NOTHING BUT THE NEWS
Exploring and Creating "Important" News Stories

Grades:  6-8,9-12

Subjects:  Journalism, Language Arts, Media Studies

Related New York Times Article
"The Hard News Smackdown, By CARYN JAMES", April 5, 2002

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students will explore the current trends in news coverage as a springboard for creating their own news broadcasts and analyzing American news media.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:   1 hour

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

1. Define and describe what news is based on their prior knowledge of the subject.
2. Examine what is put on network and cable television as "news," and explore what makes certain stories more important than others by reading and discussing "The Hard News Smackdown."
3. Develop television broadcasts based on what is determined to be newsworthy in their community or school through group research.
4. Develop and share thoughtful, engaging newscasts for their peers.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

• student journals
• pens/pencils
• paper
• classroom blackboard
• copies of "The Hard News Smackdown" (one per student)
• resources about news coverage and journalists (computers with Internet access, periodicals, library resources, etc.)
• video camera (optional)
• VHS tape (optional)

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

1. WARM-UP/DO NOW: Students respond to the following prompt (written on the board prior to class): "What is news? What people, places or events do you deem newsworthy? Why?" After a few minutes, allow students to share their responses, while teacher writes student definitions of "news" on the board. Discuss the following questions: What are news programs for? What types of stories should appear on the news? Why are the types of people, places and events you think are appropriate for news programs are more appropriate than other types? Whose opinion is "correct"? Why?
2. As a class, read and discuss the article, "The Hard News Smackdown," focusing on the following questions:
   1. Who is Dan Rather?
   2. Where are Mr. Brokaw and Mr. Jennings reporting from?
   3. What network news programs help to determine if a story is important news?
   4. How many people watch network television programs?
   5. How many people watch cable news channels?
   6. Why are network news shows watched more than cable news channels?
   7. What do network and cable news stations do well?
   8. What are the two different types of stories that appear on news programs?
   9. What do network anchors add to their news programs?
   10. Which network spent the most time covering the Arab-Israeli conflict last week?
   11. Why did NBC and ABC use more time to cover the situation in the Middle East?
   12. How do anchors add to news coverage?
   13. How is cable television trying to attract viewers to their news programs?
   14. What seems to be the future of news programs?
3. Divide students into 6 groups. Explain that each group will be assigned a different focus on their school or community to research and develop into a five-minute news broadcast, and will be responsible for presenting their news reports to the class. Assign each group a topic that relates to their school or community, such as: history, important people, debatable issues, problems, controversial events, success of graduates, future, arts, sports. Students should use all available classroom resources to research the following questions (written on the board for easier student access):
   • Who does your report focus on?
   • What is the problem, question or issue?
   • Where is this taking place?
   • When was/is/will this happen?
   • Why is this important to know about?
   • How will this affect your audience or the world in which you live?
   Each group will work to develop a news broadcast teaching the class about what the group deems newsworthy about their topic. Students should include any information that will help the class understand why their news story is important or valuable to know. At the end of class, each group will divide the research done in class to write up for the script for the actual broadcast (to be done in a future class).
4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Students will prepare their individual portion of a newscast on their assigned topic. Presentations should include a thoughtful visual that enhances the spoken portion of the newscast, as well as a written response to the following: "To what extent does your newscast express what is important news? Why will the audience want to hear your story?" In a future class, groups should present their broadcasts to the class and tape their broadcasts to show other members of the school or community. After presentations, the lass should describe any similarities found between the value of the news reported, as defined by the class.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Why do news shows have to compete for attention? What change has there been in news coverage with the development of technology?
• How does the reporter or news anchor affect the story they are telling? Why does this matter?
• Why does it matter if programs mix "hard" and "soft" news?
• What impact does a reporter's involvement in the news story have on the reporting? Is it okay for a news reporter to help make the news?
• What can be done to improve the current state of news coverage? Why?

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on written journal entries, participation in class and group discussions, thoughtful completion and presentation of broadcasts, and thoughtful completion of written responses evaluating worthiness of news in their presentations.

VOCABULARY:
flak, anchor, summit, abrupt, default, compound, juxtaposition, ludicrous, plausible, confrontation, lag, dominant, poignant, texture, cacophony, liberal, conservative, spoof, bait, fusty

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

1. Research a famous American news anchor mentioned in the article "The Hard News Smackdown" or choose one of the following: Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, Connie Chung, Jane Pauley, Walter Cronkite, etc. Write a report explaining how this particular person has helped to shape news history.
2. Write an evaluation of the news shown on network television. Watch two different news programs on two different channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX). What news was important to each program? What percentages of the program were "hard" vs. "soft" news? Who watches the news?
3. Create a presentation explaining how news is chosen for a television broadcast, news radio broadcast or a newspaper. Contact your local stations or papers to speak to an editor for information.
4. Compare the cover stories of three different types of news medium (radio, newspaper and TV, three different types of newspapers, three different network news programs, etc.). What story did each media outlet present first? What story did each focus the most time or space on? Which story had the most interesting visual? Using your findings, write a letter to the station manager or editor of the medium you found to be most "newsworthy" and explain what you appreciated most about their news coverage.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Global History - Create an in-depth television broadcast or newspaper article exploring the current situation in the Middle East (or any other part of the world). Be sure to include history, important people, places or events. Tape your broadcast and show it to a future class or submit your article to your school newspaper for publication.

Mathematics- Conduct a survey exploring why people watch the particular news programs that they watch. Graph the results and create a poster showing the reasons why people tune in to different news shows. Write a short analysis of your data.

Technology- Conduct a study of the technological advances that allow us to watch live tape from around the world or receive up-to-the-minute news coverage via the Internet. Explore how satellites and computer technology aid in disseminating news. How has this technology changed over the past 10 years? How has this technology affected the type of news we see on television? How has this technology affected how people get their news?

Copyright 2002
The New York Times Company