Task One - Introduction of Unit (Days 1-2)
Activity: Students will begin by viewing samples of newspapers from the time period as well as those from today, contrasting such things as content, layout, types of ads, and different features. They will be asked to discuss what stories make it into the newspaper, reasons why others are excluded, and whether they believe news reporters have freedom of choice without regard to consequences. At this point the students will be introduced to the first amendment and asked to write down their interpretation of what it means in terms of newspaper journalism.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment
Activity: To discover the meaning of the public's right to free speech and access to information through the press, my students will divide into 5 groups. Each group will choose a special interest group to represent, such as The President, welfare recipients, minority groups, anti-abortion groups, abortion rights groups, union executives, political terrorists, environmental protection groups, teacher's unions -- choose groups currently in the news. Give students copies of one newspaper and ask them to censor the paper, cutting out all articles, photos, editorials, headlines, display ads, and comics that might present a negative image of their interest. Have students put them on a poster board. A discussion of the following questions might be used and recorded in their journals.
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1.What are the reasons your group used for censoring material? Would you like to maintain this right to censor? Is it important? Why?
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2. What problems do you see in allowing censorship?
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3. What mistakes does a newspaper make and can they be prevented?
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4. Should censorship be allowed?
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5. How does a particular group get coverage?
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6. Should a newspaper be restrained from publishing facts or opinions?
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7. Who benefits from freedom of the press?
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8. Should the press act as a watchdog?
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9. What do the words, "an informed source said…", "The White House announced…" really mean?
In addition, a general discussion on such topics as the function of a newspaper and its responsibilities, what the terms libel and the right to know mean, how a right to a fair trial might compete with the public's right to know, and what is meant by protection of sources and censorship. This information is summed up succinctly on pages 142-143 of
The Complete Newspaper Resource Book
by Jane Lamb. This overview will set the tone for their final assessment. These terms will begin a word wall in the classroom.
Task Two: Reading of Chapter "Public Opinion and Mass Media" (Days 3-8)
In order to gain an understanding of the relationship among the American public, mass media, and the government, my students will need to understand the complexities of this association. Before having my students begin considering what will be written in their final newspapers, I want them to be acutely aware of the implications of what actually goes into their work. Because newspapers, and now mass media, have such a powerful link to the American people and the way they see our world, my students must be equipped to realize the power that such a bond holds. They must also become aware of the ability the press has in setting public policy.
Activity: The newspaper's function is to keep the American public accurately informed about the world around them, but what, exactly, is the truth and from whose eyes. This task will help the students explore these issues. By reading Chapter Eight in
American Government
by Stephen Sansone and Ethel Wood, my students will acquire an understanding of the ethical underpinnings of the media and how these ideologies help influence political attitudes. Observing how several newspapers present the same story will bring home the message about how powerful words really are. Which newspapers do not use a story that is given prominence in others? Are some stories placed on inside pages while others appear on the front page? Why? Does each version emphasize the same details? Journal entries on vocabulary and personal reflections will be required. Questions essential to comprehension might be:
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1. What generalizations can be made about the six agents of political socialization? (Family, Gender, Religion, Education, Race and Ethnicity, and Region)
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2. How does the media reflect and influence public opinion?
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3. What influence does mass media have on politics and what does that mean for Americans?
These reflected questions should be recorded in their journals.
Activity: As a result of reading this chapter, I would show my students the film A
bsence of Malice,
with Paul Newman and Sally Fields. They will see first hand how the media can influence the public's perception of an issue. This film is a dramatic probe into the issue of journalistic ethics.
Activity: The final piece of Task Two will be to watch the video,
Headline Stories of the 20th Century,
making note in their journals of such things as word choice, sensationalism, and implied messaging. The students will also listen to the
Marshall McLuhan: The World is a Global Village
and,
McLuhan Predicts 'World Connectivity'
clips about the power of the media to change perception.
