To Snopes or Not to Snopes?

I am new to Snopes.com and was curious to check it out! Rumor has it that the “owner” of Snopes.com is a liberal democrat and an avid supporter of President Obama. With that in mind, I started my crusade in finding anything that would sustain or dispute these allegations.  

Source: Snopes.com

I chose a couple of politics-related posts. The first one was regarding President Obama’s ban on Christmas trees from Veterans facilities claiming that it would be favoring one religion over another. The post received a "Mixture" review (Fig. 1). Later was confirmed that the orders came from the facility itself, not from the president.  Click here to read about it.

Figure 1
Source: Snopes.com

Snopes has a ‘true, false, mixture’ meter which is their take on whether or not the story is either one of those. The Christmas tree story got a “Mixture” review, meaning that it’s a mixture and true and false information. In my opinion, the post provided enough evidence to persuade me as an unbiased reader.  Click here to read about it

 

 


Source: Snopes.com

The second story I read was about Donald Trump – a republican, suggesting that all Muslims should wear an ID badge. Click here to read about it.  That story also received a mixture review.

Is it clear that Snopes is biased? Not necessarily. Why? Well, in Trump’s defense (again, a republican) Snopes stressed that Trump did not suggest the use of a badge for Muslims, what he indeed suggested was that all Muslims should be registered in a database. Besides, in some of its political-related posts, Snopes provides evidence of its claims citing information from outside sources crediting both sides - republicans and democrats.  
 

It is okay to endorse either party AS LONG AS the person providing the information is able to deliver unbiased material so that the public can develop their own opinion regarding any specific issue. By doing that, it would also help to build Snopes’s credibility since it has been under fire for providing biased information and for being owned by “flaming liberal” according to the website About.com. Should we then assume that the person behind the About.com article scrutinizing Snopes.com is a conservative republican?
 

The Sentinel - Blog 6

While reading through The Sentinel I was able to notice a few similarities throughout the years. I skimmed through a 2007, 2011 and 2015 issue. I noticed that security, tuition and parking have been a problem for a long time, and that many of these issues were  also mentioned on many posts on last week's assignment. One example is “The Beat” section, which is a report of crimes that happened on campus. The section includes reports of a variety of infractions, from something as simple as a scratch on car while parked and unoccupied to a major report about the death of a 19 year-old found in one of the dorms.

Another section that caught my attention was the “Opinions.” Most of those articles are written by KSU students who have something to say (or rant) about a particular subject. On this article from 2011, a student was disillusioned with the fact that most students voted ‘yes’ for a KSU football team (then inexistent) that would not be put together for a few years. Her concern was that a tuition fee was to be charged specifically for the football team but many students would not get to see it as they would've had graduated already.

An article from the last issue also related to security, addressed the evacuation of the Social Science building that happened on October 22, 2015. Students were asked to leave the building and were not informed of the reason. Later, students learned that the police was performing a “routine bomb sweep . . . because an Israeli consulate was speaking in the building later that day” (2015).

Illustration 1. Source: The Sentinel 2007

One last thing that caught my attention was a survey at the bottom of one of the pages (Illustration 1). It wasn’t about anything meaningful but I thought it was very convenient that we are currently learning about surveys & interviews and there it was! I can definitely use it as an example of how to integrate a graph (or a pie chart) on my report.

 

Fun fact: The logo evolution of The Sentinel

 

2015

2011



2007



 (Source: The Sentinel) 

 

Formulating a Response

The article Obama Administration Calls for Limits on Testing in Schools, published on The New York times in October 24^th 2015, is in regards to how testing in schools have been administered and the government’s attempt to make it “less onerous and more purposeful.” Teachers claim that the time spent preparing students for the exams and the exam itself takes away from time it should be spent on curricular lectures. Another concern is that the teacher’s competence is being measured by the students’ test scores.  The government suggests a reduction in “over-testing” by capping the time dedicated to it. It also recognizes that testing should not be the only factor to influence the decisions made regarding our educational system. It is agreed that testing has been overwhelming but it’s also agreed that it is a great tool to measure students’ weaknesses and to maintain a high level of education. 



Source: Google Images

Among a few different letters to the editor, the one from Lisa Eggert Litvin opposes to Obama’s proposal to cap the time spent in classroom devoted to the testing. Per Lisa, when a cap was implemented in New York, it caused 20% of the students to opt out of the test thus proving that capping is not the answer. Walt Gardner also wrote a letter to the editor claiming that testing is indeed important and a great source of information to teachers. Walt used Finland’s test procedures - known for its quality of education - and compared to the United States. He claims that Finland’s teachers welcome the feedback as results aren’t published and schools are picked randomly. In contrast it’s the US where tests are more punitive.    

ENGL 1102 - Blog Assignment

I chose to focus on Progressive Insurance's ad. I am a licensed Property & Casualty Insurance Agent and have access to knowledge not always available to the public.
I am personally drawn to Progressive's commercials for its comic nature. The fact that Progressive offers its customers a price compare tool, entices customers to at least check their site or call an agent for a quote. There is an underlying fact not always recognized and never present on the ads, today the vast majority of insurance rates are based on credit score and claim history. By experience, I can affirm that Progressive Insurance attends to customers with lower credit scores, poor driving record and claims. The credit agency, Experian's announced that the average credit score of U.S. citizens is 687, which is considered below the best lowest score of 720 (sources: http://www.governing.com/gov-data/economy-finance/average-credit-score-by-state.html , http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/average-credit-score1.htm). Considering these facts to be true, Progressive does have an advantage over its competitors based on that average. The option to compare prices was a very clever idea to attract customers without explicitly telling them that their credit isn't good enough to qualify for good rates with other companies.

                                                                      Progressive

 

As Progressive uses a celebrity to capture the audience - Maury Povich,  All State goes the same route by hiring a well-know actor as their spokesperson - Dennis Haysbert. Maury is a tabloid talk show host. May that suggest that his audience would be more of the less privileged who can relate to the issues presented on his TV show (paternity tests, unfaithfulness, etc.)? Could it be for unemployed people who are home at the time the show airs (afternoons)? Can we assume that the opposite is true about All State having Dennis Haysbert as their spokesperson? (Dennis' resume includes prime time TV shows and movies).

Both companies use a distinct way of conveying their messages. Although both ads used celebrities (ethos), Progressive seemed more geared towards a comedic appeal (pathos), while All State chose more of a logical approach (logos) by providing statistics related to losses. Another fact suggesting Allstate's commercial targets a different audience is that it airs during prime time TV, when most people are back home from work. Is it fair to say that people with a higher level of education are more inclined to listen to a more logical appeal? Possibly!

                                                                           All State

Well known competitors of Progressive are: State Farm, Farmers, Nationwide, All State, among many others. Their ads appeal to a diverse audience, whether it is because of the scenery, jingles, sports' sponsorships, or recruiting famous spokespersons. I catch my 7 year-old singing along with the jingles or repeating their catchy frases such: "Nationwide is on your side" or "Jake from State Farm." Here are a few more examples of catchy Insurance commercials:
                                                                       
                                                 State Farm

 

 

                                                                       Farmers

 

The necessity of having to carry Insurance generated great competition in the Industry urging companies to invest heavily on their marketing. Creativity is playing a huge role on the race to gain customer's interest and trust, and making a lasting impression to influence their choices. We are well served with a plethora of options to choose from. My question to you is: Is Nationwide really on your side?