A bit of homework on the part of the teacher is essential for this activity. It is no secret to any socially informed citizen that certain major news networks are politically biased. Specifically, FOX News reporting has a very conservative bias to it, and MSNBC News tends to lean toward the liberal end of the spectrum.
The teacher must choose a current event or news topic that has a political element to it, such as the current state of the economy, or the way the recent election results impact the White House's ability to administer. The teacher must record news segments from each of these two networks which cover the same issue or topic.
In class, the students will view each of these two segments, and take notes as they watch, focusing on the language and perceived biases they hear in the reporting. Then, the students will get into groups of three or four and discuss their notes and observations with each other. After 8-10 minutes of this, a large-group discussion involving the whole class will take place, where students share their group's findings with the class as a whole. Hopefully, a thought-provoking dialogue on the differences between these two news agencies takes place...
No comments:
Post a Comment