Assignment: In the News - Comparing information sources on environmental issues

You can usually find a variety of viewpoints on most environmental issues. The challenge is to be able to sort through these various perspectives so that you can arrive at an informed opinion. The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate and compare different positions taken on an environmental issue and how those positions are presented in a variety of types of publications. In this assignment, you will be able to practice your research skills in accessing information from a number of different sources, your critical thinking skills and your writing skills. To complete this assignment, follow the instructions below.

Step 1: Issues Selection
Tentatively select one of the following issues and complete Step 2 (below) before starting your work, but do not begin until you have successfully signed up.

- Shipping Oil by Rail
- Large Scale Wind Energy
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Neonicotinoid Pesticides
- Energy East Pipeline
- Woodland Caribou
- Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling

Step 2: Sign Up

Sign up for one of the issues listed above by posting your choice on the Discussion Board (look for an Assignment 3 Sign Up forum). Only the first SIX people per topic will be accepted. Check the Discussion Board first. If the topic has six people already, choose another one.

Step 3: Select the Three Information Sources you are comparing

Your evaluation and comparison must be based on using three sources selected from the following four options.

- A national or provincial newspaper, or a national or international magazine.
- The website of an Environmental Non-Governmental Organization (ENGO).
- The website of a proponent or target of environmental concern (typically this will be business / industry, or a government agency, that is proposing a development project or resource use activity);
- A peer-reviewed academic journal article.

Follow the instructions below to complete a write-up and summary tables for each information source. The table format is provided below and may be copied / pasted into your assignment.

INFORMATION SOURCES: Select three of the following four options and explain at the beginning of your write up why you selected the three that you did.

- Newspaper/Magazine Articles
Log on to the U of S Library, and search under "Databases" to find Canadian Newsstand (newspapers) and the CBCA Reference (magazines and some journals). Select a recent article from a national or provincial newspaper OR from a popular periodical (magazine). Complete the relevant summary table.

- ENGO (Environmental Non-Governmental Organization) Website (select 1 ENGO) Use the website of an ENGO that is involved in this issue. Newspaper and magazine articles often quote representatives of ENGO's that you can follow up on. As with the newspapers, complete the relevant summary table.

- Proponent website (select 1 proponent)
Find the website of a proponent (a business or industry, or a government agency, or the target of ENGO action) that is involved in this issue. Again, media articles can provide some leads here. Complete the relevant summary table.

- Peer-Reviewed Academic Journal Articles
Find a recent article from a peer-reviewed academic journal; many journals are now available through the electronic data base of the library. You may not find an article directly related to your specific issue, but you may find several if you think more generally about the topic. For example, the issue of GMO Wheat raises concerns about genetically-modified organisms, and you can find many articles on the broader topic. Read the selected article carefully (this will take longer) and complete the summary table for it.

How do you know if a journal is a peer-reviewed journal and the article within it is reviewed? Some clues are:
- The journal has an editorial board (see inside cover) that is mainly composed of academics or scientists at research institutes.
- Look to the guide for authors. Are they required to submit more than one copy for review? Is the review process described?
- The article will have a less personal tone, it typically includes a literature review that points to other research in the area (along with some assessment of how this work fits into that literature), it usually includes some original research with evidence collected and analyzed by the author(s), it describes a contribution to knowledge not previously known before.
- The "format" for academic journals is often less visually-appealing than for more popular magazines, however, Science, and Nature do have magazine formats. There are good and interesting articles in magazines such as Canadian Geographic, National Geographic, Scientific American, however, these are popular sources, not academic. Similarly, there are ‘trade' magazines of resource sectors such as forestry, agriculture, etc. or planning magazines that are not academic in character.
- Beware! There are types of articles within academic journals that are NOT peer-reviewed. This typically includes editorial statements, ‘review articles'...look for the other clues above.
- If in doubt, ask your Instructors.

Step 4: Complete the Summary Tables

Complete the tables in point form. These will also provide you with rough notes to help you answer the questions that follow. The tables format is provided below, and the tables are a part of the assignment and need to be submitted as an appendix to the main write up.

Step 5: Write Up Your Analysis

Once the tables are completed, you are required to write three paragraphs (at least 100 words each) about each of your sources. Since you have three sources, this amounts to nine paragraphs. In addition, you are required to have a brief Introduction paragraph, as well as a Conclusion consisting of two additional paragraphs (see details below). The total length of your write up will therefore be 12 paragraphs.

Introduction

Par. 1 - Identify the issue and explain why you selected the three sources you did.

For each of the three sources being compared:

Par. 1 - Summarize the issue, the alleged causes of the problem, key actors or issue factors. Describe the tone of the coverage.

Par. 2 - Discuss the evidence presented. Were there data, discussion points, or other evidence that helped you form an opinion on the issue?

Par. 3 - What was as the overall message, and why did you find this source more, or less, convincing than your other source?

Conclusion: for the overall assignment
Par. 1 - What did you find most interesting about this issue that you did not previously know?

Par. 2 - From the sources you reviewed, where might you go a year from now to update your understanding of the issue? Explain why. Comment on how you think the issue might have been presented differently by the source you did NOT select.

Step 6: Submit Your Work

Your final written format should be a series of related paragraphs; however, it need not be a full essay. You will be graded for writing style and content within paragraphs but not as a full essay. Please separate each section of the write up according to the source you are describing. Please check the Summary Tables to be certain you have all the fields completed, and append the tables at the end of the write up.

In addition, while you do not need to cite your sources within the body of your written paragraphs, you must provide a proper References section with the complete source citations for all the articles and all website URLs that you used.

SUMMARY TABLES

Use only the appropriate THREE tables below to provide the required tabular summary as an appendix to your written text. Please delete the table that you don't need.

Newspaper/magazine

ENGO

Industry or Proponent(possibly government)

Academic Article