Kory's Korner

Listen to my podcast where I interviewed multiple Whitewater Culver’s employees about their store winning the prestigious Ruth Culver award.

Out of the five criteria for the CRAAP test, the one that I believe is the hardest to evaluate accurately is authority. It is common for people to search a headline on Google and click on a top search result or a headline that shares the same opinion as theirs. Because of the availability of the Internet, anybody can post anything, and it could look like a real-life published journalism was the writer. However, this may not be the case, especially on social media. Some news accounts of social media are unprofessional and are clearly not managed by someone within the journalism field. Despite this, people still indulge in this form of journalism, sometimes never even taking the publisher’s credibility into account.

There is still a way to meet all CRAAP test criteria and be biased. Many news organizations have specific political leanings, whether they like to admit it or not. Therefore, news articles about certain topics can have an underlying bias when you read into them a bit deeper. A good way to check for bias in an article is to see if the author takes all sides into account rather than painting a clear “good guy” and “bad guy.”

The five main types of participatory journalism are all similar because they all allow for, in most cases, non-journalists to take part in creating some form of journalistic piece. While the journalist usually seeks out the sources, the sources who are interviewed are usually doing it voluntarily and are therefore willingly contributing to a news story. The more we discuss the other types of participatory journalism, the more user-motivated they become. User feedback comes after a consumer is done reading or listening to a story; this is when a consumer feels they have something to share, but it may not change the way the story is perceived by other viewers or readers. User-generated content, crowdsourcing, and citizen journalism are the most similar of this group. These forms of journalism allow for people outside of the journalism field to directly contribute to a news piece, even if it is just a little bit. Citizen journalism allows for the most interaction from non-journalists, as they are the centerpiece of the news creation.

Wikipedia is a great example of a crowdsourcing website. All of the articles are developed by groups of people all over the world, and they are sporadically edited as needed. Some real-life journalists may contribute to Wikipedia edits, but for the most part, regular Internet viewers take part in most of the editing. Anybody can edit Wikipedia, allowing for content to be changed at any point in any day. This allows for up-to-date information to be posted as soon as the most important details of a news story emerge.

On February 2, 2025, Beyoncé had one of the most historic moments of her career as she won the Grammy award for Best Country Album for her album Cowboy Carter. Beyoncé became the first Black artist to win this award, which many consider a turning point for a genre that has historically turned away artists of color. However, country music fans, particularly fans who live in rural areas, are less impressed than those who are reporting on this historic win.

Argyle, Wisconsin, is a rural town in Lafayette County. The town’s population is just below 800 people, and many of these people live on or near a farm. Many country songs tend to boast about the perks of living a rural lifestyle, something that the residents of Argyle know a lot about. When talking to a few Argyle residents about Beyoncé’s win, I was met with shaking heads and answers of disappointment. It was immediately clear to me how rural people felt about Beyoncé’s win.

Claire Mathys, a 20-year-old college student whose hometown is Argyle, discussed her disinterest in Beyoncé winning this category. Mathys acknowledged that she already had a negative bias toward Beyoncé, but she also expressed that there were other options in the category that she would have rather seen as the winner, specifically Chris Stapleton. Mathys explained her reasoning further by stating, “It kind of seems like giving the ‘best fruit award’ to a tomato – yes, it’s technically a fruit by definition, but what about strawberries?” She expressed how Beyoncé’s attempt at country music felt disingenuous because of the superstar power that Beyoncé has, compared to the mostly blue-collar approach to country music from other artists. Another country music fan from Argyle, Cole Makos, was more blunt, stating that Cowboy Carter is not a country album and that country music audiences did not want Beyoncé to win this award. Rather, he believed that the Grammys felt pressured to give Beyoncé this award. Makos also added that Shaboozey, another Black artist in country music who had a monumental year in 2024, may have more influence on aspiring Black artists than Beyoncé does; he admitted, though, that country music will likely not change its unspoken viewpoints surrounding Black artists given the history of the genre, even though he does believe that diversity is necessary in country music.

However, not all rural Wisconsin music fans are upset about Beyoncé’s win. Jaylyn Makos of Janesville is a big Beyoncé fan, even though she admitted that she was not a particular fan of Cowboy Carter. She stated that she is a fan of country music, but did not particularly enjoy Beyoncé’s venture into country music because it did not sound like the Beyoncé she is used to. Nonetheless, Makos was still fine with Beyoncé winning the Best Country Album category because of the ever-changing state of the genre. She noted how some country songs were even nominated in pop music categories. Additionally, Makos was excited about a Black artist winning the category, pointing out how white R&B artists rappers like Jelly Roll and Post Malone are succeeding in country music today. She finished by stating how much of an inspiration it was to see Beyoncé win this award category, noting how an artist should feel comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone to make the music they want to make.

