I looked at three posters/worksheets that used acronyms or s step-by-step flow chart to take students through the steps of assessing news sources:

S.E.E.D.: To detect propaganda, look for simplification, exploitation, exaggeration, and division.

E.S.C.A.P.E.: Evidence, Source, Context, Audience, Purpose, Execution

"Consumers Questions": Who, Why, How, When, What, Where

I really liked the consumers questions because they are familiar to me and probably many of us as "journalist" questions. It seems easier to remember than "Seed" and "Escape" and mirrors the questions students could ask themselves as they read media content AND as they conduct their own research to create media content. I also like the invitation to think of the journalist as another "consumer" - that the journalist perspective is in some ways similar to the reader's perspective. They are trying to piece the story together from the outside as well. We can assess their work and also do "journalistic" work of our own.

I teach a lot of first-year and extension school writing as well as upper-level classes for English majors and MA students at the college level.

I also like how "Consumers Questions" feel more neutral than the acronyms asking them to "Weed" out bad information or "Escape" bad information. I like the idea of going in with a neutral sense of exploration rather than automatic suspicion. Some sources may be better than we expect, and we don't want people to be afraid to try.