Task Three: The Criteria for a Good Newspaper and a Discussion of Bias (Days 9-11)
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"The theory of the free press is that the full truth is not revealed in one account but emerges through free reporting and discussion. The central point is not fairness nor accuracy, but
freedom
, which makes others possible."
Eric Severeid, one of America's most respected journalists, spoke these words during an address at Indiana University in 1978. He claimed that the greatest fault in news reporting is not bias, but haste. By beginning this task with this comment, I hope to engage my students in a discussion of what are the criteria for a good newspaper. It will be important to note that running a newspaper is a business and, as such, owners like to present the news according to their own experiences and best interests.
Activity: Having students understand, through observation of several news sources, that the truth will emerge or at least a more balanced perspective will surface, is a fundamental reality that takes time and patience. I will have my students:
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1. Find the same story in several papers. And observe the difference in treatment. Are staff reporters used or do the stories come from wire services. Why? What is the style and quality of the writing? Is there slanting by selection of facts? Is this sinister? Is it bias? What is bias? (Journal entry)
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2. Have students compare the editorial pages. Make note of differences. What are the implications? (Journal entry)
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3. Have students compare the ratio of news to advertising. (It is considered financially unhealthy to drop below 50% advertising). What is the ratio of hard news to other feature material? What is the ratio of wire service to staff reporting? (Wire service usually means a low operating budget) Ask students what they think each of these mean. (Journal entry)
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4. When considering the headlines, are there negative, positive, or neutral words used? Does the headline story reflect the editor's point of view? What does this mean? How would you know?
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5. Have students follow an on-going story in several news papers. Does Severeid's comment hold true?
After these exercises are completed have students compile a list of criteria for a good newspaper in their journals. Lamb suggests that some of these might be:
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· Kinds of stories chosen - sense of news value
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· Adequate and concise coverage of important news
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· Dependency on wire service use versus staff reporters
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· Unbiased reporting and editing
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· Amount of news compared to the amount of advertising
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· Responsible editorial commenting
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· Accuracy and appropriateness of headlines
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· Fair and balanced reporting
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· Variety and balance of contents
Task Four: The Front Page and Writing a News Story (Days 12- 17)
This task will acquaint my students to the terminology of a front page: skyline, flag, ears, border, screamer (banner, streamer), headline, dateline, hanger, box, refer, kicker cutline (caption), Cut (photo, pic, pix), and index. It will help students visualize and understand the layout of the front page and also allow students to understand the serious, factual nature of the hard stories on page one. One of the key elements to the lead story is the summary lead where students need to identify the 5 W's plus H of the story.
Activity: Using an overhead projector, show students a sample
front page
paper. Explain the buzz words used by the newspaper staff. Next pass out copies of the front page of the day's local newspaper. Have students identify the key elements of a front page using the overhead model as a guide. Continuing to use the actual front page, have students identified the 5 W's:- Who, What, Where, When, and Why of the lead story. Explain that H -- How- might also be included. Next, to provide reinforcement and practice, give them three other sample leads and have them identify the 5 W's, perhaps as a homework assignment.
Explain the
Inverted Pyramid
, where the most important facts are presented first, lesser important details are listed next, and finally least important details are included at the end. It must be noted that these stories are factual and not opinions. Opinions are left to the editorial page.
Activity: A third item to be mentioned in this task will be to discuss the
Headlines
. It is important to make the students aware of the fact that a headline is not a title but a concise summary of the story that follows. It contains a subject and a verb but no auxiliary pronouns, conjunctions, or articles. Present students with samples of lead stories. Have them write headlines that are appropriate. It will be wise to take note of the different fonts and font sizes during these exercises. Clarity and accurate reflection should be upheld, though stylistic variations should be noted. Add all new terms to the word wall.
