Chapter 8. Chapter 8
Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
Media Literacy Activity: Print versus Online Newspapers
Activity Objective: Media critic Jon Katz once wrote: “there’s almost no media experience sweeter . . . than poring over a good newspaper. In the quiet morning, with a cup of coffee—so long as you haven’t turned on the TV, listened to the radio, or checked in online—it’s as comfortable and personal as information gets.” (Katz, Jon. “Online or Not, Newspapers Suck.” Wired Magazine 1 Sept. 1994. https://www.wired.com/1994/09/news-suck)
In this activity, you will apply the critical process to compare and contrast the content and experience of print and online versions of a newspaper.
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Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
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:
Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study
Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage
Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings
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
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
Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
Description
Look at two versions (print and online) of one specific newspaper from the same day. Take note of the following in both the print and online version:
- Content
- Organization and style
- Advertisements
- Experience
Use the space below to answer the following question.
List your findings on each of the categories above (e.g., content, organization and style, advertisements, and experience).
Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
Analysis
Using your findings, analyze the similarities and differences of the paper and online newspaper.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. Do the print and online versions of the paper contain the same content? How does the content differ? For example, are the stories exactly the same? Are they edited the same way?
2. Is either version more information-based or more interpretive?
3. Do the print and online versions of the newspaper contain the same content? How does the content differ? For example, are the stories exactly the same? Are they edited the same way?
4. Do the print and online versions of the paper have the same advertisements? What’s different about the ads in the two versions of the paper?
5. What would you have missed if you had only read the printed paper? And the online newspaper?
6. Which version do you find more interesting or easier to read? Does the online version of the newspaper duplicate the print content and reading experience?
Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
Interpretation
Through the following questions, interpret the experience of reading different versions of newspapers.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. How does the medium (print vs. online) affect the content, style, and reading experience of the newspaper?
2. Why do you prefer one version over the other?
3. Which group do you think is more likely to be better informed: print or online version of newspapers? Why? What are the possible positive and negative repercussions of an increasing shift to online readership?
Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
Evaluation
Now, let’s explore what your view is.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. Will online newspapers prevail over print? Can they coexist forever? Why or why not?
2. What’s more important: the news content or the experience of getting the news content? Why?
3. Will our society and culture be better off if more people read print or online newspapers? Why?
4. What do you like and dislike about print and online newspapers?
Media Literacy Activity:
Print versus Online Newspapers
Engagement
Let’s take action! Try to make it your habit to read a newspaper (print or online) every day. Experiment with a range of different papers and formats. For example, read both a mainstream newspaper and an alternative news Web site (e.g. The Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, RedState, National Review, The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, POLITICO, The Hill, Common Dreams, Media Channel, AlterNet). You’ll be amazed at how much you’ll have to talk about and how much more engaged you are with the world.
Use the space below to answer the following question.
What are three ways you can engage with both print and online newspapers moving forward?