Government, Statistics and the Media

Watch the CSPAN - Q&A interview with Janks Morton Director, "What Black Men Think."

His movie exposes the issue of how people use statistics to portray slanted information on issues.
He began by asking, are more black men in college or prison? Before you watch this video, answer the question.

What Black Men Think interview on BET

Identify some implications for the people in a country when the government or organizations create and send misinformation.

Look into the concept of manipulating data to form a slanted message.

Is it about the money? Who does it hurt?

Select an issue. (hint: It can be helpful to choose an issue that is currently or has recently gotten a lot of attention)

What about something they have been saying about teens?

Has the message been formed using manipulated data?

How has it impacted your thinking or daily life?

Food for thought:

"The owners and managers of the press determine which person, which facts, which version of the facts, and which ideas shall reach the public." - Commission On Freedom Of The Press

"One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the
press and other forms of propaganda." - General Douglas MacArthur

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister

WHAT’ S GOING ON WITH BLACK MEN?
For the last generation or two, as our communities dissolved and our parenting skills broke down,
no one has suffered more than our young black men." Come on People Cosby, Bill & Poussaint, Alvin F.

Problem Based Learning Projects / Internet Hunts / Nature / Computers / Pennsylvania Projects / Puzzles & Projects / Home