Media Literacy Activity: Examining Expert Sources

Introduction

Activity Objective

In this activity, you will apply the critical process to extend your critical approach to the news.

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Reviewing the Critical Process

Developing a media-literate critical perspective involves mastering five overlapping stages that build on one another. Let’s review the critical process you’ll be using below:

  1. 1. Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study
  2. 2. Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage
  3. 3. Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings
  4. 4. Evaluation: arriving at a judgment about whether something is good, bad, or mediocre, which involves subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages
  5. 5. Engagement: taking some action that connects our critical perspective with our role as citizens to question our media institutions, adding our own voice to the process of shaping the cultural environment

Description

  1. Read two newspapers (one local daily paper and the New York Times) from the same weekday (Monday-Friday).
  2. Count the total number of sources used by each newspaper.
  3. Devise a chart on which you list every expert source who is quoted in the stories for that day. Column heads might include “News Event,” “Expert Source,” “Occupation,” “Gender,” “Age (approximate),” and “Region” (local, national, or international).

Use the text boxes provided to answer the following questions.

Analysis

Using your findings, analyze the pattern of each newspaper's use of sources.

Use the text boxes provided to answer the following questions.

Interpretation

Through the following questions, interpret how each newspaper uses sources.

Use the text boxes provided to answer the following questions.

Evaluation

Through the following questions, assess your views on the use of sources in the news.

Use the text boxes provided to answer the following questions.

Engagement

Let’s take action! Moving forward, use what you have learned to engage with sources in the news. Below are a few suggestions to get involved:

  • Report your preliminary findings and document how the reporters came to choose their sources.
  • Contact a reporter and/or an editor responsible for your selected stories.

Use the text box provided to answer the following question.