Evaluating Sources and Provisional Truth Through the Manti Te'o Story

February 7, 2012

The story of college football player Manti Te'o played out like a fable -- a successful player finds strength to lead his team to multiple victories after the deaths of both his grandmother and girlfriend within hours of one another. The nation was caught up in the feel good story, which met one of News Literacy's characteristics of the News -- that it not only alerts, and diverts, but also connects us to one another. Te'o's story fit into the narrative well, and made for a compelling story -- only problem was that the sports news website Deadspin found out and broke the story that Te'o's girlfriend was a complete hoax, crafted by an acquaintance of Te'o's, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.

While the story quickly turned into supermarker tabloid fodder, with many pundits weighing in on whether or not Te'o was involved in the hoax, willfully lying to a willing public wanting to hear an uplifting story, with an unending cast of characters, it does stand as a compelling example of News Literacy lesson 8, that what is seen as the "Truth" at one point in time can change based upon the evidence presented at the time of the report.

This lesson focuses that lesson, along with that of source evaluation -- and where the process of evaluating sources and facts broke down in the pursuit of a story. We present the Sports Illustrated cover story, published October 1, 2012, the reflections of it's author , Pete Thamel after the story about Te'o's girlfriend was revealed to be part of an elaborate hoax, and the original Deadspin article all in easy to print PDFs.

News Literacy Connections

News Literacy Lesson 8: Truth and Verification -- 

• Truth is provisional -- and may change based on evidence presented at the time of the report. Which makes it crucial to follow a story over time.
• Journalists pursue the truth by following a hierarchy of direct evidence, including photographs and videos, documents and records, personal observations, and witnesses
• Verification can break down when journalists rush to get the story first
• Consumers must ask themselves whether or not the journalist “opened the freezer” -- or literally, found the information out for themselves to verify it’s validity.

 News Literacy Lesson 9: Evaluating Sources

• News consumers have to critically evaluate sources to examine their validity.

Lesson Guiding Questions:

• What information has been verified in this story? What is asserted in the story?
• What decisions can you make as a reader about Te'o before and after reading the story?
• What do you already know about the story? What have you been told?
• Where did verification break down in the original story on Te'o? Why do you think i broke down?

Media

	"The Full Manti" - Sports Illustrated October 1, 2012
	Sports Illustrated Pete Thamel reflects on the reporting of the Manti Te'o story
	Deadspin.com -- Manti Te'o..story..is a Hoax -- January 16, 2012

Original Links:

Manti in His Own Words: Sports Illustrated Pete Thamel gives account of reporting on Manti Te'o - Sports Illustrated - January 17, 2013 -- http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130117/manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-quotes/

Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax - Deadspin.com - January 16, 2013 -- http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax