Rating News Sources for Diversity Representation (Student Activity)
For this activity, students will analyze how the home pages of four news sources – two mainstream sources and the two citizen journalism sites listed below – feature diversity (defined as articles that talk about or include members of racialized people, Indigenous people, 2SLGBTQINA+ people or persons with disabilities). You may choose to assign students two mainstream news sources, or they may choose their own.
Part 1: Each student will investigate the home page of:
- two “mainstream” news sources (such as a newspaper or TV newscast or news channel). They can find these at the following site:
- two citizen journalism sites from this list:
- Global Voices (https://globalvoices.org/)
- Wikinews (https://www.wikinews.org/)
- Bylines Network (https://bylinesnetwork.co.uk/)
- Part 2: Now that students have analyzed some different news sources, ask them to choose one story from each of their news sources that is connected to a diverse group. Using only the stories that talk about or feature visible diversity, they will track various elements of each story in Rating News Stories for Diversity Representation (Part 2) in the Student Material.
- Part 3: Next, have students form groups of three or four and compare their findings. What trends do they see in how mainstream and citizen journalism sites cover diverse groups? Students can track their identified similarities, differences, and trends in Analyzing News Sources for Diversity Representation (Part 3) in the Student Material. Have each group report their findings and then ask students what they see as the relative strengths and weaknesses of mainstream media and citizen journalism (encourage them to draw on the examples from the slideshow as well.)
- Prompt students to consider:
- Will citizen journalism improve the representation of diversity in the media?
- How might mainstream news organizations draw on citizen journalism?
- Tell students that traditionally, we look at four factors when deciding whether or not a news source is reliable:
- Track record: How long have they been in business? Do other reliable sources see them as reliable?
- Balance: News outlets have no obligation to amplify hate, harassment or pseudoscience, but in general they should make sure that all sides of an issue are represented.
- Process: Do they do their own reporting? Do they check their facts and publish corrections when they make mistakes?
- Aim: Most legitimate news sources would lose money if they made mistakes and didn’t correct them, but sources that make their money by shocking people or making them angry don’t.
- Now ask:
Keeping those in mind, what concerns might people have about the accuracy or objectivity of citizen journalism? (Remind students that most citizen news is delivered through social media, not aggregated sites like the ones studied in class.)