[MUSIC] Now that we've seen what sets journalism apart let's compare journalism to other kinds of information. [MUSIC] The goal here is to find information that you can rely upon to be accurate, and that you can act upon with confidence. One way to approach this is to look at types of information as if they were individual neighborhoods. As you make your way through the confusing landscape of information, you know you're safely in the journalism neighborhood if you find verification independence and accountability there. But if just one of these elements is missing you may wind up getting lost. This grade will serve as a useful guide, kind of a GPS to help us find our way to the journalism neighborhood. Note that in the left column we've listed the different information neighborhoods. Promotion, entertainment, journalism, and finally raw information. At the top, from left to right, you'll see verification, independence, and accountability. Producers of promotion, advertising, publicity, and propaganda are under no obligation to give you a complete account. Using verified information. At worst, promotion can rely on misleading or false information. At best, because independence is lacking, they provide a partial picture that makes them or their clients look good. After all, that's their job, to make you think better of the person, event, product, or an idea that they are promoting. Accountability is often missing as well. It's necessary then to look for warning signs when one wanders off into the promotion neighborhood. [MUSIC] The goal of entertainment is to divert, or amuse us. Verification is certainty not required in this pursuit. Facts can actually get in the way of a good story. Entertainers and entertainment producers take creative license, even with a movie or video that claims to be based on a true story. Though they're usually accountable for their work you have no problem identifying who they are. Entertainers may accept funding from any source and are free to espouse any ideas they like. So independence is not expected or required. In the search for V.I.A., we must look outside the entertainment neighborhood. Now let's head to raw information. Raw Information, as we define it, is inherently unverified. It may be true, it may be false. But the accuracy of the information is not yet confirmed. Does the photo of sharks circling inside the basement of the New York Stock Exchange after a major storm capture reality? A video that recently went viral on social media: Thousands of bats descending on an Australian town, is it real? Before we know for sure whether sharks actually swam in a New York basement, they did not, or whether thousands of bats have plagued an Australian town, yes they have, we classify such information as raw information. Raw information by passes traditional media filters. Like news editors and fact checkers. Much raw information is uploaded by anonymous producers. So accountability is impossible. Raw information can be, and increasingly is, eventually used in journalism. But first it must be independently verified by a person or organization that is clearly identified. As you scan the grid, you'll note that journalism is the only neighborhood that features verification, independence and accountability. Look for signs of all three as you navigate the information landscape. If you find all three, you are in the journalism neighborhood. It's there, you should expect to find reliable, actionable information. If even just one of these elements is missing you can be sure of only one thing. Whatever information you find you will need to check carefully before you can trust and act upon it. [MUSIC]