I don't know what you learned in English class but who, what, when, where, why and how are so important and versatile when asking questions for the media you ingest and interpret. Examples being who is this for? What feeling does this stir? Why was it written in this tone? Who benefits from this?etc - ThreadSky

crackedlemonade.bsky.social • 200 days ago

I don't know what you learned in English class but who, what, when, where, why and how are so important and versatile when asking questions for the media you ingest and interpret. Examples being who is this for? What feeling does this stir? Why was it written in this tone? Who benefits from this?etc

Comments

corithna.bsky.social•199 days ago

There is no arguing with that one.

realmajorpita.bsky.social•200 days ago

Add follow.

Follow the money. It explains 99.99%.

hnlden78.bsky.social•199 days ago

"I have six honest serving men, they taught me all I know. There names are what and why and when and how and where and who.' My father was a teacher and he taught this to all his classes.

ianraynes.bsky.social•199 days ago

It's also taught in police training, because open questions produce fuller and more revealing answers than closed questions that can be answered with yes or no.

prm1954.bsky.social•200 days ago

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

brucecoffman.bsky.social•199 days ago

Those are supposed to be the basic questions journalist answer in "news." American journalism schools obviously stopped teaching the basics years ago.

kami-rose.bsky.social•200 days ago

Also "How will this make money?"

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

Yes. That is an example of applying those base questions

nanobot-fps.bsky.social•200 days ago

I also add: how much?

y-ask.bsky.social•200 days ago

I've always been an advocate of the 5 "W"'s

pastastructure.bsky.social•199 days ago

The internet is new enough that people haven't been able to discriminate between fact and fiction. This simple advice takes a great step forward in making that possible. Thank you!!

ceruleancnosys.bsky.social•200 days ago

📌

jazzpomegranate.com•200 days ago

YES

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

Like the profile change up btw 🤣

jazzpomegranate.com•200 days ago

thank you!

cartergame.bsky.social•200 days ago

Since it looks like we're about to go through another "Historic" cycle soon I should probably add my "Fundamentals for Any Good News Article" for the new generation of up & coming Bluesky reporters: Ask the questions in this order for the most efficient & effective reporting.

cartergame.bsky.social•200 days ago

(Edit from the Bottom going up if you have to...)
1. What Happened?
2. Who was Involved
3. When did this Happen?
4. Where did this Happen?
5. How did this Happen?
6. Why did this Happen?
7. What Happens Next?
Whether it's a skeet, a magazine article, or a 60,000 word dissertation this order applies

khaiqnguyen.bsky.social•199 days ago

totally agree & second on this. i think the what-who-when-where form the foundation while the how-why get you deeper understanding of things involved, also how-why are harder questions that require a certain level of seeing patterns & reasoning to be able to answer

snarkypops.bsky.social•200 days ago

Consider the Source, and no I don't mean tomato was a constant quote in my class.

jambball224.bsky.social•200 days ago

yes!! journalism and media literacy is so important. i was really fortunate to take a college-level journalism class in high school and learned a lot

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

I do want to clarify this isn't specifically about news media

jambball224.bsky.social•200 days ago

Ah! Thank you for the clarification. Appreciate it :)

langranny.bsky.social•200 days ago

When I took journalism in high school we were told that the only time you don't ask the "why" is a wedding.

pjvegi.bsky.social•199 days ago

Say thank you to your English teacher!

stellarplexus.bsky.social•199 days ago

These kinds of questions, as well as how to check your biases while trying to answer them honestly, were drilled into my head in a historiography class. Looking back at how it’s helped me navigate the informational chaos of the past ten years, it might well be the most important class I ever took.

troikaverse.bsky.social•200 days ago

Unfortunately, it isn't just basic English. I had to learn these things in Journalism in college. I learned even more through a Word As A Weapon course. This was 15 years ago. "Liberal Arts" needs rebranding, as it's exactly these classes that provide a sort of mental self defense.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

This is why I added the part at the beginning because the reality is that this isn't universally taught I just happened to have dope high school English teachers

troikaverse.bsky.social•200 days ago

I wasnt disagreeing or even contesting the point at all, sorry if it read that way. I'd say my comment was more of an addendum.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

That's perfectly fair. I did just want to be clear. Thank you for your clarification as well

joedavis72.bsky.social•200 days ago

If I don’t see those answered in the first paragraph of a news article I stop reading.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

Nice

mylittlecorner.bsky.social•200 days ago

This would be a FANTASTIC exercise. Choose ANY “felon friendly” trump interview and insert ANY ONE of these words in rapid succession as he’s “weaving” like an adderall snorting spider.

fragilepug.bsky.social•200 days ago

Critical thinking is lovely.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

It's a good tool

wholly-unholy.bsky.social•200 days ago

'Who is this for?' is a question often overlooked in adaptations.