Activity: Finally, it is at this point that the students will receive an initial timeline of historic events occurring between 1945 and 1965. After studying the timeline for interest, students will be asked to choose what year they will investigate and complete their final project. Using
The Present Cycle, The Era of Super Power America (1945-1965),
students will receive an overview of this period in history. They will begin researching their chosen year for headline stories of national and international interest, recording in their journals facts that fit into the 5W's and H categories. This research should be limited to important headline stories that occurred during the exact year that the student has chosen for his/her newspaper. Students should write their headline stories based on their use of the 5W's, H, and their editorial decisions as to what is the most important news of the year. A quick reminder of their exercise on censorship and free press would be in order. These should be saved on their disks.
Task Five: The Editorial Page (Days 17-27)
In stark contrast to the front page, is the
editorial page.
This is the only page where opinions are openly expressed. Students may argue that article and word choice of feature news stories obviously reflects someone's opinion but it is only on the editorial page that a reader can look for arguments openly expressed. The best papers offer readers a wide variety of opinions and viewpoints, using an interesting variety of subjects all of which must be substantiated. These articles are referred to as the opinion of the "editorial staff," and "we". Students must understand that the "we" mentioned on these pages is the publisher, the editor, or staff writers specifically hired to write these opinions. These opinions represent the business sense of the owners of the paper.
Activity: What goes on the editorial page?- editorials, regular columns by established writers, both nationally syndicated as well as local, guest editorials by writers not on staff, letters to the editor, and national and local editorial cartoons. To ensure that students have an understanding of these, they should locate examples in the local paper. It could be set up as a scavenger hunt. Their homework assignment would be to keep track of the types of stories that appear on these pages for one week, observing and noting such things as: what topics are covered, in what forms, and by whom? This should be entered in their journals. With the results of this information, students should be asked some of the following questions:
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1. What is the subject of the editorial? Where did the story first appear?
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2. What position does the writer take in regard to the topic?
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3. What are his/her supporting reasons? Does he/she offer arguments for the
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opposing side of the issue?
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4. Does he/she repeat his opinion? Where and what effect does it have?
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5. Is research, interviewing, personal observation, or out of the blue reasoning used as information for his/her argument?
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6. Does the writer get his point across?
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7. Does it give information, explanation, or direction on the issue?
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8. Does it stimulate you to think or motivate you to act on the topic?
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9. Does it appeal to your emotion or reason? Through what means?
Activity: While reading Chapters 3 and 4 in the book,
The Fifties a Women's Oral History,
and several of the stories from
Women's Magazines 1940-1960
pages 63-189, have students develop a pro/con argument using a graphic organizing sheet on a women's issue of the day i.e. marriage, education, employment. Next have students review writing strategies found in editorials, such as, examples, comparisons, and contrast. Discuss how to use these in presenting an opinion. Point out examples using sample editorials. Have students write their editorial. Editorial Advice:
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1. If you criticize, make constructive suggestions. If you praise, don't go overboard and undermine your credibility.
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2. "Tell them what you are going to say; say it; tell them what you've said."
Activity: Have the students write a political editorial about a political issue of their year. Help the students understand that these editorials were sometimes very heated and offered controversy for its readers. Samples of these controversial articles should be presented. Be sure to have students suggest reasons for offering different political outlooks on the editorial page. Students could also compare an editorial to a column on the same topic, allowing them to observe the different style and approaches each writer took to address the topic. (To be saved on their disk.)
Activity: Using the same topic, have the students write a letter to the editor expressing their point of view on the topic. Remind them that it is a letter of persuasion and as such they must present reasons for their argument in an attempt to convince, complain, defend, or persuade. Using the overhead, show two sample letters to the editor, one that is well written and one that is ineffective. This modeling might go a long way in helping students understand how to write such a letter. Post the effective ones written by the class after they have shared them. Remind students that letters to the editor must be signed because the paper can be sued. (To be saved on their disk)
Activity: Political Satire is usually found in the cartoons on the editorial page. Lamb describes the basic principle of satire as ridicule, either cruel or bitter, that points out human folly or vice, to bring about awareness or reform. Through the use of examples have students try to come to some of the following understandings:
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1. What is the topic of the cartoon?
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2. How does the cartoonist feel about the topic?
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3. Is it presented literally or metaphorically?
