Project X for Fortified

1. In order to be economically successful, the stories in the news media must do what?

Sell the media effectively

Present the facts of a story

Represent multiple views on an issue

Package the material in an objective fashion

2. Critical consumers of the news are hard to manipulate because they do all of the following EXCEPT:

analyze news stories as a blend of fact and interpretation.

notice which implications are ignored and which are in focus.

notice that the truth is rarely distorted by news agencies.

understand various perspectives that contradict those that are presented in the story.

3. According to Zindler, atheists picture heaven as which of the following?

A place where reincarnated souls end up.

A physical world that lacks supernatural explanations.

A godless, warring world that desires destruction.

A place of eternal love and happiness.

4. Most people consider facts to be important when those facts:

deal with people from distant places who suffer.

affect their own living conditions.

affect the living conditions of those in different classes in society.

represent alternative viewpoints to their own.

5. In order to obtain information from a story that is filled with propaganda, a person must do which of the following?

Analyze it from his or her own perspective.

See if it agrees with common wisdom of the day.

Seek other sources that mirror the same viewpoint.

Analyze the story with a clear understanding of the point of view that lies underneath it.

6. According to Saint-Laurent, humans pursue religion:

to obtain peace in an afterlife.

to give their lives meaning.

because they are fundamentally afraid.

in order to avoid punishment.

7. Zindler claims that American education moved from a more agnostic position back to religious explanation because of this event.

The Cold War

World War I

The Civil War

World War II

8. When constructing a news story for an audience, those who create the story are motivated by:

a desire to educate their audiences.

how to relate the story to the beliefs of the audience.

the best way to present the facts.

a goal of being fair to all sides involved in the story.

9. According to William Graham Sumner, a critical society would be one in which the citizens would have all of the following attributes EXCEPT which of the following?

They would be slow to believe.

They would be able to resist appeals to their prejudices.

They would hold their own beliefs as probable.

They would try to get other societies to become critical societies.

10. For Saint-Laurent, most people adopt a certain religion in which of the following ways?

By being born into a social environment in which people practice a specific religion.

By being chosen by God to be a follower.

By being forced to believe in a religion.

By choosing a religion after reflection on various problems.

11. Outline one form of sensitivity the news media has that influences its objectivity.

Your response should be at least 75 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

12. Examine the three forms of objectivity, and give an example of each from your own experience.

Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

13. Identify and explain the steps that one must take to be a critical consumer of the news, and describe a time where you failed to be a critical consumer of the news.

Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

14. Match the explanation with the appropriate Key Term

1. Objectivity

2. Intellectual humility

3. Fairminded thinking

4. Sophistic Objectivity

5. Propaganda

A.	Openness to multiple points of view and the ability to question one’s own point of view.
B.	The result of studying multiple views with the overriding motivation to defend a specific viewpoint.
C.	Understanding of one’s own ignorance.
D.	Understanding of the many-sidedness of an issue.
E.	Widespread dissemination of ideas to promote one’s own interests or harm another’s interests.