1. Headline (5 points)

What is the headline?

1. Type as a hyperlink exactly as written with capitalization, bold font etc.

Including capitalization and bolding are important because they emphasize the word. You will provide a brief analysis of this point in your Critical Reflection in #10 below.

2. Cite using correct APA format. Review APA formatting. You can use resources such as Owl Purdue (Links to an external site.) for APA format information. You can use resources such as Owl Purdue (Links to an external site.) or the UNCW Library website for Citations and Bibliography Help (Links to an external site.) for APA format information. The UNCW Library website also contains online citation management tools for APA format such as Citation Builder (Links to an external site.) and KnightCite (Links to an external site.).

2. Identify and Describe Media Source (10 points)

1. What was the source.

2. Research the publication. Is this publication liberal or conservative? Is the publication geared toward young people, senior citizens? Describe any political affiliations etc.

3. Beyond the Headline (10 points)

1. What if you did not read beyond the headline, what would you conclude?

2. Now read beyond the headline, does the article agree with the headline? How well does the headline reflect the story? Compare headline to the contents of the media story.

4. Link to the original research was Provided (5 points)

When reporting on research in the media, it is good practice to tell the reader (i) where the study was published, and (ii) who carried it out, preferably with direct links to both pieces of information (Forgan, 2014).

1. Does the media article provide a link to the original work is published and the original research?

2. Why do you think it important to provide the link to the original research?

5. Access the Original Research (10 points)

1. Type in the title of the original scholarly book/article using correct APA format. Review APA formatting. You can use resources such as Owl Purdue (Links to an external site.) for APA format information or other sites such as Citation Builder (Links to an external site.)

2. Is the original research article published in a professional, peer-reviewed publication? How do you know?

6. Identify the Central Research Question from the Original Research (10 points)

1. Identify the central research question.

2. Provide quote from article that identifies the central question(s) of the research.

7. Results of Original Research (10 points)

1. Identify the results from the research.

2. Provide quote from article that supports your determination.

8. What did the researchers conclude? (10 points)

1. Identify the conclusions from the research.

2. Provide quote from article that supports your determination.

9. Determine if the Headline reflects the Conclusion of the Researchers (15 points)

1. Compare what is written in the media article with what is written in the original research. Was the headline accurate?

2. Would you change the headline? Explain. Does the headline imply causality when only correlation was concluded?

10. Critical Reflection (15 points)

1. Explain how you chose the headline. Did you do a search on your area of interest or did you search for a generic story on science? Explain.

2. How you found the scientific article? What database did you search?

3. What is the purpose of a headline? Is the purpose of a headline to reflect the research accurately or to motivate someone to open the article? What role do advertisements that sponsor the media platform play?

4. Did your headline emphasize any word(s) with bold or capitalization? This is important because emphasizing certain words shapes our cognitive orientation before we even read the story. Were any words capitalized for emphasis, if so which? Why do you think that is? Does this emphasis create a stigma or create a stereotype? For example, are the words “Mentally Ill” capitalized in a story about excessive video game playing?

5. Additional thoughts?