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4. If literally, how does the reader understand who the cartoonist is describing?
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5. If metaphorically, what do the various elements symbolize/
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6. Does the cartoonist use exaggeration, humor, irony, or stereotyping as a device to get his point across?
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7. What are the different forms of irony used; verbal irony (what is said and what is meant), dramatic irony (what the artists says or believes and what the reader knows to be true, and irony of situation (what is expected and what is actually true).
Have students either draw their own cartoon of an issue that was current during their year or find one that they especially enjoy. This should be kept in the journal folder for use when they construct their paper.
Task Six: Sports (Days 28-32)
For sports fans, sports are exciting. Action headlines and thrilling stories are what make for a good sports story so fresh, original use of language is a must for the sport's writer. Grabbing the reader's attention through language is essential. There are many kinds of sports story that appear on the sport's page: the straight news story, a personal interview, personality profiles, prediction, scoreboards, and photos. Each one of these offers the reader a different angle on the story.
Activity: In order to help students understand the language of sports, it is important to have them read several articles written about a sporting event. Copies of sports pages from the 40's, 50's, and 60's will offer this kind of specialized writing form. Modeling this on an overhead projector, students can point out all words that are essential to the sports in the story and those that might actually take away from it. It is worth noting that often the headlines do not even mention the name of the sport. The verbs in sports stories are often extremely significant. By listing these action words in one column and their translation in a second, students will be able to identify the exaggerated words in a story. Students can also listen to ESPN as a way to identify the language of sports. A personal contact at ESPN, Johnny Sweet, can explain how he writes his sports clips.
In writing a sports story students must remember to describe who played, who won, the important plays, the weakness and strengths of each team, the star players, the weather, and the crowd. It may be worthwhile to use the inverted pyramid, with the most important facts of the game or event being mentioned first and the lesser ones trailing at the end. It is also important to remember that some sports writers are opinion writers, sometimes blatantly opinionated. They stick their necks out to arouse the reader in hopes of getting letters written to the editor about their story. Their viewpoint is often controversial.
Sports-minded students truly enjoy reading the scoreboard. This format contains all the latest scores as well as a variety of other information about players, team stats, and such. Some scoreboards are exhaustive while others just present basic information. Sports enthusiasts love to look at these charts to follow all the latest information on their teams.
Activity: It will be the student's job to write a four-to-five paragraph
Viewpoint
story on one sports story from their designated year. They will also have to obtain copies of sports stories, scoreboards, and lead stories off the internet from the specific year to include in their newspaper.
Task Seven: The Comics (Days 33-37)
This section deals with a page that most students turn to fairly early on when they open a newspaper. In order to get a sense of how observant they are when it comes to the comics, students should complete the following activity from Lamb's
Newspaper Resource Book.
Activity: Without using a newspaper, ask students to answer the following T-F questionnaire. Have students discuss their answers.
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1. ____ Comic strips can show action.
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2. ____ All comics are meant to be funny.
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3. ____ Comic strips are silent.
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4. ____ Comic characters never grow old.
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5. ____ Comic strips are always divided into frames of equal size.
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6. ____ Comic strip characters don't look like real people.
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7. ____ Comic strips are seldom about the real world.
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8. ____ What the characters say is always in balloons.
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9. ____ Comic strips can improve your vocabulary.
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10. ____ All comic stories tell a self-contained story.
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11. ____ Cartoons on the comic pages are not all in strip form
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12. ____ Comic strips use "camera angle" like movies and TV.
Answers:
T (puffs of smoke=speed, stars=heavy blow); F; F, (thud, crash) F; F; F; F; F; T; F; T; T
Are comics relevant to a newspaper? Why were and are they included at all in the newspaper? These questions are the basis of the first day's lessons on the comics.
Activity: Using the internet, students should look up the history of comics in the news, hopefully finding out that comics increased sales, spoke to non-English speaking immigrants, provided social commentary, ridiculed national politics, and had the power to entertain and draw readers in. Students should then look up comics that were available during their designated years.
