lesson

Updated 6 days ago Β· 2 views
A viral post claims: "9 out of 10 teens check their phones over 200 times a day!" But who actually counted?
To know if a headline is reliable, you must track down its data source β the specific organization or research team that collected the original numbers.
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Where do digital articles hide this information, and how can you spot it in seconds?
Anatomy of a Media Report
Digital news reports typically cite their data through inline attribution phrases, clickable hyperlinks, or a small methodology box at the bottom.
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A primary source is the organization that designed the survey questions and gathered data directly from participants.
The news website, blog, or social media page presenting the story is merely a secondary reporter summarizing someone else's research.
A media report rarely conducts its own research; it usually acts as a secondary source citing an external polling body, academic institution, or government agency like the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
A media report rarely conducts primary research directly. It typically acts as a secondary source citing an academic institution, polling body, or government agency like the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Let's put this into practice: can you dissect a real-world news excerpt to find who actually ran the numbers?