“Fake News” Research Essay

Description

General: Research a civic issue that is of concern to a specific community of non-experts in order to identify multiple perspectives from which this issue is viewed.  Use this information to create a persuasive text that uses ethical persuasive strategies to advance social change or action. This project should be presented in a genre that would be commonly used to communicate with members of this community. Specific: The content of our civic issue research will concern the expansion of propaganda, disinformation and “fake news” in the 21st Century. We will investigate the history, mechanics, consequences and trajectory of disinformation disseminated as news. And we will analyze three central arguments that address the question of “Whose job is it to mitigate propaganda, disinformation or fake news?” For example: Is it the government’s job to legislate protections against the impacts of fake news? Should social networking platforms themselves be required to police and mitigate fake news on their sites? Or is it the readers and viewers, employing their critical digital literacy, who are responsible for mitigating the effects of fake news? We will compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of these arguments in analysis, and form our own arguments as to who is responsible for mitigating the consequences of fake news. Intro Steps: 1). Lead and Context—your example 2). Definition –What is fake news? (According to . . . ) 3). Motives–Who makes it? Why? What are the motives? 4). Methods–How is it created and disseminated? How does it spread? What’s different now? 5). Consequences– What are some consequences (both in relation to your example and to society) 6). Your inquiry (based on the prompt), and how you will proceed—meta-discourse Body Steps:  Addresses the question: Are social platforms responsible for mitigating fake news on their sites? 1). Introduction: introduce author(s), introduce the article (or documentary, report, etc.), and state the claim 2). Explain or give context to the claim 3). Give quote to illustrate claim 4). Explain or give context to quote 5). State the evidence and strategies that support the claim