For part one, you will be listening to a radio news story, watching a news story on a television network, and reading an online news article. All three of these mediums will cover GameStop and WallStreetBets. If you only choose one outlet (ex: only reading the news article) you will not receive full credit. Below are the links to all three sources:
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/01/29/wallstreetbets-reddit-gamestop
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/29/wallstreetbets-founder-jaime-rogozinski-gamestop-shares-reddit
- Question 1: Discuss how each platform handles the news story. How are they reporting the news? Does the medium impact how they report it? What points are they focusing on? (1 paragraph)
- Question 2: Compare and contrast the three mediums. Which one as the most effective, and which one was the least effective, at explaining the same story? (1 paragraph)
- Question 3: Do you think the medium itself can impact the audience’s perception of the news? In other words, is the medium impacting how the message is delivered? Why or why not? (1 paragraph)
For part two, you will watch the first 20 minutes of two nightly news broadcasts from two different news organizations. One will come from a non-profit entity (PBS), and the other comes from a for-profit company (NBC). If you only choose one outlet (ex: only watching the for-profit news outlet) you will not receive full credit. Note that you do not have to watch the entire broadcast, only the first 20 minutes of both news broadcasts. The links are below:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/january-29-2021-pbs-newshour-full-episode
- Question 4: List the stories covered by each newscast in the first 20 minutes.
- Question 5: Overall, what were the differences between the two newscasts? Was one more informative? More entertaining? More trustworthy? (1 paragraph)
- Question 6: Choose a story that was covered by both newscasts. What was different about the two versions? (1 paragraph)
- Question 7: PBS is a non-profit organization that relies on government funding, corporate support, and viewer donations. NBC is a for-profit company that relies on advertising. Do you think reliance on advertising and the profit motive explains any of the differences between the two stories or the two newscasts? (1 paragraph)
