Not Just the Facts
Module 1, Activity 1.1 - Fact vs. Opinion
Student Page
(teacher version of this lesson)

Introduction:

A journalist has a difficult job, because the public relies on journalists to tell "the truth". A journalist should not modify the truth by using language to change meaning, or by allowing his or her own ideas to influence how the truth is communicated. In this lesson, you learn how to tell fact (the simple truth) from everything that is not fact.

Activities:

Task One - What are the Facts?
Read the definitions below that will help you distinguish the difference between fact, inference, judgment and opinion.

Some things are very concrete and easily verifiable as fact:

Mixing red and yellow paint creates orange.

Adding additional information may make the statement into something other than fact:

Mixing yellow and orange paint creates orange,
a color that many people love.

When a journalist makes the second statement, the writing moves beyond clear fact, and into a generalization. And if this statement cannot be verified by some reliable source, it is opinion.

Fact: Anne and Alex sat on the bench.

Inference: Anne and Alex sat on the bench together.

Judgment: Anne and Alex lounged closely on the bench.

Task Two - Test your Knowledge
Try the quiz to see if you understand the difference between fact, inference, judgment and opinion.

Task Three - Search the News
Go to a reliable source of news stories in Canada like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's site. Select an article, then save it to your desktop. Open the article with your word processor and make a key at the top for each type of assertion: fact, inference, judgment and opinion. Go through the article and cut and paste each statement into the category it fits under.