Unity08

Article summary

Unity08 was an American political reform movement that sought to offer all voters an opportunity to directly engage in politics by ranking the most crucial issues facing the country, discussing them with the candidates and engaging in an online, secure vote to nominate a bipartisan alternative to the Democratic Party and Republican Party presidential tickets for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Founded in 2006, the group gained attention from various media outlets, with Newsweek ' s Jonathan Alter dubbing the group's efforts a kind of open source politics. In January 2008, Unity08 organizers announced that the group had suspended operations due to funding problems. Americans Elect 2012 is an organization that was formed by many of the individuals that were responsible for Unity 08, and had substantially identical goals for the 2012 presidential election cycle. Americans Elect also failed to nominate a candidate.

Key claims

1. date of formation: 2012 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of foundation: 2006 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of formation is "2012". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of foundation is "2006". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1356186089