There are five different sections to The Reading the News project. We will be studying, analyzing, and thinking critically about how we read the news. 

Here is a tentative plan for The Reading the News project this fall semester:

 Reading the News   Project   (Semester Plan)

Getting Started

     Questioning the Word and the World                

       Identifying Yourself as a News Consumer

                        Questionnaire & Polls

Networking & QuickWriting – Join the Conversation!

      A Drug Story: Cheerios? Starting with The Colbert Report

Background Reading & Work

Defining & Understanding News Bias

“What is News?” Neil Postman & Steve Powers

“Understanding the Bias of Language: Three Principles,” Neil Postman & Steve Powers

                        QuickWriting & Networking

Detecting News Bias: Some Analytical Tools

        Inclusion/Exclusion of Information  

        Word Choices: Denotation/Connotation & Shades of Meaning        

                        QuickWriting & Networking          

        Selection & Use of Sources

        Navigating the News

 “News Paradigm Shift: Where Do We Go from Here?”  Steve Powers

Becoming a Questioning Reader   

Readers at Work: A Guided Reading Assignment

Detecting  Bias: Triangulating a Train Robbery Story

        What’s Really Going On? Reflect – Discuss – Learn More – Read More – Write

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2nd Half of Course: Own-Choice End-Project Writing

Writers at Work: A Guided Writing Assignment