39 Research in Journalism
Learning Objectives
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Explore concepts about academic research, specifically in Journalism.
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Analyze two opposing points of view and decide which is the stronger argument; cite textual evidence.
Chapter & Discussion
This chapter includes a presentation that can be navigated in a classroom setting or independently. You can access the presentation via the link below.
Research in Journalism: How to Look for the Truth
Work through the different sections of the chapter and discuss ideas and topics as they arise. If you’re working independently, take notes instead. Notes and active discussion will be helpful in navigating this week’s assignments.
Journalistic Research
Journalists use a variety of methods to conduct research and find facts for their stories, including:
Interviewing sources – This could include eyewitnesses, experts, officials, etc. Effective interviewing requires preparing good questions ahead of time and listening closely to responses.
Library/online research – Searching through books, academic journals, magazines, newspaper archives, and reliable websites to find historical context, precedent, quotes, etc.
Fact-checking – Verifying key details, claims, names, numbers, etc. cited by sources through further documentation and confirmation.
Documentary Research – This may include government documents, legal filings, academic studies, and other sources that provide factual data.
In College and the Workforce
In college and the workforce, you will often be asked to defend your ideas. To do this, you’ll need to build a case for them with arguments and evidence.
The evidence you provide should come from research.
There is a lot of information available (especially digitally) and it can be difficult to determine:
- Which sources you trust
- How to tell good evidence from bad evidence
- And the purpose and audience of a source
What to Trust
It can be difficult to determine whether or not a source is credible or trustworthy. When researching, there are a few strategies that can help.
- Lateral Reading (developed by John Green in Crash Course: Navigating Digital Information) is the act of checking sources for credibility as you read them. You can use newspaper articles and fact-checking sites like Politifact and Snopes for this.
- Try to determine the authority of an author by finding out their professional background, the process they used to produce the information, and whether they have systems in place to catch mistakes.
- Try to determine the perspective of an author: consider their reason for sharing the information and how their views might influence their writing.
Evaluating Evidence
When researching, you will need to evaluate the evidence that sources provide to defend their claims. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Does the author cite credible sources?
Check the citations and make sure they come from trusted institutions. - Is there context for the evidence they provide and is it relevant to their ca