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Why are lies believable? |
1/22/18 |
Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.
Jonathan Swift
A heated discussion of fake news has consumed our discussion of information over the last couple years. We rely on information daily to make decisions about communities, the nation and our world. When we lose a sense of trust in those sources of information we rely on, we become debilitated. We increasingly spend time discussing the reliability of the information rather than the information itself.
Propaganda and misinformation are not new, but in our culturally divided moment we experience the problem with greater urgency. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the newly invented forms of broadcast media--film, radio and later television--were harnessed by politicians to communicate with the public, sometimes in destructive propaganda. The new technologies of our age, the internet and mobile devices, are opening new realms of accessibility to information, but also new levels of misinformation. Students will examine the importance of reliable information for decision-making. Politicians want to shape public opinion and will use various avenues to try to convince them of a political choice. In a landscape of choices, people need reliable information to make choices. This is why a free press was so important to the Founders. News outlets were to provide a check on political power. Journalists work by standards in order to fulfill their vocation of providing accurate information to the public. Students begin the unit by reflecting on why 'fake news' is believable using the example of pizzagate. Student responses included
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How do you find reliable information? |
1/23/18 |
A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy
~ Nelson Mandela
After appreciating the importance of reliable information, students examine how to analyze media for quality by examining their content. Students first identify key identifiers for reliable information.
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How much bias is in the news media? |
1/24/18 |
The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves, nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.
~ Thomas Jefferson
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/02/598794433/video-reveals-power-of-sinclair-as-local-news-anchors-recite-script-in-unison
Students examine the importance of journalism by reflecting on the following questions:
While no one can avoid bias, journalists are asked to put that in check. Students will examine news sources from across the political spectrum (Huffington Post, NPR, Fox News) to examine how news sources are similar and different. We will trace the headlines over five days to see how they present the news and examine how much bias each organization expresses. |
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How does propaganda shape our opinion? |
1/25-26/18 |
Propaganda is biased information designed to shape public opinion and behavior.
Not all news outlets are the same. A fair presentation of the news attempts to be neutral in the reporting of information, but many tell present a biased perspective. We rely on journalists that work by professional standards of conduct.
We turned to thinking about the news media to politicians and how we can evaluate their messaging. Previously when examining propaganda, it has become apparent that advertisers primarily appeal to emotion rather than logic to convince us of something. Today we examined how political ads primarily appeal to emotions of hope, pride, anger, and fear to convince us of their message (Museum of the Moving Image's The Living Room Candidate). After viewing several ads, we analyzed how various advertising techniques are used package an experience for a message to be heard. We finished by appreciating some important issues around political advertising in America from Honest Ads. |
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What was the context for the rise of fascism? |
1/29/18 |
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How was propaganda used in Nazi Germany? |
1/30-31/18 |
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What was the impact of Nazi propaganda? |
2/1-2/18 |
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller
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We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice,
we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The Nazi authorities were very successful in "coordinating" Germans to the Nazi program of military expansion and genocide. At the end of the war, the Allies had the difficult task of eradicating all vestiges of the Nazi propaganda. Students will examine how the Allies attempted to do that by assessing guilt and removing Nazi propaganda from education, media and public spaces,
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