Pogo
is an excellent example that can be used.
Activity: Have students develop their own comic using information gained about their time period and the comics of the day. Using examples found online students must decide what will be in their comics. Students should also copy other comics from the internet to be used in their paper. The following blank comic strip can be used for such a purpose.
(table available in print form)
Task Eight: Advertising (Days 38-45)
Many people believe newspapers exist to run ads using news as fillers. In fact, most newspapers try to maintain an average of 60% ads to 40% editorial material. It is, of course, advertising sales that pay the cost of the newspaper, from salaries to printing and even the profits for the shareholders. Advertising also serves the business community informing the public about their products and services. Circulation is another important aspect of advertising because the more readers the paper serves, the more products are potentially sold and the more money the owners have to invest in their newspaper.
There are three kinds of advertising:
general ads
, where national companies design ads to tell the readers about their products and try to convince them to buy the product or service. Magazine ads are much more slick than newspaper ads;
retail (or display) ads,
where local merchants and service companies try to show readers about the products and services important to their lives using graphic art designs and illustrations; and finally,
classified ads
, which is a marketplace for private individuals and small businesses to cheaply sell unwanted items and some services.
Activity: Before having my students consider what ads they might want to create, I would have them read several chapters from
Populuxe
by Thomas Hine. This book provides a narrative about influx of creative and must have products that emerged during this time period. Having them read and view the many inventions as well as the attitudes about such products will hopefully give my students insight into the
tsunami
of products that came onto the market at this time. Creating a product board of these items will, I'm sure, be a big hit.
Activity: Providing opportunities for my students to view ads from these years
will be necessary and fun. Having them view these on the overhead projector, my class will list what information is found in a general ad, a retail ad, and the classifieds, using the following graphic organizer.
General Ads Retail Ads Classified Ads
With this information I will have the students prepare Classified Ads for something they want to sell, for Position Wanted, for property for sale, and perhaps even Lost and Found. I will then have them try to design and ad for a "new" product on the market, having them keep in mind what our ads looked like on the overhead. Finally I will have them prepare an ad for a local service being offered. All of these ads will be saved on their disk as well as in their folder.
Task Nine: Financial Section
This area of the paper might present the most trouble for my students. Without getting into a long winded study of the stock market, my students might have a hard time understanding the business section. Instead, I would simply ask my students to find a page from the stock market of their year and reprint it. It might be a recommendation to at least explain the highs, lows, and selling price per share.
It will be important to give my class some basic background of the financial climate of the country. For example, during this time period, people starting borrowing money for new homes, cars, and new items for their homes. Veterans returning from the war needed housing. The suburbs became the place to live. Levittown sprang up and people quickly flocked to buy homes there. Showing some pictures of these developments might help.
Activity: At the website www.hud.gov/offices/adm/about/admguide/history.cfm, my students will read a brief history of the government's response to this very basic need of housing. Using www.boomerweb.net/ppc/search.php?str=fifties my students can look at some of the items such as clothes, home furnishing,
records
, and cars, to name just a few, that dazzled the common person and started America's thirst for material possessions.
Populuxe
can also be used for this purpose. These sites will help to understand people's financial positions at the time. The stock market crashed just twenty years earlier, yet the mood of the country was booming. They might do well to try to write a piece about opening a new business in town; a record store or a little corner grocery market.
Task Ten: Special Sections (Days 45 - 47)
The last section of concentration will be the special interest areas of the paper. Here the students can have fun making up a weather forecast, obituary, and horoscopes. These are areas that they already read daily.
Activity: The final two pieces to be written are those that deal with homemaking tips and gardening. Here again they can have some fun but research from past sections on home products might help to bring focus to their work. The food section always included recipes for special occasions. In thinking about gardening, the student must be reminded that single family homes were now being occupied by many more people, so people now had to plant grass and gardens. "The lawn" was a thing of great pride to these new home owners and, as such, they needed advice on how to plant and care for their lawns.