In the News (p31/32)

Issues addressed

• Manipulation of information.
• Stereotypes and prejudices.

Purposes of the curriculum 3-18 

This lesson contributes toward young people becoming:

• successful learners able to think creatively and independently and make reasoned evaluations
• confident individuals able to develop and communicate their own beliefs and view of the world
• effective contributors able to apply critical thinking in new contexts

Aims

• To raise awareness of manipulation of information by media.
• To increase understanding that not everything you see or hear is correct.
• To raise awareness of different faiths and beliefs and how they are portrayed by the media.

Time

30mins - 1 hour

Group size

Any

Age

Any

Preparation

Newspaper articles on different cultures, religions, beliefs, races or asylum seekers Copies of media grid

Instructions

Find and look at articles on different cultures, religions, beliefs, races or asylum seekers. Think about the of writer's tone how does this reflect their intentions or personal opinions? How do they persuade you to think and feel in a certain way? What kind of political, cultural and social messages do you think are being generated by newspapers? Are they acceptable? How do you feel about this? How do you think the people that they write about feel? Consider the Newspaper Article Structure outlined on p31 - is this true for the article you are looking at? Fill in a Media Grid (p32) for each article evaluated.