A Swedish production company fooled portions of the tech world into believing that Apple was developing an unusual screw shape. The company did this to show how readily people believe things they read online without critical thinking. It took less than 12 hours for the false rumor to spread from Reddit to tech reporters. Most people commenting on articles about it did not question the reports and spread the information on social media as if it were true.
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Being an Information Consumer of Information - Dr. Underwood's Argument Class, Fall 2012
1.
2.
3. DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING THAT YOU READ.
Stockholm production company Day4 fooled portions of the tech world last
week into believing that Apple Inc. was working on an odd-shaped screw
-- an effort to show how quickly people are to believe anything they find
online.
Day4, as the Swedish production company is called, said it was disturbed by
how ready people were to believe anything they read on the Web these
days…
It took less than 12 hours before the Reddit post got to tech reporters.
There was skepticism among journalists but the rumor was still reported.
Most people commenting on articles, however, didn't pause -- deeming
the reports accurate, Day4 said. And on social media sites, "people talk
about the image like it's a truth. Critical thinking vaporized.“
Rodriguez, S. (2012, August 14). Swedish firm’s Apple hoax shows gullibility of online readers. Los
Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-apple-hoax-
20120814,0,1702854.story
4. BUT I CAN TRUST THE NEWS, RIGHT?
Potential pitfalls:
• “Sex sells” = sensationalism
• Agenda/bias
• Spin
• Non-expert authors
5. CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE POTENTIAL BIAS?
Fox News
• Conservative
CNN
• Liberal
Huffington Post
• Self-reportedly neutral, but tends to be more liberal
MSNBC
• “Left-leaning”
BBC News
• Foreign perspective, so usually more on the neutral side
6. LET’S LOOK AT THE HEADLINES
Republicans slam Reid puts GOP in a
Sen. Reid over bind over Romney’s
Romney tax claim taxes
7. LET’S LOOK AT THE HEADLINES
Paul Ryan
candidacy more Republicans should
harm than help to be careful what they
Romney, insiders wish for with Paul
suggest Ryan on the ticket
8. COMPARE THIS…
In Pennsylvania, Biden responded to a question about
why college costs keep going up by noting that it
was a "puzzle" and that there was "no one thing"
responsible. But among the factors he identified
were increases in faculty salaries. "Salaries for
college professors have escalated significantly," he
said. "They should be good, but they have
escalated significantly."
Jaschik, S. (2012, January 16). The campaign and higher ed. Inside Higher Ed.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/16/presidential-race-brings-scrutiny-candidates-higher-education
9. WITH THIS.
According to a new study by the American Association of
University Professors, university and college faculty salaries
have lagged far behind the substantial growth in university
and college tuitions. Thus, adjusted for inflation, faculty
salaries at four year doctoral private schools have gone up
7.7%. Tuitions at all private four year universities have gone
up 28.9% over the last decade. The disparity at public
schools is radically wider. Faculty salaries have gone up
0.7% at public doctoral schools while tuition at all publics has
gone up 72% in that ten year period. And all of this has
occurred as use of adjunct faculty continues to rise.
Filler, D. (2012, April 20). Compare faculty salaries with college tuition hikes: Pay increases don’t explain university tuition [Blog post].
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2012/04/according-to-a-new-study-by-the-american-association-of-university-professors-
university-and-college-faculty-salaries-have-l.html
11. FINDING ELECTION INFORMATION
Major news corporations
• CNN
• Fox
• BBC
Most major newspapers’ websites
• New York Times
• Washington Post
• Los Angeles Times
Opinion magazines
• National Review, The Weekly Standard (Conservative)
• The Nation, The New Republic (Liberal)
Library resources!
• Points of View Reference Center
14. WHAT ON EARTH IS A “THINK TANK”?
A think tank (or policy institute) is an organization that
conducts research and engages in advocacy in
areas such as social policy, political
strategy, economics, military, technology issues and
in the creative and cultural field.
Think tanks are usually non-profit organizations and
can be funded by “governments, advocacy
groups, or businesses.”
Think tank. (2012). Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank
15. THEY GENERATE DATA, SO THEY MUST BE
UNBIASED.
