Breaking news
News is important for a number of reasons within a society. Mainly to inform the public about events that are around them and may affect them.
Often news is for entertainment purposes too; to provide a distraction of information about other places people are unable to get to or have little influence over. News can make people feel connected too.
News is important as a social gathering space too, hence newspapers either online or physical place an emphasis on news. Where there are a lot of people gathered there is opportunity to advertise. This advertising sometimes can cause a conflict of interest in the way news is reported.
Below is a selection of news broadcasters and media outlets that can be using throughout this course.
Often news is for entertainment purposes too; to provide a distraction of information about other places people are unable to get to or have little influence over. News can make people feel connected too.
News is important as a social gathering space too, hence newspapers either online or physical place an emphasis on news. Where there are a lot of people gathered there is opportunity to advertise. This advertising sometimes can cause a conflict of interest in the way news is reported.
Below is a selection of news broadcasters and media outlets that can be using throughout this course.
Importance of local news
News from a local area is often important to advise people in a locality about activities that may have an impact on a community. This can allow a community to engage in decision making processes in a community. For example if a local community reports on a dangerous road or accident hotspot reporting these can be later used as evidence to lobby for funding to fix a problem.
Importance of national news
Often countries have a broad extent of distance and in some cases differing time zones. Having a national news focus can allow people to gain a sense of national perspective. This is particularly significant for countries that have a diverse range of population centres such as cities or towns. For example large cities many thousands of kilometres apart may still rely on each other for trade or resources of economic significance. So knowing the situations in other cities and towns becomes important.
Importance of international news
News from one country to another is important in todays global economy. Knowing what is happening in other countries gives people a perspective of each others ways of life and cultural differences. Certain kinds of news from countries that rely on each other for energy or other resources can often have a profound influence in overall global economics.
News from a local area is often important to advise people in a locality about activities that may have an impact on a community. This can allow a community to engage in decision making processes in a community. For example if a local community reports on a dangerous road or accident hotspot reporting these can be later used as evidence to lobby for funding to fix a problem.
Importance of national news
Often countries have a broad extent of distance and in some cases differing time zones. Having a national news focus can allow people to gain a sense of national perspective. This is particularly significant for countries that have a diverse range of population centres such as cities or towns. For example large cities many thousands of kilometres apart may still rely on each other for trade or resources of economic significance. So knowing the situations in other cities and towns becomes important.
Importance of international news
News from one country to another is important in todays global economy. Knowing what is happening in other countries gives people a perspective of each others ways of life and cultural differences. Certain kinds of news from countries that rely on each other for energy or other resources can often have a profound influence in overall global economics.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Connecting with the news around you
You will be put into teams and given an news article to read. Along with this you will be given an A3 piece of coloured paper and a felt pen. Follow the step-by-step stages as outlined below.
- Stage 1: Identify any issues that the article/event highlights. Write these on the paper as a brainstorm.
- Stage 2: Pass the paper and article onto a second group. Read what the other group has written and now add to the paper what countries they think this article effects other than the ones given.
- Stage 3: Pass the paper and article on. Now add how these issues might affect Hong Kong.
- Stage 4: Pass the paper and article on. What can be done about these issues? Brainstorm solutions to this issue in your group. Try and support your ideas with real life examples.
- Stage 5: Now undertake some research and identify whether there are any groups in HK/the world that might work with this issue. If you find a group, what questions would you ask if you were to interview them.
Teenagers taking Action
How are teenagers making the news? Read a collection of all the recent New York Times articles and multimedia that feature teenagers. From these articles identify someone that you admire, learn how other teenagers are taking action and try make connections to issues in your own school and/or community.
Headlines
You have been given a number of headline-less stories. Match up the stories with the separate headlines. Identify the words in the headlines that helped you find the correct story.
You have now been given some new headlines from less prominent stories. Choose one and write a news story to go with it. Once you stories has been completed, ask your teacher for the original news copy to accompanied your headline. How close was your story to the original? How effectively did the headline convey the meaning of the story?
