Evaluating Media Credibility
Evaluating Media for Credibility
CRT205
February 2, 2014
Shellisa Multrie
Evaluating Media for Credibility
The two programs that I chose to compare are Dateline and 60 Minutes. These two programs air at the same time on Sunday nights and are very similar in the stories that they choose to air. They are rivaling networks competing for the attention of the public for the same 6 o’clock spot. A lot of the stories that Dateline and 60 Minutes both air are things such as murder mysteries that haven’t been solved, interviews with people in the public eye, or public interest stories.
The dateline story that I watched was titled “In the Dead of the Night”. In this story Dateline narrator Keith Morrison, is presenting details to a man who supposedly committed suicide in Arizona. However, a lot of the details and “evidence” point to the father-in-law murdering him in the middle of the night. (Rob Fischer, 2014)
The story that 60 Minutes aired was an interview with Jay Leno on him leaving The Tonight Show after 22 years. The interviewer Steve Kroft, asks Leno a lot of personal questions about why he’s leaving the show, how he feels, and what his plans for the future are. (Leno, 2014)
These two programs, even though they are very similar, were rather easy to compare. Because of the interviews conducted, it was a little easier to see that the interview with Jay Leno was a little more credible because it was just interviewing him on life and his time with The Tonight Show. However, when watching the interview with suspected murderer Rob Fischer, of course there were plenty of biases leading the interview towards his guilt, even though he has not been convicted yet. When looking at the credibility of both of these sources it’s easier to hear “straight from the horse’s mouth” so to say. If I ask someone a simple question about their opinion and the outcome doesn’t matter, then their answer will be just that, simple. But if we are asking someone who has been
CRT205
February 2, 2014
Shellisa Multrie
Evaluating Media for Credibility
The two programs that I chose to compare are Dateline and 60 Minutes. These two programs air at the same time on Sunday nights and are very similar in the stories that they choose to air. They are rivaling networks competing for the attention of the public for the same 6 o’clock spot. A lot of the stories that Dateline and 60 Minutes both air are things such as murder mysteries that haven’t been solved, interviews with people in the public eye, or public interest stories.
The dateline story that I watched was titled “In the Dead of the Night”. In this story Dateline narrator Keith Morrison, is presenting details to a man who supposedly committed suicide in Arizona. However, a lot of the details and “evidence” point to the father-in-law murdering him in the middle of the night. (Rob Fischer, 2014)
The story that 60 Minutes aired was an interview with Jay Leno on him leaving The Tonight Show after 22 years. The interviewer Steve Kroft, asks Leno a lot of personal questions about why he’s leaving the show, how he feels, and what his plans for the future are. (Leno, 2014)
These two programs, even though they are very similar, were rather easy to compare. Because of the interviews conducted, it was a little easier to see that the interview with Jay Leno was a little more credible because it was just interviewing him on life and his time with The Tonight Show. However, when watching the interview with suspected murderer Rob Fischer, of course there were plenty of biases leading the interview towards his guilt, even though he has not been convicted yet. When looking at the credibility of both of these sources it’s easier to hear “straight from the horse’s mouth” so to say. If I ask someone a simple question about their opinion and the outcome doesn’t matter, then their answer will be just that, simple. But if we are asking someone who has been