To many, country music still represents the lifestyle of a rural American, perhaps a farmer, hunter, or fisherman. However, country music has gradually changed over the years, and a lot of country music that is being made today does not focus on stereotypical country themes. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter stirred up controversy for not being “country” enough, which is a conversation that is equally important to both sides of the argument. Regardless, Beyoncé’s foray into country music has been objectively successful, but its subjective value can only be determined by those who choose to indulge in the fine details of such a conversation.

Journalism has seen a drastic change since the introduction of social media in world culture, mostly because news often breaks on social media before it ever hits news websites or television. For example, the recent NBA trades have almost all appeared on some form of social media before a formal new story could be written about them. This allows for around-the-clock consumption of the most up-to-date news, but this also allows for a bigger margin of error for these reports. Since these reports are often posted with minimal detailed information, there is a chance that the reports can become totally false in the coming hours/days. However, journalists who post on social media first do have a bit of an advantage, as they can also rework these social media posts into long-form news stories for television or online news websites. Posting on social media before anything else guarantees a journalist has their story out in the world and offers them a greater opportunity to do further reporting on it for other news sources.

When it comes to consuming news that is the most interesting to me, I tend to pay more attention to news stories about sudden tragedies. Reading and watching these new stories feels like the perfect journalistic opportunity; by doing this, I see other journalists talk about ongoing events in real-time with only the little information they have. On a more localized level, I tend to gravitate towards stories about new state policies or government issues, since I know these events could directly impact my daily life. I also pay attention to news stories closer to my hometown, mostly stories involving crime, school news, or village board updates. One story that I am monitoring regularly is that of my former high school English teacher who is currently suing the high school I graduated from.

As previously stated, I do follow news from my hometown. I typically find this news through my town’s local paper The Pecatonica Valley Leader, or occasionally my high school’s Facebook page. The news site I visit the most is WKOW’s news website. This is probably my favorite news site because I know they are a trustworthy source, and their news is usually thorough and up-to-date; plus, the website is easy to navigate. When searching for news updates, I use Google to search. Most of the time, there are plenty of news articles to choose from, and sometimes there are social media posts that are provided based on the search. When Google searching a major headline, CNN is the website I navigate to most of the time because of their reliability and quick response to breaking news stories. I do not use AI, nor do I read news articles that seem AI-generated. To me, using AI does not feel like the proper way to deliver news to the public.

My preferred methods of consuming news are through reading articles and watching television news. I find that both of these methods of news telling have their benefits. Reading written articles allows the reader to take in the news story at their own pace, and oftentimes, the pictures that go with a news story are relevant and thought-provoking. However, I do prefer watching television news more than reading news. Television news often comes with first-person accounts from interviewees, which makes a news story feel more personal. Additionally, there is more opportunity for video and photo shots, helping the viewer visualize where a news event occurred, who was involved, and what exactly may have taken place. Social media news turns me away rather quickly, as I find that a lot of it feels jumpy and lacking in sufficient content. Altogether, though, I do consume news from every possible channel, since news is posted everywhere nowadays and it has become practically unavoidable.

When I see news posts on social media, I usually go to another source to get more information. For example, if I saw a news headline on Instagram about President Donald Trump, I would look at the post, but I would then search for a full story on a news website outside of social media. It is sometimes difficult to decipher which social media news sources are reliable, but most of the time, the comment section can tell you all you need to know. If a comment section is calm and reserved, you can assume that the news is trustworthy; more hostile comment sections may require more outside research. I am thankful that I do not have X or Bluesky because of the sheer amount of news – real and fake – that appears on those apps. Instagram’s news posts tend to be easier to read through. I also typically tend to avoid podcasts and blogs when searching for news because these tend to be more opinion-based rather than fact-based.

When deciding if a news article is accurate, the first step I take is to see what website the news article is coming from. If it is from a news source that is known for reliability, like CNN for example, I will continue reading the article. However, if the article comes from a source I have never heard of, I might do some more research about the source before I can decide if the article is accurate. After reading the article, I usually look for similar articles or articles that have a different position from the original one. Then, I compare information to see if the articles are providing the same information or not. These steps are helpful in deciding which news sources are reliable or not because I, along with many other news readers, have fallen victim to inaccurate news articles on multiple occasions.