Background
Neurologists, the scientists who study the brain, have been making huge advances in recent years in understanding how we construct our sense of who we are. One of the most interesting theories proposes that who we are is the story we tell ourselves about ourselves. The ability to do this is, they claim, is what makes us different from other animals, whose brains simply aren't able to process abstractions; we, unlike any other creature, are able to imagine a story of ourselves beyond concrete experience. Through our story, we understand our experience.
Of course, if we each told our stories in wholly new and unique ways, the larger, human story would be one of chaos. Instead, the basis of society, of politics, of art, of race, of class, of love, and of birth and death are the stories we collectively (in groups) tell of ourselves; learning is a process of constructing a role in a preexisting story, both by listening to storytellers tell and making our own contributions to that story.
The news and the news media are a vast enterprise, a many voiced collection of storytellers, whose purpose is, in one way or another, to construct how we see the world, how we see others, and how we see ourselves. To have even the most basic control over our individual lives and the choices we make, we must develop media literacy, the ability to take a critical attitude toward the stories of the world that vast armies of storytellers are competing for us to pay attention to and, they hope, govern how we see ourselves.
In other words, if you don't pay attention to the news or just believe everything you see, you're going to give up your freedom to be yourself or to live in a story that is true or in your best interest.
How can you get more control of story? You can in two ways:
a) pay more attention to the stories that affect your life and the things that you value;
b) ask questions and more questions.
You begin by asking the "five key questions of media literacy" of all the news that you consume and develop the skills to be active rather than passive readers.
Your self depends on it.
What To Do
This week you will be working in your groups of three to four to monitor several different news sources (or storytellers) and then reporting to the class about the kinds of stories being told and the nature of the tellers of these stories. Each group will be responsible for choosing one source and then "reading" it together for three or four days (until the day of your presentation). In class, you will have the opportunity to discuss your findings in preparation for your group presentation. Your panel will provide thoughtful and informative answers to the "Five Key Questions" (distributed in class) as they regard your particular source. You will then need to draw a conclusion about the value of the source for news.
Your group must choose a particular news show, newspaper, or radio show to analyze. For example, you could choose the KTVU-FOX broadcast of the news at 10:00PM or the "All Things Considered" news program on NPR (radio 88.5) or the San Francisco Chronicle.
Analyze how the source tells the complex story of what is going on in the world, using the "Five Key Questions." What are the four to six main stories the editors choose? What are you aware of that isn't getting much coverage?
When you attempt to answer the question of who owns your source, link here.
To complete the project, you must:
a) Give a 10-12 minute oral presentation to the class. You may use visual aids but you are not required to. Successful groups will be well organized, clear, analytical, and audience focused.
b) Collaborate on a Google website that presents the content of your oral presentation in an appealing way and includes several links to pertinent information.
c) Write an individual reflection on the project, working with your classmates, and what you learned.
Groups will be given a single grade to be shared by all group members. So that everyone has incentive to participate equally, I will be grading down by a full letter those groups who do not make the utmost efforts to distribute the work of preparation and presentation equally. You will have to work as a team to get full credit.
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