READING THE NEWS
More people are reading the news today; however, more people, especially younger people, are getting their news online.
Getting Started
Questioning the Word & the World
Seeing...is always a selective activity, a matter of not seeing some things in order to see others.
-Mina Shaughnessy, Errors and Expectations
Facts can be seen only through the eyes of observers and are subject to whatever selections and distortions the observers' viewpoints impose upon them. -G.A. Kelly, A Theory of Personality
It is common knowledge that different people viewing the same scene will notice different things.
-W.I.B. Beveridge, "The Powers of Observation," The Art of Scientific Investigation
We all tell ourselves different stories about the world because we each perceive information differently and then interpret this information in our own way. We cannot take everything in. Like the reporter in this cartoon, we'd be overwhelmed if we did, so we notice some things and ignore others. And what each of us chooses to notice or ignore is different. What each person selects to see (our perceptions) are really interpretations.
News reporters, like the rest of us, are subject to these same processes of selection and omission. A journalist may strive to provide the full story—the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the story—but her perceptions will necessarily be colored by everything she has ever heard, felt, read, or seen before. Like all of us, a reporter’s perceptions help form her beliefs and knowledge, how she reads the word and the world. This is true of editors as well. Media consolidation and corporate control has also greatly influenced news coverage.
Gatekeepers in newsrooms used to decide what was important or interesting. Neatly framed news organized our view of the world. When news suddenly became available 24-7, instant decisions had to be made about what would be presented as news. With the advent of the digital delivery of information, the news paradigm shifted. Access to a wide variety of news reports is no longer a problem but reading the news can be a formidable task.
It remains important, if not more important than ever, for citizens to become not only informed but educated readers of the news. To become an “active reader of the news today, you need to be able to (1) navigate the news, (2) detect bias, (3) “triangulate” or compare news reports, and (4) make an informed analysis. This project will help you learn to be a questioning, reflective reader of the news. You will learn to ask questions of what you read, to take bias into account, and to write from an informed and reasoned viewpoint.
Identifying Yourself as a News Consumer
News Consumption Questionnaire
Name:_________________________ Age: _____
How would you describe yourself as a consumer of the news?
1. On a typical day, do you get the news in one form or another (print, TV, radio, Internet)? _Yes _No
2. Are you likely to read an online newspaper rather than a printed version? _Yes _No
3. Do you generally get the news from both traditional sources (print, radio, TV) and the Internet?
_Yes _No
4. Did you read a daily newspaper yesterday? _Yes _No If yes, _print _ print & web _web only
5. Do you consider the Internet your main source of news? _Yes _No
6. Do you regularly _watch news online
_listen to news on the web or
_watch & listen about equally?
_not regularly but sometimes I _listen or _watch.
_Never
7. Do you ever watch TV news? _Never _Sometimes _Frequently If so, do you watch
_network (morning or evening) news _cable news (CNN or Fox News, for example)
8. Would you describe yourself as a news grazer? (Do you check in on the news from time-to-time during the day?) _Yes _No
9. Do you read blogs on politics or current events? _Sometimes _Frequently _Never
10. Which news audience segment best describes you as a news consumer?
_Integrator (gets the news from both traditional sources and the internet)
_Net-Newser (principally turns to the web for news)
_Traditionalist (relies heavily on TV for news)
_Disengaged (low level of interest in the news and news consumption)
While the results of the questionnaire are being tallied, read the following Associated Press news report that highlights key findings from a news consumption survey conducted by the Pew Research Center (2008).*
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