International Conflict and the Media

ACTIVITY 3: How News is Gathered and Reported

Introduction

Students need some understanding on how news is made. This activity focuses upon the principleelements of news gathering and reporting. There are obviously many good books which deal withthese subjects in greater depth. If you have already dealt with these issues, this activity can beomitted. If you have not directly covered these issues do not assume that all students willunderstand the complex processes of news gathering and reporting. It is also important tounderstand that a news story differs depending upon the medium of transmission. Hence, the samestory will appear differently in newspapers, news magazines, radio, and television.

Student Objectives

• To understand the basic processes that are involved in news gathering.
• To understand that different media present the same story in different ways.
• To understand the subjective nature of news reporting.
• To understand that what the reader or viewer comprehends from the story may not be what isintended by the reporter.
• To know that journalists have perspectives on issues about which they write.
• To understand that news sources have many ways of communicating perspectives aboutinternational conflicts, such as through main stories, headlines, editorials, cartoons andpictures.

Time

1-3 class periods

Materials

A chalkboard; a video camera and a video recorder with three tapes; an audio tape recorder withan extra tape; copies of Reading 3 for each student; current newspapers and news magazines;camera and film (preferably a Polaroid-type)

Recommended Procedures

FIRST PERIOD

1. Assign one student to be the class photographer. Have the student take pictures of: 1) theincident; 2) press conference; and 3) student projects.
2. Divide the class into four groups. Remove three groups, either by sending them to the libraryto perform a task or to stand quietly outside the classroom for a few minutes. Setup and turnon the video camera.
3. Fabricate an incident in your classroom, such as a mock prearranged student/teacher orstudent/student confrontation, a mock theft of an article, etc. Alternately, have students playscripted roles in an international event or incident, such as a summit meeting or peaceconference.
4. When the incident is over, ask the students who remained in the classroom to write down whatthey saw and heard.
5. Remove the first tape from the video camera and replace it with the second tape. Ask the otherthree groups to return to the classroom. Tell them that an incident has happened while theywere absent, and their job will be to find out what happened and write a news story on theincident. Their assignments will be due the following day.
6. Assign one group the responsibility of writing a 300-word story for a newspaper. Assign thesecond group to tape a one-minute radio broadcast. Assign the third group to tape a 30-secondtelevision broadcast.
7. Give the three groups a few minutes to discuss how they will proceed. Tell the newspapergroup that the class photographer has some pictures that they may wish to use. Make sure thatthe audio group knows that they will need an announcer. The television group will need areporter.
8. Tell the groups that there will be a press briefing in fifteen minutes that will include thoseinvolved in the incident and several eyewitnesses.
9. At the press conference let each participant and eyewitness make a statement, then permitstudents in each of the three groups to ask questions. Use the video and audio recorders totape the press conference.
10. If time remains, give each group the ability to question independently any of those involved inthe incident.

SECOND PERIOD

1. Permit the students to present their stories. Ideally, the television group will have video tapedtheir presentation, and the radio group will have audio taped their presentation, and thenewspaper group will have duplicated their news report.
2. When the groups have completed their presentations, ask the students to compare and contrastthe three different stories as presented on the three different types of media. Write the studentresponses on the chalkboard. Note and comment:

What facts were included in each report?

Which facts were different?

What were the benefits and limitations of each media?

THIRD PERIOD

1. Play back the videotape of the original incident. Query the students:

How accurate were their reports of the incident?

What were the problems with their reports?

What were the differences and similarities of the different media?

2. On the chalkboard, write the following: What Really Happened; Witness Reports of theIncident; Correspondents Who Report the Event; The Medium of Communication; Editors; The Reader/Viewer/Listener.
3. Students should recognize that each participant in this sequence may alter the story in someway. Indeed, witnesses may change their own story through retelling it. Each participant haslenses through which the event is viewed. Often, the description of the event that thereader/viewer/listener ends up with has little to do with the original event Ask the students toconsider:

How is the original event changed by each of the links in the news gathering/reportingsequence?

4. Distribute Reading 3 and ask the students to read it.
5. Display a newspaper and discuss the placement of the stories, headlines, pictures and editorials.Discuss how newspapers influence opinions of readers. Have the students bring in newsarticles, pictures, editorials and cartoons focused upon a common international event or issue.The students can use newspapers or news magazines for their materials.

Extending the Lesson

1. Also discuss how radio and television news influence opinion by placement of the story, thepictures used and the language of the broadcaster/reporter. Consider using the schoolnewspaper as an example during this activity. Ask the students to write an article for thestudent newspaper, or your local newspaper, and see if it is published. If so, what changeswere made in the article during editing? Why did the editor make changes?
2. Invite an editor or journalist into your classroom from your local newspaper, radio ortelevision station.

Return to the Contents page for International Conflict and the Media.

Go to Activity 4.

Go to the Bibliography.