Students in the Philadelphia public school system are offered the opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) Courses throughout their high school careers. AP United States Government and Politics is an intensive study of the formal and informal structures of government and the processes of the American political system, with an emphasis on policy-making and implementation. The course is designed to prepare students for the AP Exam. This college level course will give the students an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. The course includes both a study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. politics and the analysis of specific examples. It also develops familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs and ideas that constitute U.S. politics and acquaints the student with theoretical perspectives and explanations for various behaviors and outcomes.

Each thematic unit in the course involves both the study of general concepts and analysis of specific case studies. The student will develop a more sophisticated understanding of majority-rule democracy, constitutionalism, and civil liberties as well as the relationship and distinctions in and among the institutions and the public policies of those who govern. Although the media is not a governmental institution, it is an American institution that affects our institutions of government and public policies. As such, it is worthy of study.

Historical Context

As mentioned in the overview, the lessons in this unit will cover the historical periods of the media, including, “The Party Press”, “The Popular Press”, “Magazines of Opinion” and “Electronic Journalism”. However, first I would like to discuss the impact that the Zenger Case had on the Freedom of the Press, which ultimately has contributed to the way that the press operates today and the impact that the press has on our political culture.

The Trial of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of Freedom of the Press:

The book Historians on America: Decisions that Made a Difference discusses the impact of certain events on American history. Doug Linder, the contributing author, chose this event as the one event that changed the way that the press operates in this country and in effect protected freedom of the press. The facts of this case are that the sitting governor of New York in 1731, William Cosby tried to limit reporting on him and his unscrupulous ways by having John Peter Zenger arrested for “seditious libel” a law that allowed criminal punishment of those whose statements impugned the authority and reputation of the government or religion, regardless of the truth of the statements. Zenger, who was the printer of the New York Weekly Journal, was not the author of the material

that offended Cosby. The articles in question were actually written by James Alexander. Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia was the lawyer for the defense. His eloquent summation asked the jury in effect to ignore the instructions of the judge who stated that there were no facts presented to rule on and that it was not the jury’s duty to rule on the law. Therefore, it was expected for the jury to return a guilty verdict. However, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. This case did not overturn any laws of the time but it did ensure that people would not be prosecuted for published criticism of unpopular officials. The case did also ensure freedom of the press.

So what exactly is freedom of the press? The Constitutional framers addressed this in the First Amendment, which was ratified in 1791. Likely followers of cases like Zenger’s, the framers ensured the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition by writing “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.” The fact that the framers included this language in the primary law of the land explains how important the idea of a free press is to American political thought.

This idea was challenged in 1790, when Benjamin Franklin Bache and William Duane’s Aurora General Advertiser opposed the Washington administration’s increasingly British-tilted foreign policy and supported the Democratic Republican opposition led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (Palsley, 2008) Bache used the Aurora as a platform to defend the French Revolution, condemn the policies of George Washington, and champion the political debating clubs known as democratic republican societies. Political tensions were agitated by the newspapers of the time. The Aurora and people like Bache and Duane were champions for freedom of the press. Thomas Jefferson’s loss to John Adams in 1796 and the new strength of the Federalists in 1797 most likely led to the campaign to shut down the opposition press. The Federalists were unable to shut down the opposition. However, many publishers were indicted under the Alien and Sedition Acts for seditious libel for their criticism of the government and the Federalists.

These two examples of the fight for freedom of expression through the press contributed to the formation of what we know as the mass media today. Today the mass media represents multiple forms of mass communication. While the “watchdog” role of the media has been the same since the 1700’s, the 24-hour a day accessibility of news has changed the relationship of the public with the media and political culture. The advent of televised debates in 1960 may have cost Nixon the election due to the public’s perception of him next to the young John Kennedy. The creation of media outlets like CNN, have catapulted journalism into an instantaneous worldwide window to the world and our political figures. No doubt the role of the media has expanded since the days of Zenger and Bache. However, savvy politicians still use the medium as a voice to ensure that constituents understand their positions on the pertinent issues of the day.

Today’s national mass media plays three specific roles in relation to the federal government. These roles as described by Wilson and Dilulio in American Government Chapter 12 are gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and watchdog. As gatekeeper, the media “can influence what subjects become national political issues and for how long” (Wilson 2006). “As scorekeepers the national media keep track of and help make political reputations… and help decide who is winning and losing in Washington politics” (Wilson 2006). As watchdog, the media then fulfills the role of scrutinizing those people and issues that they have allowed to gain national political prominence. This can be to the benefit or demise of a persons political aspirations. As we study the role of the media in the United States political landscape, we will analyze how all of these factors are integrated into American political culture.

