INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCH ESSAY
Assignment Breakdown:
One of the goals of this course is to see that censorship exists around us. Even though we may
not be fully aware of how much censorship affects us daily, this assignment asks us to dig a
little deeper into current examples of censorship and report on them for an audience. This
assignment asks that you locate a recent news story from an independent news source,
determine through research if it has been censored or altered, and then discuss the possible
reasons for the censorship.
1. Find an article
A censored article reports information that the public has a right and need to know. Start
by searching independent news sources to find possible censored articles. Use the
following links to search independent news sources. Find a news story on a topic that
interests you. The news story must come from one of the following sources below.
http://www.projectcensored.org/independent-news-links/
http://projectcensored.org/independent-periodicals-webzines/
2. Evaluate Your article’s strength
The strongest articles are important, timely, fact-based, well documented, and underreported. Once you have found a possible article, test its quality by considering these
questions:
A. Is it important?
- The more people that the article affects, the more important it is. Be
careful to consider indirect impacts.
For example, a story about electronic waste disposal in Africa might seem like it
only involves the people exposed to the toxic waste. But the problem of
electronic waste disposal includes Western consumers (mostly North Americans
and Europeans) who discard as much as 40 million tons of electronic waste each
year. So, the story involves a wider circle of people and is more important than it
might first seem.
B. Is it timely?
- Recent articles on older events will be considered if they report new,
important information. Try to keep your story as recent as possible. Aim
for articles that have been published in the last 6 months.
C. Is it fact-based and well documented?
- The article’s accuracy and credibility is crucial. How many different
sources does the article use? How credible is each source? An article
based on many reliable sources is harder to dispute than one based on a
single good source or several biased sources. If your article cites other
published work (for example, a scientific study, government document,
or another news story), track back to that source and read it. Does your
article accurately depict the original article?
D. Has the corporate media ignored or under-reported the story?
- Evaluate your article’s coverage by using a news database to search for
corporate coverage of it. Check with librarians to learn what news
Assignment adapted from Project Censored
databases you can access. Experience shows that Google News is not
always reliable; use it as a last resort. The clearest “censored” articles are
ones that corporate media have completely ignored. Candidate articles
that received some corporate coverage may still be considered “censored”
if corporate coverage leaves the reader with an incomplete or distorted
understanding of the article.
E. As you research your candidate article, be alert for related articles that:
- contain information contrary to your original article; were published
before your original article, or; contain more complete information than
your first article. You may decide a second article is better than your first,
in which case continue your work now using the second article. Or you
may conclude that the second article supports the first and should be
included along with it.
Assignment Guidelines:
Below is how the assignment should be organized.
Title This captures the story’s most important point in approximately five to ten words.
Summary (150-200 words maximum)
→
The first paragraph should provide a specific, concise and factual summary of the
article’s most important point. Use a summary lead to place this essential information up front.
Your first sentence should introduce what happened, where, and when.
→
The body paragraphs should go into more detail, elaborating on the article’s main point
and/or introducing secondary points. Good details might include who stands to benefit from
the action or policy in question, as well as who (if anyone) it harms.
→
(A) final paragraph(s) should address corporate media coverage of the story. This is
often as important as your article’s summary lead. It is essential that you do a thorough job of
researching your article’s coverage using a reliable news database. If there is no corporate
media coverage of your article, state so directly and indicate a date as of which this was true. If
your article has gotten some corporate news coverage, then identify what corporate news
organizations covered the article, and when. In this case be sure to describe how the
independent news article you are summarizing goes beyond the coverage provided by the
corporate media. If you cannot see a difference, you may need to reconsider whether your
article is actually “censored”.
References
Following the summary, give a complete reference for the article using the most recent versions
of either MLA or APA citation. If your summary draws on multiple stories, give a reference for
each one.
Evaluation
This assignment will be evaluated based on the Category 10 rubric.
PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY:
While I will not require that you submit to Project Censored, I strongly encourage you to submit
your finished paper. How cool would it be to have it included on their site! If you do decide to
Assignment adapted from Project Censored
submit to Project Censored, please let me know after the due date and I will help you with the
revision and submission process.
CAT 10 RUBRIC: (next page)
Cat.
10
5
Argument
Organization and paragraphs
Style and sentences
Conventions
•The paper presents a logical,
persuasive, scholarly argument
about a particular topic.
•The paper addresses relevant
authorities on the topic and clearly
•The structure of the paper’s
overall argument is remarkably
clear and logical.
•Individual paragraphs are
always unified and coherent.
•The sentences are consistently
clear, coherent, and
syntactically varied.
•Precise word choice and an
appropriate tone support the
•The grammar, spelling,
punctuation, and usage
conform to conventions of
academic writing.
Assignment adapted from Project Censored
4
3
2
1
explains its relationship to their
ideas.
•The paper weighs a wide range of
viewpoints, and persuasively
articulates the reasons for its
position on the topic.
•The paper creates genuine interest
in the topic.
•The paper presents a logical
argument about a particular topic in
a scholarly manner.
•The paper often engages relevant
authorities on the topic and employs
their ideas.
•The paper considers a range of
viewpoints and presents them fairly
in the course of explaining its
position on the topic.
•The paper is able to express the
interest that the topic might possess.
•The paper presents a reasonably
successful argument about a topic,
although its force may at times be
compromised by faulty logic or
superficial thinking.
•The paper sometimes engages
relevant authorities on the topic; its
stance regarding their ideas could be
clearer.
•The paper’s presentation of
alternative viewpoints on the topic
is occasionally lacking.
•It does not consistently engage its
audience.
•The paper’s argument about a topic
is only marginally successful.
•The paper’s attention to what
others have said on the topic is
minimal.
•The paper’s presentation of
alternative viewpoints is often
lacking.
•The paper does not attempt to
engage the audience in the topic or
explain its interest.
•The paper’s argument about a topic
is unsuccessful; it might be
confusingly unclear, obviously
biased, or insufficiently developed.
•The paper neglects to consider
what others have said or written on
the topic.
•The paper’s presentation of the
material seems to use sources solely
to support its own point, without
considering opposing viewpoints.
•The paper does not attempt to
engage the reader in the topic or
explain its interest.
•Transitions between paragraphs
underscore the links in the
paper’s argument.
•The paper possesses a skillful
and interesting introduction and
conclusion.
paper’s purpose and display a
command of the conventions of
academic writing.
•References to sources are
accurately cited and
documented according to the
appropriate style manual.
•Format is consistently correct
and appropriate.
•The structure of the paper’s
overall argument is clear and
logical.
•Individual paragraphs are
almost always unified and
coherent.
•Transitions link the paragraphs.
•The paper possesses an
introduction and conclusion that
accurately reflect the paper’s
content.
•Sentences are usually clear,
coherent, and syntactically
varied.
•Word choice and tone support
the paper’s purpose and usually
display a command of the
conventions of academic
writing.
•The paper is free of serious
errors in grammar, spelling,
punctuation, or usage.
•References to outside sources
are usually cited accurately and
documented according to the
appropriate style manual.
•Format is correct and
appropriate.
•The clarity and logic of the
paper’s organizational structure
could be somewhat clearer.
•Individual paragraphs
occasionally lack unity or
coherence.
•Transitions between paragraphs
seem wooden and arbitrary.
•The introduction and
conclusion are perfunctory, but
do present the content of the
paper, albeit not in an
interesting way.
•Sentences are generally clear
and correct; however, some
may be basic, choppy, or lack
syntactic variety.
•Word choice and tone
generally support the paper’s
purpose but may less
consistently display a
command of the conventions of
academic writing.
•Errors in grammar, spelling,
punctuation, or usage
occasionally interfere with
communication and damage the
writer's credibility.
•References to outside sources
are generally cited and
documented, but not always in
the appropriate style.
•Format is generally correct
and appropriate.
•Paper’s organizational structure
is unclear; the reader may be
confused by the direction of the
argument.
•Paragraphs often lack unity or
coherence.
•Transitions are occasionally
missing or illogical.
•The introduction and
conclusion are awkward; they
may not relate clearly to the
content of the paper.
•The paper’s organizational
structure is underdeveloped.
•Most paragraphs seem to have
no unifying idea, and may
include gaps in logic; often they
simply summarize a series of
events.
•No effort is made to link
paragraphs with transitions.
•The introduction or conclusion
may be missing or
underdeveloped.
•Sentences are frequently basic,
choppy, or repetitive in
structure and may display
lapses in clarity or coherency.
•Inappropriate word choice or
tone detract from the paper’s
purpose and frequently display
a lack of command of the
conventions of academic
writing.
•Many errors in spelling,
grammar, punctuation, and
usage impede communication
and undercut the writer's
credibility.
•References to outside sources
are not clearly cited;
documentation style is
inappropriate.
•Format is not consistently
correct or appropriate.
•Sentences are mostly basic,
choppy, or repetitive in
structure and display lapses in
clarity or coherency.
•Inappropriate word choice or
tone detract from the paper’s
purpose and display a general
lack of command of the
conventions of academic
writing.
•Numerous errors in spelling,
grammar, punctuation, and
usage impede communication.
•References to outside sources
are not cited.
•Format is not consistently
correct or appropriate.
Assignment adapted from Project Censored
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