THE SPEAKERS
Burt Glass and Paul Singer, reporters from the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR)
THE CLASS
Multiple Upper School classes
THE PURPOSE
To talk to students about (1) “fake news” (and how to spot it) and (2) how to find credible sources for articles.
THE TAKEAWAYS
In order to spot fake news stories, Glass shared the following five questions that students can ask themselves when reading an article:
- Who wrote the article? Does the article have an author?
- Do the photos in the article have a credit? In other words, does the article credit a photographer or source?
- Are there any sources in the article? Who is the source?
- Is the article on any other news sites? Is the topic on any other news sites?
- Does the article have a date?
Singer talked about interviewing sources and the importance of being prepared before hand – i.e., “doing your homework”.
“You can’t just call someone. You have to have the facts in hand,” he said. “I don’t do motives – I do facts.”