Landing your dream job…Economic Reporter for CNN!
Congratulations! Your video audition has been carefully reviewed and you have been selected as a semi-finalist for the
new reporter position on CNN Situation Room. The selection process for this prestigious evening news anchor position is very competitive;
hundreds of people auditioned and you have been hand-picked as one of our semi-finalists.
As a semi-finalist, we invite you into our studio to conduct a live report over the air.
Our viewers will vote online and the viewer’s choice will be announced Monday morning.
For your live audition, you have been tasked with reporting on our current economic situation.
But, the catch is that you will be reporting alongside another contestant. Each of you will be reporting on a key economic indicator.
Please prepare a report that assesses our current economic situation, and includes all of the guidelines listed below.
During the live report, you will only be reporting on one topic (unemployment or gross domestic product)
but you are expected to prepare for both as your topic won’t be revealed until seconds before airtime.
Remember, you have been selected from a large pull of contenders and the rest is up to our viewers.
You must convince them that you will do the best job; you will be an asset to our station.
Your report on our current economic situation must include the following:
Gross Domestic Productq A brief synopsis of GDP.
§ What is it?
§ What does it measure?
§ Why should we care about it?
q The most recent real Gross Domestic Product (rGDP) data (3rd quarter 2008).
§ A comparison of rGDP - 3rd quarter 2008 to rGDP - 2nd quarter 2008 to assess the current growth of rGDP.
q The historical growth of real gross domestic product (percent change) annually since 1998.
§ For this you may choose to create a graph that shows the annual percent change in real gross domestic product overtime.
q Speculate about the nature and impact of the current economic condition and implications for the future. / How to retrieve current / historical data online
GDP data:
1. Go to www.bea.gov.
2. Under “Access National Economic Accounts Data”, click Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
3. The first item, “News Release: Gross Domestic Product”, will provide a summary of our current situation (as of 3rd quarter 2008).
4. For historical data and percent change overtime, go down to “Interactive Tables” and click GDP and the National Income and Product Account (NIPA) Historical Tables.
a. Click on “Frequently requested NIPA Tables”
i. Table 1.1.1 will provide information on the percent change in RGDP overtime.
ii. Table 1.1.6 will provide information on Real GDP (actual dollar amount).
b. When you click on one of the tables, quarterly data from 2007 to present will appear.
i. Under “data table options” you can select the range of years from which you want to collect data.
ii. For the series, choose annual instead of quarterly to track changes overtime.
Unemployment
q A brief synopsis of what it means to be unemployed and what the unemployment rate tells us.
q The most recently reported U.S. employment/unemployment data.
§ What is the current unemployment rate?
§ How many jobs were lost in November 2008?
§ How does this rate compare to October 2008?
§ How does this rate compare to November 2007?
q The historical change in the unemployment rate annually since 1998.
§ For this you may choose to create a graph that shows the annual percent change in the unemployment rate overtime.
q Speculate about the nature and impact of the current economic condition and implications for the future. / How to retrieve current / historical data online
Unemployment data:
1. Go to www.bls.gov.
2. On the right hand side there is a table titled “Latest Numbers”.
a. This will list the unemployment rate for November 2008.
b. Below the November Unemployment Rate, you may click “News Release” for a summary of the current situation.
c. Below that, you may click “Historical Data” to track changes in the unemployment rate overtime.
3. If you click Historical Data, a table with monthly unemployment rates from 1998 to present will appear.
Guidelines and explicit instructions for gathering data/information are detailed below.
Requirements:
S With your partner, please prepare a script of what you will say during your 3-4 minute economic report.
o One of you should report on unemployment and one of you should report on gross domestic product.
S Be sure to include pictures, graphs/charts and other visual images to enhance your news broadcast (you can create a PowerPoint slide for this).
S Utilize your notes and the internet for complete information on your topic. Instructions on how to retrieve historical economic data is available (see below).
Exhibition:
S These reports will be presented in pairs to a small panel of our most loyal viewers.
o Each panel will nominate the best pair.
o The reports of the four finalists will re-air and our viewers will vote on the winner.
Good Luck!
Economic Report Names 1.
Rubric 2.
Point Value / 0 Points / 1 Point / 2 Points / 3 Points / 4 Points / 5 PointsResearch
___ / None / Limited Research / Little Preparation / Research is evident / Research is satisfactory / Research is proficient
Exhibition / Script
___ / NONE / Lacks clarity & organization.
Does not meet specified requirements. / Little clarity and organization.
Some requirements met. / Some clarity and organization.
A majority of requirements met. / Satisfactory clarity and organization. Most requirements are met. / Clarity and organization is proficient. All requirements are met.
Visual
___ / NONE / Does not visually express lesson topic. / Visual Representation is vague. / Visual representation is sufficient. / Satisfactory use of visual representation. / Proficient use of visual representation.
Speaking Component
___ / NONE / Presenter is not prepared. There is no organization present. Ideas are not clear, or concise. / Presenter has little preparation. Organization is present. A few ideas are clear and concise. / Presenter meets requirements. Organization is adequate. Some ideas are clear and concise. / Presenter is satisfactory, organization is evident, and ideas are clear and concise. / Presenter is proficient, organization is excellent, and all ideas are clear and concise.
Division of Labor
___ / Students’ were off task. / Students’ were off task most of the time. Division of Labor was not equal. / Students’ worked will together. Division of Labor was evident.
Total: ____ / 22
Economic Report Names 1.
Rubric 2.
Point Value / 0 Points / 1 Point / 2 Points / 3 Points / 4 Points / 5 PointsResearch
___ / None / Limited Research / Little Preparation / Research is evident / Research is satisfactory / Research is proficient
Exhibition / Script
___ / NONE / Lacks clarity & organization.
Does not meet specified requirements. / Little clarity and organization.
Some requirements met. / Some clarity and organization.
A majority of requirements met. / Satisfactory clarity and organization. Most requirements are met. / Clarity and organization is proficient. All requirements are met.
Visual
___ / NONE / Does not visually express lesson topic. / Visual Representation is vague. / Visual representation is sufficient. / Satisfactory use of visual representation. / Proficient use of visual representation.
Speaking Component
___ / NONE / Presenter is not prepared. There is no organization present. Ideas are not clear, or concise. / Presenter has little preparation. Organization is present. A few ideas are clear and concise. / Presenter meets requirements. Organization is adequate. Some ideas are clear and concise. / Presenter is satisfactory, organization is evident, and ideas are clear and concise. / Presenter is proficient, organization is excellent, and all ideas are clear and concise.
Division of Labor
___ / Students’ were off task. / Students’ were off task most of the time. Division of Labor was not equal. / Students’ worked will together. Division of Labor was evident.
Total: ____ / 22