The goal of this unit is to answer the essential questions:

1. What roles do the media play in American politics?
2. How do these roles conflict with one another; with economic, personal, or professional interests of journalists; or with the interests of the corporations for which most journalists work?
3. What influences the media’s decisions on what news to report and how to report it?
4. To what extent do the media control the agenda in American politics?
5. To what extent do politicians and government officials manipulate the media?

This unit will also help students identify the cause and effect relationships between American political culture and the growth and changes in the mass media.

In order to accomplish this unit, the teacher will use various strategies. The majority of lessons are designed for cooperative groups within a classroom. The lessons require that the students use graphic organizers, critical thinking skills and creative and analytical writing skills. Unless otherwise noted, each lesson is designed for a fifty -minute class period. I teach in a technology based classroom and have been trained as a Classrooms for the Future (CFF) Teacher, therefore many of the lessons will employ the use of Promethean Boards and student laptops. Students will also use a selected set of strategies taken from the School District of Philadelphia’s High School Plan for Content Area Literacy to help them understand, remember and apply key information and concepts. These strategies include:

1. Preview Vocabulary
2. Preview/Analyze/Connect
3. Reciprocal Teaching
4. Summarize and Synthesize Through Writing
5. Comprehension Constructors
6. Structured Notes.

All of the activities in this unit are connected; however, they can be used as stand alone lessons. As a class, students will create a wiki using wikispaces.com and a blog using blogger.com to post and analyze their work. As the teacher I will monitor all material posted to both websites.

Lesson 1: The Media

Objectives: Students will:

1. Describe the evolution of journalism in United States political history and indicate the differences between the party press and the mass media of today.
2. Demonstrate how the characteristics of the electronic media have affected the actions of public officials and candidates for national office.
3. Describe the impact of the pattern of ownership and control of the media on the dissemination of news. Show how wire services and TV networks have affected national news coverage. Discuss the impact of the “national press”.

Materials: Textbook: American Government, Ninth Edition, Wilson and Dilulio; Houghton Mifflin Company; Magruder’s American Government 2006, William A. McClenaghan; Pearson Prentice Hall; Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You; Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) Student Laptops or Computer Lab with projection and Internet capabilities;

Activity: Students will research the history of the media in the United States using the textbooks and Internet resources. Students will then complete a sequence chain to map the events that led to the formation of the modern day media. (See Appendix for Sequence Chain)

Procedure:

1. Assign students to groups of four.
2. Assign students a period in the history of the press to research. (“The Party Press”, “The Popular Press”, “Magazines of Opinion” and “Electronic Journalism”) \
3. Groups students will analyze each historical period for significant people and events. Have student identify the characteristics that make this period significant.

3. Have each student complete the sequence chain working with the others in their group.
4. Have students write a blog entry about what they learned as a result of the activity. For more information on how to create blogs for your classroom, access student-voices.org. Go to Teacher Resources. At the bottom of the Teacher Resource page there will be a link for a pdf file “Teacher Handbook- Tips and Hints” page 11. Class blogs can be created for free at www.blogger.com and edublogs.org.

Lesson 2: The Media and Political Campaigns

Objectives: Students will:

1. Demonstrate the differences between the party oriented campaigns of the nineteenth century and the candidate oriented ones of today, contrasting the major elements of successful campaigns.

2. Analyze the affects of the media on political campaigns through advertisements and political debates.

Materials: Textbook: American Government, Ninth Edition, Wilson and Dilulio; Houghton Mifflin Company; Magruder’s American Government 2006, William A. McClenaghan; Pearson Prentice Hall; Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You; Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) Student Laptops or Computer Lab with projection and Internet capabilities; Campaign Advertising Analysis Worksheet.

Activity:

Part one: Teach students about the different types of ads that are used in political campaigns – attack ads, advocacy ads, and comparison ads. Show students examples of each type of ad using The Living Room Candidate website.

Part Two: Students will use the laptops to find political ads on The LivingroomCandidate.com which is a website that has presidential campaign ads from 1956 until 2008.

Students will choose one ad from each decade. They will analyze each ad.

Procedure:

1. Have students go to livingroomcandidate.com online.
2. Instruct students to choose two ads from each decade, 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s. This will work best if students choose ads that show the contrast between two candidates from the same decade. (Ex. Eisenhower v. Stevenson 1952, Kennedy v Nixon 1960) Choosing one ad from each candidate qualifies as two ads.
3. Use the Campaign Advertising Analysis worksheet found in the appendix to have students analyze the presidential advertisements. In addition to answering each part of the worksheet, students should analyze how ads have changed over time.

