MME Current Events

SHALHEVET HIGH SCHOOL

MODERN MIDDLE EAST

JASON FELD

Chapter 1

CURRENT EVENTS A flurry of research published this year point to a continued erosion of serious news consumption by American citizens. Sports, weather, celebrity gossip and traffic account on average for almost half of the TV news content and international news story lengths continue to shrink. As the public becomes less media savvy, special interests are increasingly finding way to successfully manage their message and package it as “news�.

For example, the government of Malaysia was recently discovCurrently, we have the makings of a perfect storm. On the ered to have bankrolled propaganda that appeared in several one hand, a generation of largely media illiterate Americans major U.S. outlets under columnists’ bylines. A number of are coming of voting age at a time when domestic news indusnews organizations, including The Associated Press, recently try continues to shrink. Journalism, which has long been carried a fake press release about touted as the “fourth branch of Google that came from a PR disAmerican democracy” and a Movie 1.1 Newsroom Trailer tribution site that promises cliguarantor of liberty is increasents it will reach “top media outingly unprepared to uncover stolets.” Recently, journalist David ries or to question information Cay Johnston wrote about a put into its hands. Lastly, mainpitch from one corporate marstream opinion shapers face keter that included a “vacation global competition from political reward” for running his stories. interests that are largely hostile to American and Israeli shared Is this an anomaly or a sign of interests. What this means for things to come? Consider this, an Israeli public that has come an analysis of Census Bureau to rely on a well-informed, and data found the ratio of public remotivated American public is diflations workers to journalists has ficult to say. However, for young grown by 400% since 2008— American Zionists, the foundaand the gap has likely only widtions have already crumbled beened since. neath their feet. The only quesIn the last presidential election tion left unanswered is whether Why do young Americans not understand that media ignorance is a for example, a Pew Research they will realize it with enough threat to their liberty?

Center analysis revealed that time to change course and make campaign reporters were acting a difference? primarily as megaphones, rather than as investigators, of the assertions put forward by the candidates and other political partisans.

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SECTION 1

Following Events Nearly every story on a news site follows the same basic format.

No matter the story, it will follow the “five W’s and How” of reporting to give readers immediate and comprehensive answers about events.

3 Steps to Scanning the News BECOMING MEDIA LITERATE

Five W’s & How ❖ Headlines, leads & captions. ❖ Inverted Pyramid ❖ Facts & opinions ❖ Detecting bias in the media ❖

1. Read the headline: Headlines “represent” sentences, but they are a kind of shorthand that leaves out many words. Headlines give broad hints about story content.

2. Read the lead: The first paragraph or two of a news story provides a summary of the entire story. Scan the lead for the five W’s (and How).

3. Photos, Graphics and Captions: News sites can tell entire stories just through images and captions. A photo, chart or other graphic can also support the headline by telling the reader what the story is about.

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usually is – carefully labeled as such. It’s generally by-lined by an expert on the subject who explains the causes of the news and its possible consequences to you. Interpretation goes beyond analysis and tells you not just what will probably happen, but what ought to happen. This should be clearly labeled, or at best, reserved for the editorial page or “op-ed” (opposite the editorial) page.

HEADLINE/LEAD WHO, WHAT WHERE, WHEN, HOW DETAILS CONCLUSION

Movie 1.2 Understanding Media Bias Upside Down Pyramid News stories are written in a special way called the “inverted pyramid”. Knowing about the newspaper’s “inverted pyramid” will help you sift facts. That means they start with the end, the climax of the story, with the most important facts first, then building more details in order of importance. This is unlike the writing of most stories, where you usually start at the beginning and save the climax for last.

Additional Tips-Reading News Articles Are journalists always required to be objective?

Many important stories are flanked by sidebars. These are supporting stories that offer, not news, but the “why” – background and analysis – to help you understand and evaluate it.

Analysis frequently includes opinion. So it should be – and 4

SECTION 2

News Consumption

MEDIA MATTERS

Newspaper readership in the US is at its lowest level in seven decades ❖ College post graduates are three times more likely to follow current events than college graduates. ❖ Six corporations own ninety percent of the media in America. ❖ The rise Western anti-Israel sentiment is proportional to the decrease of Western media literacy. ❖

While readers generally turn to newspapers for unbiased factual reporting, newspapers also typically include a fair bit of opinion. Opinion may be woven into news articles, it may appear in specific opinion pieces written by the editor or the editorial board (”editorials”), it may appear in the writings of individual columnists, or it may appear in editorial cartoons or other parts of the newspaper.

