prize5-1, Exercise 2: Testing a myth

Model answer (one possible choice: "The festivals bring a huge amount of money to the city"; check):

1. Define the claim: which money (visitor spending, tax, jobs, profits) and which year?
2. Find the sources: studies commissioned by the festivals or the council, and independent economic analyses (check which exist).
3. Look at the method: how visitors were counted, which spending was included, whether money that would have been spent elsewhere in the city is subtracted.
4. Look at the costs: public funding, policing, cleaning, pressure on housing and residents' complaints.
5. Compare more than one source and note the differences.

Likely result: the festivals bring significant spending, but a single headline figure depends on method, and benefits and costs are unevenly shared.