Digital literacy assignment News, and news sources, are critical to the way we see the world. How do we determine if a news source is credible and the information is both thorough and accurate? This Original Papers

Digital literacy assignment 

News, and news sources, are critical to the way we see the world. How do we determine if a news source is credible and the information is both thorough and accurate? This assignment challenges students to compare online articles about the same criminal justice-related or ethics-related issue from sources that fall into loosely “liberal” and “conservative” websites and which show distinct differences in coverage. The assignment combines digital literacy (finding and identifying articles on the same topic from two discrete sources) and critical thinking (analysis of the impact that biased information may have on readers).

Students will select two articles (see full assignment description in iCollege) in which the same information is reported/disseminated in distinctly different ways. Include a copy of both of the selected articles with the submission and on the first page, begin with a brief bullet-point outline identifying a minimum of three-points of comparison where the articles report essentially the same information, and a minimum of three-points of comparison where the articles report substantially different information.

Then, in a narrative format, the student should briefly explain the subject of the articles, the areas of commonality, and the substantive differences in their

coverage. The student should then address the impact that reading only one of the two articles might have on the average reader. Will the reader be fully knowledgeable about the issue? Finally, students should blend the information between the two articles into a complete and true explanation of the issue presented such that the reader is well and thoroughly informed.

Students should ensure that copies of the two comparative news articles are included as part of the assignment, and not as attachments to a separate document. The easiest way to do this may be to combine the narrative and two sources into a single PDF file as opposed to a Microsoft Word file. Either format is acceptable, but only one file containing the analysis and the two sources articles should be uploaded to the appropriate Dropbox submission portal by the assignment deadline.

Maximum length of the narrative version, not including the chosen articles, is two-three (2-3) single- or double-spaced pages.