OPTIONAL: You have been given a series of provocative images. You must now write a series of headlines to match these stories.
You have now been given some new headlines from less prominent stories. Choose one and write a news story to go with it. Once you stories has been completed, ask your teacher for the original news copy to accompanied your headline. How close was your story to the original? How effectively did the headline convey the meaning of the story?
OPTIONAL: You have been given a series of provocative images. You must now write a series of headlines to match these stories.
Write an Editorial
Pick an issue that matters to you, whether climate change, gender roles or police brutality, and then write an evidence-based persuasive essay like the student editorials from The South China Morning Young.
Mapping the News
In a group you will be assigned an international story in the news. Explore Maps of the World and choose a map related to your assigned story. Use the map to answer some or all of these questions:
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Imagery in the News
You have been given an image from the newspaper of a recent news items which is hopefully familiar/ relevant/ of interest. In your pair now complete the following:
Now write the caption for your photo on a separate piece of paper. Your teacher will collect the captions and photos and redistribute them to the class you now have to find the photo to match the caption. |
Bias in the news
Different papers, magazines and websites treat the news differently. Compare compare lead stories or front pages of key news agencies and papers.
Or, you might be given a particular divisive article on a topic (politics, war, social issues) and see how different news sources have handled the subject and how differently they have portrayed the story
- US Front Pages - Newseum’s daily gallery
- UK Front Pages - Todays Newspapers in the UK
Or, you might be given a particular divisive article on a topic (politics, war, social issues) and see how different news sources have handled the subject and how differently they have portrayed the story
Advertising Distortions
You have been given a series of advertisements cut from newspapers. As a group list the products in order, according to the appeal of the ads. Create a chart showing how you rated each product.
Now review the below list of propaganda techniques:
Discuss each ad, and determine the propaganda technique(s) used. Which techniques were most effective? Which were least effective? What factors, such as gender, geographic location, or age, might have influenced the effectiveness of each technique? OPTIONAL: Now design design your own advertisement using one of the propaganda techniques studied. |
paraphrasing, summarising & quotingYou have been given a news article and you must now paraphrase and summarise it. You must also pick out two key quotes that you feel are most important in the context of this article. By doing this it will enable you to think more critically about the article in discussion.
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Expand your vocabularyYou have been assigned letter of the alphabet. Browse through the newspaper, find five unfamiliar words beginning with the assigned letter, and look up the definition of each. As a class using a Google Document create a glossary of the words and their meanings. Alternatively, in a variation of this activity, you might be asked to look in the newspaper for any of the following:
Who's the liar?Choose a short item of news that you find interesting and rewrite it, changing some of the details. Exchange your news items with a partner and see if they can spot the lies!
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Newspaper treasure hunt
TEACHER NOTES: Collect enough newspapers to share one between two – The Standard papers are really good as articles are not long and are usually easy to read. Prior to the lesson go through the newspaper and come up with a list of questions that relate to the articles and advertisements that appear throughout the newspaper.
For example:
Students can work in pairs to read through the newspaper and come up with the answers. When everyone has finished go through the answers together. Don’t forget to ask them to write down which page they found the article on.
For example:
- What is the temperature in Beijing?
- Who won the local elections in Jakarta?
- How many people were hurt in the Mumbai fire?
- What is the name of the policeman who rescued Josie?
- Where can I buy a washing machine? How much will it cost me to buy?
Students can work in pairs to read through the newspaper and come up with the answers. When everyone has finished go through the answers together. Don’t forget to ask them to write down which page they found the article on.
Role Play in the NewsYou have been given a news article by your teacher and will be working in a pair. First read the newspaper and then improvise a short role play. Role plays from newspapers are often conducted one of two ways: 1) one student plays the journalist and the other plays the leading character of the story; the journalists does an interview, or 2) each take the role of a person in the story and act out the story, or something that happens before or after the story.
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