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Journalism is the practice of researching,  

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verifying, and presenting [br]information to the public.

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But not all journalism is created equally. Reports [br]can range from short bulletins written quickly,  

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to substantial investigations that take [br]a lot of time and effort to produce.  

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Some reporting that looks like journalism may [br]not have the same standards of research and rigor  

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as reports produced by professional organizations.  

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To confuse matters more false and misleading [br]information online can also look like journalism.

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With so many different sources available [br]to us, it is important to determine  

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which information is reliable and which [br]is not. One key way to do this is to seek  

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out information from organizations that [br]operate according to a set of standards.  

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Professional news organizations won't always get [br]it right but a story is more likely to be reliable  

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if it is produced in a process that involves [br]a commitment to accuracy. You can evaluate the  

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quality of a journalistic report by looking for [br]some of the standards that define journalism.

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Accuracy[br]Does the news organization  

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have a reputation for professionalism? Do [br]they have a policy for correcting mistakes?

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Research[br]How many people  

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are interviewed or quoted in the story. What [br]supporting research or statistics are included?

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Sourcing 

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Are the people quoted experts or otherwise [br]qualified to speak about the issue?

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Context 

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Does the story include background information [br]to help you understand the key themes better?

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Fairness 

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Are people and issues described [br]using neutral language?

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Not all journalism will meet the same standards. [br]Becoming familiar with professional news  

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organizations and the standards that define [br]journalism can help us determine what to trust