Follow along as Librarian Jane tracks down the story of NASA's newest adventure to Mars.
Scrolling through Facebook, the librarian found a post from the UK's Daily Mail about NASA's helicopter "Ingenuity" who is now flying around Mars, collecting rocks, and taking great photographs. She knows that the event is really happening, but she isn't sure if she should trust what the Daily Mail is saying (because she knows it is a gossip rag).
Visit the Original Facebook Post Here
The librarian bravely clicks into the article and is taken to the Daily Mai's website. Here, she is quickly overwhelmed with the number of ads, running videos, and overall clutter contained on the webpage. She knows that ads and popups should set off her "This Might Not Be 100% Factual" radar, so she bravely reads through the article (knowing she shouldn't trust the summary at the top of the page provided by the Daily Mail) and figures out the facts of the story.
Visit the Daily Mail's Article Here
Escaping the overwhelming website of the Daily Mail, the librarian goes to DuckDuckGo (a Google counterpart that doesn't track your searches - which means less adds), and types in NASA. She is wanting to get to NASA's main website, and once there, she searches for the Mars helicopter Ingenuity. Quickly, she finds an article talking about the new little helicopter who is currently buzzing around the Red Planet, taking photos and stopping back at the rover to recharge. What the librarian also finds, is that the Daily Mail article pulled almost word-for-word the contents of NASA's article for their own.
Visit NASA's Article on the Ingenuity Here
Librarian Jane's Findings and Thoughts
The Daily Mail is not a 100% reliable source all of the time, so it is important that you verify the information through an outside source.
The NASA article was short and to the point - it was also used verbatim in the Daily Mail's article.
While this Daily Mail article was correct, the fact that they pulled nearly an entire article in as quotes, makes someone wonder how accurate and ethical their reporting and writing is.
Your mom always says: If you have a cold, take vitamin C.
This will help shorten the length of your cold and you'll feel better sooner.
Scenario: You found three (3) articles that talk about taking vitamin C when you have a cold. One came across your social media feed, one was sent to you from a classmate, and one was found through a Google search. You click into the articles and read what the experts and health officials are saying about the link between vitamin C and the common cold.
As a Group:
Article #1: "Does vitamin C help with a cold? Yes, but it won't help prevent it" from Insider
Iallonardo, M. (2020, Feb 20). Does vitamin C help with a cold? Yes, but it won't help prevent it. Insider. https://www.insider.com/does-vitamin-c-help-with-colds
Article #2: "Does vitamin C help with the common cold?" from McMaster University's Blog
Optimal Aging Portal Blog Team. (2014, Sept 21). Does vitamin C help with the common cold? McMaster Optimal Aging Portal. https://www.mcmasteroptimalaging.org/blog/detail/blog/2014/09/21/does-vitamin-c-help-with-the-common-cold
Article #3: "Vitamin C for Colds - Does It Actually Work?" from Healthline
Gunnars, K. (2018, Apr 24). Vitamin C for Colds - Does It Actually Work? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/does-vitamin-c-help-with-colds
Are these posts from social media real or fake?
Take the Full Quiz Here
https://mediasmarts.ca/quiz/break-fake-news
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