider the headline or message:<\/p>\n<p>a. Does it use excessive punctuation or ALL CAPS for emphasis?<\/p>\n<p>b. Does it claim containing a secret or telling you something that \u2018the media\u2019 doesn\u2019t want you to know?<\/p>\n<p>c. Don\u2019t stop at the headline. Keep exploring!<\/p>\n<p>15. Is this information designed for easy sharing, like a meme?<\/p>\n<p>16. Consider the source of information:<\/p>\n<p>a. Is it a well-known source?<\/p>\n<p>b. Is there a byline (an author\u2019s name) attached to this piece? Does that author have any specific expertise or experience?<\/p>\n<p>c. Go to the website\u2019s \u2018About\u2019 section. Does the site describe itself as a \u2018fantasy news\u2019 or \u2018satirical news\u2019 site? What else do you notice\u2013or not notice?<\/p>\n<p>17. Does the example you\u2019re evaluating have a date on it?<\/p>\n<p>18. Does the example cite a variety of sources, including official and expert sources? Does this example\u2019s information appear in reports from (other) news outlets?<\/p>\n<p>19. Does the example hyperlink to other quality sources?<\/p>\n<p>20. Can you confirm, using a reverse image search, that any images in your example are authentic (i.e., haven\u2019t been altered or taken from another context)?<\/p>\n<p>21. If you searched for this example on a fact-checking site such as snopes.com, factcheck.org, or politifact.com, is there a fact-check that labels it as less than true?<\/p>\n<p>Remember:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is easy to clone an existing website and create fake tweets to fool people<\/li>\n<li>AI and \u2018deep fakes\u2019 are become increasingly commonplace<\/li>\n<li>Bots are active on social media and are designed to dominate conversations and spread propaganda.<\/li>\n<li>Propaganda and\/or misinformation often use a real image from an unrelated event.<\/li>\n<li>Debunk examples of misinformation whenever you see them. It\u2019s good for democracy!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can download the full \u2018checkology\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.ca.gov\/documents\/BTB24-PreCon2G-3.pdf\">pdf here<\/a> and find more resources at <a href=\"https:\/\/checkology.org\/\">checkology.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/critical-thinking\/think-critically-about-news\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] This post was originally published in 2019 and updated in 2024 by Terrell Heick 1. In the article, headline, or social share, \u2018who\u2019 is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}