Gloria DeGaetano - 100 Family Media Literacy Activities

100 Family Media Literacy Activities (cont.)

Screen News

11. Comparing various news sources.
Encourage your child to read a local morning newspaper and write down the title of each main story. Then have him/her look up the same stories on news internet sites such as CNN and the New York Times and then in the evening watch a local/national TV news program, making a list of the stories covered in the broadcast. Before bedtime, have him read an article about one of the news stories in Time or Newsweek. Then the next day, hold a family discussion and ask such questions as: “What stories in the newspaper (and on the internet) were reported on the TV news? How many stories on the TV news were ‘new’? How do Internet sites choose which news to let people know about? How do TV news programs decide what to report? How do newspapers decide what to report? Which source would you go to for the latest breaking news? Which source would you go to in order to understand the issues more deeply? Why? What did you learn about the different news sources?

12. News story tally.
Either for TV news programs or Internet sites, or both, have your child keep track, for a week, of every major story. He/she decides whether each story is negative, neutral, or positive. What's the final count? What does this say about the kind of news that is being broadcast? Encourage your child to think about how he or she would bring more balance into news stories, giving people more information about the positive things that are going on around them.

13. Study news anchors.
In this activity your child will study a variety of news anchors to observe what they look like; how they deliver the news; if they deliver the news with or without bias or comment, etc. Encourage your child to frame in his/her mind the “ideal news anchor.” For instance, would being beautiful or handsome be an important factor to being an effective news anchor? Observing popular news anchors, which one/s fit more to the ideal? Why? You may want to check out from the library old footage of Walter Cronkite—there is a popular one of him reporting the assassination of JFK. Your thinking child can observe the differences of how news was reported then with how the news is reported currently. The slower pace of yesteryear, along with more detailed reporting are a striking contrast to today’s hurried pace, fast speech, and surface comments.

14. Spotting reporter bias.
In conjunction with the above activity or as a separate activity have your child observe both TV news anchors and reporters in the field delivering news. See if he/she can spot any bias through subjective comments, opinions, or even through their mannerisms. Also, “news” programs such as the Colbert Report provide a way to think about the bias presented through exaggeration and satire. What are the real issues that need to be kept in mind when listening to any news anchor or reporter?

15. Local, national, or international?
As your child watches TV news, point out which stories are local, national, or international ones. Consider comparing channels such as Fox with the BBC—to find out which one provide more international coverage, for instance. This can be an–ongoing activity to help your child understand the three distinct areas of coverage and where we can best learn about what is happening in these distinct parts of our world.

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