APUSH | Wiley | News Assignment(s) IntroductionName:

Assignment Overview:Throughout the course, you and your group members will watch, investigate, and read the news from various networks. You will then write a series of news analyses that investigate the content and extent of media bias in our news culture.

If you cannot watch the news due to lack of access to television, see Ms. Wiley for an alternate assignment.

Purpose:

-Become familiarized with various political ideologies that make up the U.S. political system

-Become more aware of what’s happening in our country and our world

-Become more informed about the issues that are critical to the 2016 presidential election and Congressional races

-Analyze the extent to which “media bias” exists in the news culture

-Tie contemporary issues to historical events or trends covered in the course

Instructions:

Instructions may differ with each news assignment, but generally speaking, you will be required to:

-Read articles (see list of sources below) and take notes on their content

-Articles must be substantial in length

-Watch news shows (see list of shows below) and take notes on their content

-You must watch at least a 30-minute segment of each show

-Articles and shows must deal with the U.S. Congress, the U.S. President, the Federal government, the relationship between the Federal and state governments, foreign affairs, civil rights, and/or civil liberties (no sports, local news, weather, etc.)

-Keep a record of the articles/programs read/watched, including dates and times

-Do some fact-finding: How valid were the claims made by the author/host? Was there any evidence of bias? (see Media Bias Considerations below)

-You should conduct research for more context when necessary; include sources

-Type a news analysis (directions TBD depending on the week/month) and report findings to group members and Ms. Wiley

Television News: / Newspaper and Online Sites:
  1. Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | weeknights 8-9pm
  2. Last Week Tonight | find an episode on YouTube that covers the candidates specifically, or the RNC/DNC
  3. The O’Reilly Factor | FOX News | weeknights 8 and 11pm
  4. Hardball | MSNBC | weeknights 7-8pm
  5. Erin Burnett Outfront | CNN | weeknights 7-8pm
  6. The Kelly File | FOX News | weekdays 9pm
  7. The Lead with Jake Tapper | CNN | weekdays 4-5pm
  8. The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer | CNN | weekdays 5-7pm
  9. Special Report with Bret Baier| FOX News | weekdays 6pm
  10. Politics Nation with Al Sharpton | MSNBC | Sundays 8am
  11. Fareed Zakaria GPS | CNN | Sundays 10am and 1pm
  12. Fox and Friends Weekend | FOX News | weekends 6am
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  1. The Wall Street Journal
  2. The New York Times
  3. USA Today
  4. The Washington Post
  5. POLITICO
  6. NPR
  7. CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, ABC News
  8. The Atlantic
  9. Reuters
  10. BBC News
  11. Real Clear Politics

Media Bias Considerations:

Media have tremendous power in setting cultural guidelines and in shaping political discourse. It is essential that news media, along with other institutions, are challenged to be fair and accurate. But when polled, most Americans believe that the media is biased, with critics from both the left and the right of the political spectrum making this claim. These assignments will help us to investigate those charges.

-It is crucial that we review what “good journalism” entails:

-The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society.

  • Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
    Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of the meaning of those facts.
  • Its essence is a discipline of verification.
    Seeking out multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides for comment all signal such standards.
  • It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
    Journalism has an unusual capacity to serve as watchdog over those whose power and position most affect citizens. The Founders recognized this to be a rampart against despotism when they ensured an independent press.
  • It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
    The discussion of public issues serves society best when it is informed by facts rather than prejudice and supposition. It also should strive to fairly represent the varied viewpoints and interests in society, and to place them in context rather than highlight only the conflicting fringes of debate.
  • It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
    Inflating events for sensation, neglecting others, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative all make a less reliable map for citizens to navigate society.

-Examples of media bias:

  1. Pattern of unfounded assumptions and uncorrected errors that tend to support either a left or right view
  2. Do the “facts” stand up to scrutiny?
  3. One-sided bias: Is the news story presenting only one side? Is the same issue being covered differently by a different outlet, and is that perspective being ignored by the other?
  4. Bias by omission: a pattern of ignoring facts that tend to disprove the other side’s claims
  5. Bias by story selection: over-selecting stories that coincide with a particular agenda while ignoring others
  6. Bias by the selection of “experts”: quoting an expert by name does not necessarily add to the credibility of a story, because the reporter may choose any expert s/he wants
  7. Bias by labeling: some claim that while liberal groups are described in neutral terms (i.e. “women’s group” or “civil rights group”), conservative groups are simply described as conservative; another example would be using scheme vs. plan to describe a politician’s agenda—loaded language makes a huge difference in how the issue perceived by the audience

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