Allegheny Institute for Public Policy
• The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education
organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of
taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly
burdensome and intrusive government. To that end, we will
formulate and advocate public policies that roll back the size and
scope of local government as well as create a more accountable
government. Our efforts will be guided by the principles of free
enterprise, property rights, civil society and individual freedom that
are the bedrock upon which this nation was founded.
Mission statement. (2009). Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. http://www.alleghenyinstitute.org/about-us/mission-
statement.html
16. QUALITY. INDEPENDENCE. IMPACT.
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based
in Washington, DC. Our mission is to conduct
high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to
provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three
broad goals:
• Strengthen American democracy;
• Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of
all Americans; and
• Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international
system.
Brookings is proud to be consistently ranked as the most
influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank.
About Brookings. (2012). Brookings Institution. http://www.brookings.edu/about
17. HOW HAVE THINK TANKS SHAPED THIS
ELECTION?
The GOP establishment is in full attack mode after a Tax Policy Center
report concluded that Mitt Romney couldn’t offset the effect of his
proposed tax cuts by simply closing loopholes benefiting the rich.
Either he would have to raise taxes on middle- and/or lower-income
households, or his proposal will increase the deficit.
The Obama campaign ran with the first possibility and started saying
that Mr. Romney was proposing a giant tax increase on the middle
class. The Romney campaign attacked the study–perhaps not
surprisingly (TPC was attacked from both sides for their analysis of
the 2008 campaign proposals) and then its various surrogates
started attacking the credibility of the TPC.
Burman, Len. (2012, August 9). GOP establishment's shameless attack on nonpartisan think tank [Blog post].
http://www.forbes.com/sites/leonardburman/2012/08/09/gop-establishment-attacks-nonpartisan-think-tank-and-im-feeling-nostalgic-for-presidents-
reagan-and-bush-i/
18. THE PLOT THICKENS…
Instead of releasing “more detail,” however, Romney is trying to shoot
the messenger. His campaign put out a press release denouncing
the Tax Policy Center as a “liberal group” that can’t be trusted. But
that’s not likely to fly considering Romney’s own aides have referred
to the group repeatedly as an independent and impartial referee.
One November press release from the Romney camp highlighting a
study of then-opponent Rick Perry’s tax proposal called the Tax
Policy Center an “objective, third-party analysis.” Other Romney
press releases cited Tax Policy Center analyses of tax plans from
Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum as well.
Sarlin, Benjy. (2012, August 1). Romney’s tight grip on information puts campaign on defensive over taxes. TPM Retrieved from
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/romney-tax-plan-brookings-95-percent.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
22. WHO IS THIS GUY?
Nathan Orlowek
• “Booth researcher”
• “Senior Judaic educator at Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud
Torah in Potomac, where he has worked for 30 years, Orlowek will
appear in his alter ego role, Booth historian…”
WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
Potential exhumation of corpse = $$
REWRITING HISTORY!!
Leibel, A. (2010, December 15). Captivated a Lincoln assassination History Channel segment to feature Jewish educator who believes Booth lived until
1903. Washington Jewish Week. http://washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=27&SubSectionID=25&ArticleID=13999
Spin – from either the news outlet itself or from the candidates PR teamWhat is it? achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure
Start video at first round of commercialshttp://www.history.com/shows/brad-meltzers-decoded/videos/playlists/full-episodes#brad-meltzers-decoded-the-lincoln-assassination
“His fascination with Booth began at age 15 when Orlowek read a passage in the book The Web of Conspiracy (1959), which indicated that Booth might have escaped from a barn where he was supposedly shot and killed after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. “In the course of his research, Orlowek has become recognized as an authority on the case, and been interviewed many times on TV, including on NBC-TV's Unsolved Mysteries in 1991, and in articles in newspapers and magazines. In the early 1990s, the state's attorney for Baltimore City approved Orlowek's request that the body of the man whom the soldiers had shot be exhumed. (Twenty-one of the 22 certified Booth descendants supported the exhumation.) However, in October 1994, a group of historians who disagree with Orlowek's theory successfully sued to stop the exhumation.
