Good morning, students. It’s time for Media Literacy 101. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s begin.

Have you ever heard of Betteridge’s Law of Headlines? It is a journalistic maxim, formulated by Ian Betteridge, holding that “any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word ‘no.'”

So let’s apply that rule to a randomly selected example. For instance, if you see a headline like “Did Russia Just Undergo Regime Change?” you can answer that question, “No, Mr. Journalist Man, Russia did not just undergo regime change.”

See? Simple.

Keep that in mind as you scan the MSM for coverage about the remarkable events that just took place in Russia (Al Jazeera, Daily Beast, I’m looking at you.)

So what did just happen in Russia? Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Get behind the headlines and learn the facts about Putin’s recent address to the Federal Assembly and the bold proposals it contained. The Corbett Report Subscriber. Then, stick around for this month’s subscriber exclusive video where James has a special challenge for the Corbett Reporteers.

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