Does the news you ingest pass the S.M.E.L.L test

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

• 11 ways to seduce a man
• 8 steps to building your influence in the social media world
• Breaking news, Kanye West opens up about his sex life with Kim

Question for you; what were your thoughts when you saw these headlines? Were you curious? If you saw these headlines, would you want to know more? If so, how would you know if the information was true? Would you take the time to back up your thoughts on the article by researching other articles?

Depending on your attention to certain details, with news coming at us from so many sources, it is easy to get sucked into bogus information that literally clutters up your mental space with a whole lot of nonsense. I am still learning a lot about this media landscape, and during my learning periods, I find information that I know will help push our community forward. One thing that I think might be beneficial to us is learning how to decipher information that is for us, and information that is there just to distract us from what we need to be focused on in our individual lives.

Last week when I was visiting the library, I ran across this book by Kristin Thiel called “Avoiding Clickbait.” She actually has a whole series of books dedicated to news, and media literacy. In the upcoming weeks, I am going to share some of this information with you, but for now, let us look at what clickbait is. Clickbait is defined as a headline, image, or social media post that baits or lures someone to click through to an article or video (as cited in Thiel, 2019). What clickbait does is take advantage of the reader’s curiosity gaps (gap between what you know and do not know), and fills in that gap. It is meant to appeal to your senses, what can happen sometimes, is if the information is not properly filtered, and we do not take the time to conduct our own research, then we run the risk of being subjected to fake news.

 (Writers Note – Some of the media sources in this world know that you will not take the time to research, so this is one way of controlling the narrative of any story.)

Now, if you have time to be filling your mind with useless information, that is okay, click away, but if you are a person who enjoys learning, and wants information without all of the filters that have been created for us, then I am going to introduce you to the S.M.E.L.L Test. SOURCE, MOTIVATION, EVIDENCE, AND LOGIC, LEFT (out of piece)

 Source: Start by asking yourself some questions: who wrote this? Is this an established writer? What site was this information found on? Is the site a credible one? (This question will have many subjective answers) Asking these questions will at least help you start funnelling out the rift-raft.

Motivation: All right, what does this writer really want to say? We are all born with biases, and they cannot be avoided, but the main goal of any story must be to inform you, not persuade you, or lead you down a path that satisfies them. Readers have biases too, so ask yourself some questions as well; why did you choose to read this article?

Evidence: Think to yourself, have I heard of this story elsewhere? Then start researching other sources about the story. If you look elsewhere, and you do not see the story coming up, this might just be a case of fake news, and you my friend fell for the clickbait.

Logic: Some writers may try to trick you into believing them by presenting quotes, or statistics. Again, do some research; do the details in the article you are reading support the conclusion, or is it just fluff. You have a critical eye, you have just become so used to not using it, that it is out of practice. Think back to when you were a child, or if you have children, think about all of the logic questions that they ask. Sometimes they are so logical that we get irritated at them for asking them.

Left Out: So, what is missing from this topic? Are there two sides to the story, or does the writer only present one side. Has the writer thought about differences in people’s experiences, especially when it relates to gender, geography, race, and generation? In order to get a full story there are considerations that have to be made.

I enjoyed writing this piece because as a budding journalist, I am learning as I go about telling a story, whether it is about a person, or a situation. There is so much to consider, and I want to ensure that I present the best work possible to you the readers. Give me your thoughts, and let me know about any articles that you have come across that do not pass the S.M.E.LL Test.