POLITICAL BIAS Historically, some newspapers have had a particular editorial bent, leaning in one political direction or another. In some larger communities, there might be two or more newspapers, each with a strong affiliation with a particular political party or set of political ideals. Readers could then choose the newspaper that they wished to read based on their own interests. Journalists today typically strive to maintain objectivity — presenting a story without bias — but readers can still choose from among many different media outlets, and there are still often distinct differences in the ways in which different newspapers, television

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news channels, and radio networks present news about the same issues.

tural issues. Editorial boards will often endorse candidates in upcoming elections, and reading the editorials from various newspapers on the same topic can give the researcher a good IDENTIFYING OPINION sense of the general political leaning of a particular source.

Today, most newspapers set aside particular sections of the Editorials are usually separated newspaper for columns, illustrafrom news reporting so that readtions, and letters that express Movie 1.3 Al Jazeera America ers can know when they are readopinion, clearly separating facing a factual new report that tries tual reporting from these less obto be objective and when they jective features. Newspapers ofare reading the opinion of the ten have an editorial section that editors of the newspaper. features the opinions of editors CARTOONS and, frequently in the same section of the newspaper, an Op-Ed Editors are not the only people page that features other opinwhose opinions appear in newsions. However, it’s important to papers, though. Often, newsparemember historical newspapers pers employ cartoonists who were not always organized like draw and write editorial cartoons the newspapers we read today, so that make a statement about curyou may find opinion columns rent events. These cartoons often mixed in with “news” in a historifocus on politics, but can also cal newspaper without a section take on economic, social, and culThe meteoric rise of Al Jazeera is having a profound impact on heading or other marker to help tural issues. Editorial cartoons global affairs. you tell which is which. have appeared in newspapers for most of American history, EDITORIALS though styles have changed over time.

The opinion of the editor or editorial board of a newspaper COLUMNS will often appear in an official statement from the editor(s) called an editorial. Editorials are a newspaper’s official stance Newspapers often also employ other writers to offer their indion specific issues and can cover politics as well as social or culvidual opinions in the newspaper. While these columnists do 6

research, they do not write factual news stories but rather their own personal views on events.

columnist or cartoonist, or of someone else? What do you know about the person or people whose opinions are expressed? It can sometimes be helpful to read several opinion pieces from the same source to get a sense of the individual or editorial board’s views on a number of issues so that you can start to identify common themes.

In addition to employing columnists directly to write for their newspapers, editors sometimes include the writings of syndicated columnists whose opinion columns appear in many different newspapers. The columns of George Will of the Washington Post and Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, for example, are published in other newspapers across the country.

What is the topic of this editorial, column, or cartoon and what opinions are expressed about the topic?

Some columnists focus on particular issues such as national politics, local current events, food, parenting, or sports. Others write on a variety of topics. By reading several columns by the same writer, a researcher can begin to determine the writer’s attitudes and politics more broadly.

Of course, you’ll want to make sure that you understand what the column or cartoon is about, which may take some background research, and what the author or cartoonist was trying to say about the topic. It may be helpful to read some news stories about the topic from the same or other newspapers — these may be found in the days or weeks preceding the opinion piece that you are analyzing.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR One can also find opinions from readers in the Letters to the Editor section of the newspaper. You can learn more about reading those letters in the learner’s guide to Reading newspapers: Reader contributions.

How does the writer or cartoonist make his or her point?

Writers and cartoonists can present their opinions in a variety of ways, using logic, humor, appeals to emotion, or other rhetorical devices to present their ideas. They may draw parallels between current events and history or try to use metaphors to make a particular point. They may present specific pieces of evidence (quotations, statistics, historical details, etc.) that support their main arguments. Try to figure out not just what the opinion writer was trying to say, but also how he or she said it and why he or she might have chosen to say it in that way.

KEY QUESTIONS Regardless of the location of an opinion in the newspaper, it may be worthwhile to consider the following questions when you encounter opinion: Whose opinion is being expressed?

Is the opinion in this part of the newspaper that of the editorial staff, of a local columnist or cartoonist, of a syndicated 7