Be Credible

Reviewed by Louanne Saraga-Walters, Adjunct Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 3/14/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book is a comprehensive tool to guide students in understanding the process of researching facts and discovering information. It offers guidance on where and how to find information across platforms (nonprofits, corporations, public records, etc) as well as how to establish the information as fact. The only area I am missing is an introduction to today’s ‘credibility assumptions’ via social media, influencers and how status may be conferred without validation or justification. An additional chapter on social media would truly round out this text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is presented in an unbiased and well-documented format. Source links are present on nearly every page so students (and faculty!) can research further.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content is both relevant and up-to-date, with the sole omission of a chapter describing social media’s powerful influence and tools to fact-check social content. The format allows for easy additions or revisions to maintain relevance.

Clarity rating: 5

It is very clearly written and void of jargon. When the authors introduce appropriate terminology, they give examples, links and videos to further clarify the subject matter.

Consistency rating: 5

Even though it is intended for students at the 300 level, this text is written and offered in a manner that would be appropriate for any level. Additionally, the text is a compilation of multiple authors who use a consistent voice throughout the book.

Modularity rating: 5

I really appreciate how this text is presented. The chapters are self-contained, and each chapter contains sub-sections that are easy to use separately or in repurposed blocks.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The authors do a very good job of presenting the foundational concepts in the first few chapters, then build upon them through various examples and across multiple platforms (news, corporations, public record). Throughout the text, credibility and the means to validate information are repeatedly highlighted using a clear process for students. Additionally, the authors provide videos created by journalism students to explain the concepts within the chapters in their own ‘voice.’ I found these especially valuable!

Interface rating: 5

The interface is easy to navigate, allowing enough ‘white space’ to clearly see and find the content easily.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

As with the clarity and consistency of ‘voice,’ the authors have presented a true example of clean writing.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The examples are relevant and effective, providing an inclusive range of offerings in multiple industries. I appreciated that the two final chapters of the text include guidance on how to take risks in interviews. While the text covers a vast array of means to research the facts of a topic, these last two chapters provide essential talking points for applying the research in an interview/conversation encouraging different types of risk for the interviewer and interviewee while being culturally sensitive. It is not offensive in any way. (This is the best written example of applying knowledge to skill that I have found.)

Comments

Even though there are currently very few OER books for strategic communications courses, I found this to be a very valuable resource. The structure and flow allow faculty to pull entire chapters, individual sub-sections or even specific, student-created videos as needed. Be Credible is thoughtfully and logically presented and well-written as a text, and it is interesting and entertaining for both professor and student. An additional chapter on social media’s powerfully persuasive tactics and the means to fact-check this medium would truly complete this work.

Reviewed by Trumaine Becoat-Wade, Assistant Director of Intramural Sports & Recreation, Radford University on 2/22/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covers all areas and ideas and gives you even more than expected. Great and easy read!

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Excellent content, and very easy to read.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is definitely useful and up-to-date. A lot of great information that can help readers become more effective when searching for credible information, as well as learning more about journalism practices.

Clarity rating: 5

"Be Credible" was very clear and easy to understand. Very helpful information on how to actually find credible information when searching online. Clear, cut and concise.

Consistency rating: 5

The information is very consistent. The table of contents is very easy to understand. Each title is brief and fully explains what you are about to learn about prior to reading the information in the chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is written fairly well and it is not too compacted with wordy and lengthy paragraphs.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is structured chronologically and topically, using the order in which concepts and skills are presented in the Journalism 302 course.

Interface rating: 4

I truly enjoyed "Be Credible" and I loved how the online version included YouTube Videos to better assist. However, even with the volume all the way up on my computer, and on YouTube, I could hardly hear the video's. I tried on multiple computers as well. Other than that, everything else was great and I had no other issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Very well written with tons of useful information. I didn't notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not offensive in any way and is useful and helpful to all readers. "Be Credible" is a truly inclusive read.

Comments

I think "Be Credible is a good book with great information. Everything flows starting from the introduction, to the middle, to the end. Each chapter builds off of each other, which makes for a better read. The author did a great job of covering several approaches to evaluating the credibility of sources, as well as defining and exploring the concept of credibility as it relates to practicing journalism. Good Read!

Reviewed by Alicia Mason, Professor, Pittsburg State University on 5/14/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Excellent. Clear in aim and purpose.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Excellent. Helpful in providing up to date information, cases, and supplemental resources.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text covers an important and timely subject matter to help students source and critically evaluate a variety of data and information.