I was watching the Witcher on Netflix and noting the additions of monoliths and Baba Yaga that were not in the books.

I just think...why? The fans will definitely hate this and non-fans won't know the difference either way.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

Yea, I definitely apply this to shows I watched or grew up watching. Like what are takeaways that I really didn't consider when I was younger.

wholly-unholy.bsky.social•200 days ago

I watched Scream for 15 years before I realised that having two killers was a subversion of slasher movie tropes and not just a cool twist.

You're supposed to believe Ghostface (Micheal Myers) could just be anywhere, almost teleporting, but the reveal of having two killers breaks that illusion.

wholly-unholy.bsky.social•200 days ago

That was meant to say 'like Micheal Myers' by the way. I'm not suggesting that Ghostface was in Halloween. Just to be clear.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

🤣🤣🤣 you just created a hilarious alternate universe in my brain from this clarification

newsneus.bsky.social•199 days ago

Id you add whom with and what for, you can enter in police making.

rjazzman323.bsky.social•200 days ago

you read too much into reporting the who why what when where and if we can find it out how is the there's something happening now hopefully it's good but in reality is the reality is it's probably really really bad because it's happening now so we're covering it. as per the navy instructions,asu.

fl0wergarden.bsky.social•200 days ago

I disagree with the notion that questioning the media is inherently objective or critical. This approach can be overly simplistic and ignore the complexities of media representation and the potential biases of the person asking the questions.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

Did I say it was inherently objective or critical? I am not going to defend something or engage with something I didn't say

nobolony.bsky.social•200 days ago

That’s gone out the window a long time ago! They used to have to write the TRUTH or report on FACTS . . . Now it’s anything goes and zero accountability

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

This is not specifically about the news.

barkspurrs.bsky.social•199 days ago

I love the question words. I’m a big fan of them! Those question words make fun conversations, improve the taste of food, and built brain power!

indeliblerage.bsky.social•200 days ago

Media only asks questions that suite their narrative.

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

That isn't necessarily a good or bad thing. If you are framing this as corporate media it can be interpreted as a bad thing but if you think about a photographer or painter trying to use their medium to bring attention to something that is also true. So yea, agreed

djbabidadi.bsky.social•199 days ago

Qui bono at every paragraph.

embalmamama.bsky.social•200 days ago

"Where is their editor?"

crackedlemonade.bsky.social•200 days ago

Not limited to news media

embalmamama.bsky.social•200 days ago

For sure and it snags my brain every time.

givemespacetravel.bsky.social•200 days ago

Way back in the 1960s when I was at school we did exactly this. Our teacher got us to bring cuttings of newspaper articles and advertisements so we could look at how the language was used and why. A great lesson in how manipulation and persuasion works.

soniski.bsky.social•200 days ago

I remember doing this in the 70s. The articles also had to be relevant to current events, not merely fluff pieces.

nimsey.bsky.social•200 days ago

When I was in school we did this too, they should really still do it.

meifahsmusings.bsky.social•200 days ago

Grade seven our teacher taught us this using newspapers reporting a federal election. University I took a course similar to what that grade seven teacher taught us.

beady999.bsky.social•199 days ago

I would recommend everyone to read ‘How to Lie with Statistics’ by Darrel Huff. Nearly seventy years old and still a great read and so relevant.
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t tell you how to lie, but tells you how to spot people when others lie.

jamescarey714.bsky.social•200 days ago

Kipling's serving men!

"I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who."

chetterbiscuits.bsky.social•200 days ago

More than ever, the "Who" matters. There are so many bad sources spread across social media.

doggybarking.bsky.social•199 days ago

These questions are required in every interaction a person makes with others, especially with close family.

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