Evaluating News Reporting
Project: Media Coverage
For this assignment, you will use a graphic organizer to monitor and analyze multiple global news outlets
across a period of time. Once you have completed your organizer, you will answer key questions about
the media’s coverage of a story and how this coverage changed and developed over time.
To evaluate news reporting, you can use the following steps:
1. Select a specific global news story: Choose a news story that is covered by multiple news outlets. Make sure the story is significant and has been covered over a period of time.
2. Monitor multiple news outlets: Select at least three global news outlets that provide coverage of the chosen story. These can be newspapers, TV news channels, or online news platforms. Monitor these outlets regularly, preferably on a daily basis, to see how the story is being reported.
3. Use a graphic organizer: Create a graphic organizer with columns representing each news outlet and rows representing different aspects of news reporting, such as the headline, main points, sources, bias, and tone. Fill in the organizer daily with the information you gather from each news outlet.
4. Analyze the coverage: After monitoring the news outlets for a sufficient period of time, analyze the coverage and identify any patterns or trends. Look for similarities or differences in headlines, key points, sources used, and overall tone. Consider how each news outlet frames the story and whether they have a particular bias.
5. Assess the changes and developments: Look for changes and developments in the news coverage over time. Has the emphasis of the story shifted? Have new angles or perspectives emerged? Have any conflicting information or contradictions been reported? Note these changes and developments in your graphic organizer.
6. Answer key questions: Based on your graphic organizer and analysis, answer key questions about the media's coverage of the story. Consider the following questions:
- Did all the news outlets cover the story? If not, why?
- Did the news outlets provide balanced and objective coverage, or did they display any bias?
- Did the coverage change or evolve over time? If so, how did it change and what influenced these changes?
- Were all the sources used by the news outlets reliable and credible? Were there any instances of misinformation or misrepresentation?
- What was the overall tone of the coverage? Was it sensationalized, unbiased, or critical?
7. Draw conclusions: Based on your analysis, draw conclusions about the media's coverage of the chosen story. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each news outlet's reporting and consider the overall quality of the coverage provided.
Remember to approach your evaluation with a critical mindset, considering different viewpoints and cross-referencing information from multiple sources.