Clarity rating: 5

Yes. Clear and easy to comprehend.

Consistency rating: 5

Yes. Excellent flow and presentation of materials and information.

Modularity rating: 5

Yes. I see myself using this as a supplemental text in my Media Writing course and referencing specific sections through targeted direct readings.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Strong.

Interface rating: 5

Great!

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No noticeable grammatical errors were noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I found no instances of culturally insensitive content.

Comments

Not at this time.

Reviewed by Mary Jo Shafer, Adjunct instructor, Northern Essex Community College on 6/25/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book would be appropriate for a journalism course or for any course with a focus on information literacy, including English composition. It seems to be quite comprehensive in its discussion of the various forms of information and how to weigh and determine credibility. I like that it includes different chapters on methods of finding information, including interviews, which is an important in a 100 level journalism course. I find its scope to be quite comprehensive and indepth and it is written in an engaging and easy to understand format. I also like that there are learning objectives listed at the beginning of each chapter and the student generated tutorials on the appendix would also be very useful to share.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book appears to be accurate and up to date. Information is presented in a clear and factual manner and it hits on some of the basic fundamental ethics and skills of journalism in an objective and accurate way.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book includes chapters on google, Wikipedia and other currently popular ways to find information. I could see it being easily updated to add in new trends and popular places readers and researchers find information, while also including information about "traditional" methods, such as interviews. I couldl see a chapter on social media being helpful.

Clarity rating: 5

Yes, I am really impressed with the clarity and accessibility of the prose. This book would be understandable and useful to a beginner journalism student or to a student in any course focused on information literacy. It explains and principles and concepts in an interesting, engaging and easy to understand format.

Consistency rating: 5

Yes, book avoids jargon and jouranalese and presents concepts and principles in an easy to understand framework, even for someone who does not have a background in journalism. Content is also appropriate for students interested in a wide range of communication fields or types of journalism.

Modularity rating: 5

Yes, overall I find the chapters to be manageable and presented in a way that it could be easily reorganized or realigned with various courses. So I could imagine using much of this book in a journalism course but then also using select chapters to talk about information literacy in a composition course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Yes, chapter organization and topic development make sense and proceed in a logical and clear fashion.

Interface rating: 5

Content looks clean, clear and easy to navigate. I did not see any interface issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I was impressed with the clear and effective writing and did not see any obvious grammatical or style errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The examples I looked at were not offensive in any way and I think they lend themselves to being inclusive and understandable to a wide group of students. I liked the example in the News chapter about the police station in Lawrence. This is an example of a possible news story that would easily be translated to our students and would have real world relevance. (Coincidentally we are in Lawrence, Mass., and have a very similar issue with our police station!)

Comments

I am really impressed with this book and am glad to have found it! I am really looking forward to using this with my journalism class in the fall and I also see several chapters that would be very useful to my English composition course. Credibility and information literacy are really important topics for today's students and really for all citizens, so I am glad to see a textbook focused on these important issues that presents them in such a clear and engaging way.

Reviewed by Stephen Siff, Associate Professor, Miami University on 1/27/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Be Credible would be a good companion text to a mid-level undergraduate course on research methods (or "information gathering," as it was called at my institution) for journalists and communication professionals. It covers primarily on-line research and library skills, including lessons on online searching, evaluating articles located online, requesting public records and using local and state databases. Twenty-three short chapters include suggested activities that involve exercising the skills discussed in the text. While thorough in its exploration of online research and factchecking, this book does not cover research methods such as polling or focus groups that may be in a more typical journalism text. Two chapters are devoted to interviewing.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book appears accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text seems to be kept updated and the focus on research technique should remain relevant. Examples used within the text seem timeless.

Clarity rating: 5

Very clearly written, with short, well-defined chapters covering a skill ("Keep Detailed Research Notes") or a topic ("Archives").

Consistency rating: 5

Text is internally consistent in terminology and framework. Though from a variety of contributors, chapters are consistent in length and tone.

Modularity rating: 5

The chapters can stand on their own. Instructors might be interested in using chapters devoted to researching a particular topic (like "Nonprofits" or "Public Companies") apart from the more general material on information literacy or journalistic factchecking.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text is clear.

Interface rating: 5

Nice presentation online and in print.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No errors noted, nicely written throughout.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No cultural insensitivity noted. However, all examples in the text and all student testimonials come from University of Kansas.

Comments

This would be a good book to accompany a semester-long research project such as an annotated bibliography. It does not cover how to organize or compose the written report.