Inferring News Workers’ Decisions
Gather together three or four newspapers for the same day—the more the better.
1. Look at the composition of the first page across those newspapers, and think about the differences and similarities of news perspective.
a. What are the major stories in terms of placement and size?
b. What pictures and graphics are used? Are they used to present substance, or are they used merely to make the page more appealing to the eye?
c. How much of the front pages is composed of non-news matter?
2. Read the major news stories.
a. What criteria must have been used to select them?
b. What types of elements are emphasized in the stories? What are the facts that make each story news? What facts provide background context?
c. Is each story balanced, or are obvious viewpoints ignored?
3. Look at the sections of the newspapers.
a. Which sections are there (sports, women, business, etc.)?
b. Look at how the space is allocated. How much space is given to ads? How much to hard news? How much to soft, entertainment-type news?
4. What happened within the last 24 hours that did not get covered?
5. In summary, which of these newspapers do you think is the best and why?
6. Later today, listen to some news on the radio and watch some on television. How is the news different in these media compared to newspapers?