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When I saw this article at The Golden Hammer, I found myself remembering Doug “Blue Skunk” Johnson’s recent blog entry, Information Literacy and COVID. I had skimmed it (hey, I was down with the vaccine booster (I made a full recovery, woohoo!) and could barely raise my phone to read) yesterday. In it, Doug writes:
Now in retirement, I seriously wonder whether these efforts actually made any difference when we seem to still have educated people who do not or cannot apply the basic rules of judging the reliability of information – even in matters as important as health.
First, yes, these effort do make a difference. As I was reading the article at The Golden Hammer, it was easy to see something was off, but what? I had some ideas about the whole article, but decided to ask Doug Johnson to assess it.
In the meantime, let’s revisit what we “know” about this based on TGH article:
- Dr. Robyn Tierney is a freshmen teacher at Texas Tech University, Essentials of College Rhetoric
- She assigned students based on the color of their skin. The text below is transcribed, imperfectly, from the screenshot provided in the Hammer article.
- For white students – Reflect on Either: (a) How white privilege has shaped your experiences and some of the (unseen/taken for granted) advantages you’ve experienced as a white person OR (b) Consider a time when you sought to be comforted (or protected) by a black body (or body of color) in some way. If you chose option (b) further reflect on when/why you sought this comfort and how you felt when seeking this comfort or how you felt when the person did/didn’t respond favorably to your desire to be comforted.
- For non-white students – Reflect on Either (a) How white privilege has served as a barrier to system/institutions of access or privilege at time or how it has shown up in even subtle ways as microaggressions against your lived experiences as a person of color OR (b) Consider the very first time you thought a white body might want comfort or protection from you. If you chose option (b) further reflect on when/why you did/didn’t provide that comfort or protection and how you felt about the encounter, overall.
An unnamed, non-corroborated source (not mentioned in the article) says Dr. Tierney has been replaced as English professor.
Journalistic Ethics
Being a little vague on journalistic ethics, I decided to revisit the subject. (Where’s Jeff Jarvis when you need him?) I found the following:
- Journalism ethics and standards are principles of good practice.
- Professional journalism associations, individual news organizations, and journalists themselves often have their own “code of ethics”; however, most share these basic principles: truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability.
- Many journalists also abide by the principle of “limitation of harm” which means that they have a responsibility to not harm others while reporting a story. This is one major difference between professional journalists reporting for “reputable” news organizations as opposed to fringe news sources and fake news creators.
- When evaluating a news organization, read its statement or code of ethics. What does it tell you if the organization does not publish its’ ethics for all to access?
Five Finger Test
In reviewing the information, a simple test of factual data is suggested. Doug Johnson recommends the five finger test:- Can the information be verified on multiple sources?
- Is the information current?
- What are the qualifications of the author?
- Is there any hidden agenda in what is being shared?
- Is the information from an edited/reviewed source?
I could have filled out my responses, but why not ask Doug Johnson directly? I did, and he sent this response which I share below.
Doug Johnson’s Application of the Five Finger Test
“A few thoughts applied to “
- Can the information be verified on multiple sources? A quick search on Robyn Tierney and Texas Tech showed only the Golden Hammer and its Facebook page reported on this story. The students who were interviewed are anonymous and therefore unverifiable.
- Is the information current? Yes.
- What are the qualifications of the author? No author is given for the story. It is attributed to “admin” and therefore the authority cannot be verified.
- Is there any hidden agenda in what is being shared? I felt this read more like an editorial than a news story. No one but students in the class were used as news sources. The obvious agenda of the piece was to stir anxiety/fear/anger about activities that may be considered so called “critical race theory.” Whether the professor’s assignment violated the equal rights amendment would be a subject for consideration by the courts, not a new paper.
- Is the information from an edited/reviewed source? I could not find an independent review of The Golden Hammer newspaper. My sense it is a conservative publication, and selectively reports “news” much as Fox News does. (And as do many liberal news sources as well.) The “about us” page of the Golden Hammer makes no bones about its political purposes. I find it curious that non comments were shared about the article from readers, either in agreement or disagreement.
“So I would be skeptical of the article because 1) the incident cannot be verified, and 2) the agenda of the publication in which it appeared. It seemed designed to anger, not to inform IMHO.”
Ok, so Doug Johnson is skeptical. What about you?
Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure
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Just a point of clarification, I do not have a doctorate. Nor am I a physician (although sometimes I play one on the internet.) Thoughtful post. Thank you!
Just a point of clarification, I do not have a doctorate. Nor am I a physician (although sometimes I play one on the internet.) Thoughtful post. Thank you!