Lesson 3: The Media and The Presidency

Objectives: Students will:

1. Assess the impact of the media on politics. Explain why the executive branch probably benefits at the expense of Congress.
2. Discuss the issue of “media bias” and how this bias might manifest itself. Assess the impact of such bias, if it exists, on the electorate.

Materials: Textbook: American Government, Ninth Edition, Wilson and Dilulio; Houghton Mifflin Company; Magruder’s American Government 2006, William A. McClenaghan; Pearson Prentice Hall; Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You; Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) Student Laptops or Computer Lab with projection and Internet capabilities; Chart paper, markers

Activity:

Students will analyze media coverage of the president over a one-week period (five days) through analyzing print, television and Internet media for bias. This activity is designed to used at any time during the school year. However, students should be looking for certain themes in presidential media coverage. (Foreign Policy, Economy, Education, Energy & Environment, Social Security, Healthcare, Ethics)

In-Class: Students will examine presidential media coverage via the Internet. Students will answer the following questions:

1. What issue is the media covering?
2. What is the president’s position on the issue?
3. What are the opposing positions on the issue?
4. Is the media report favorable to the president’s position?

At-Home: Students will examine presidential media coverage via the Internet, newspapers, and television. Students will answer the following questions:

1. What issue is the media covering?
2. What is the president’s position on the issue?
3. What are the opposing positions on the issue?
4. Is the media report favorable to the president’s position?

After examining presidential media coverage for five days, students will use www.factcheck.org and www.factchecked.org to analyze what the media covered. The analysis will be checking for bias and factual basis. As a class, students will then chart the number factual reports they analyzed and how many reports had bias towards or against the president. Once the class completes the analysis, they will each write a blog entry on how this exercise has impacted their view of how the media reports on political figures especially the president.

Lesson 4: The Media and The Congress

Objectives: Students will:

1. Assess the impact of the media on politics. Explain why the executive branch probably benefits at the expense of Congress.
2. Identify the functions that the media plays in congressional elections.
3. Identify the factors that help to explain why a member of Congress votes as he or she does.

Materials: Textbook: American Government, Ninth Edition, Wilson and Dilulio; Houghton Mifflin Company; Magruder’s American Government 2006, William A. McClenaghan; Pearson Prentice Hall; Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You; Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) Student Laptops or Computer Lab with projection and Internet capabilities;

Activity: Students will research their members of congress position on current issues facing the nation. Students will then analyze the similarities and differences of each position and compare those to the media coverage on each issue. Procedure: Part 1

1. Distribute “The Congressional Record” and “The Media Coverage” worksheets to students.
2. Have students find the name and political party their United States Representative and Senators using house.gov and www.senate.gov

3. Students will choose four issues (Ex. Healthcare, the Economy). They will analyze the position of each member of congress using the House and Senate websites

4. Using the same four issues, students will choose three media outlets. They will analyze the coverage of each issue by each media outlet for accuracy and bias.
5. Students will then compare the media coverage to the position of the members

Congress.

Part 2

After analyzing the information, each student will become the reporter and crate a newsletter about their congressmen and their positions on the issues. They must write one article about each member of congress (total of three). They must cover each issue that they researched. The articles will then be posted to a class wiki.

Lesson 5: The Media and The Judiciary

Objectives: Students will be able to:

1. Identify reasons the judiciary has been able to maintain its independence.
2. Study cases that have influenced the role of the mass media
3. Explore the way the media reports on the judiciary and the effects of the media on the court.

Materials: Textbook: American Government, Ninth Edition, Wilson and Dilulio; Houghton Mifflin Company; Magruder’s American Government 2006, William A. McClenaghan; Pearson Prentice Hall; Government Alive! Power, Politics, and You; Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) Student Laptops or Computer Lab with projection and Internet capabilities;

Activity: Students will research recent United States Supreme Court cases. As part of their research, they will find articles about the decision in newspapers from across the country. Have students go to: http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/us/sc/index2.html or http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/ to find articles about Supreme Court cases. It would be helpful if the teacher gathers a list of recent Supreme Court decisions to start the research process.

Procedure:

1. Have students work in groups of four.
2. Have students go to the websites listed above.
3. Each student in the group will choose an article to analyze. Articles must focus on a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
4. Distribute “The Court in the News” Worksheet
5. Each student will answer the Part One questions for their article.
6. As students discuss each article they will fill in the rest of the worksheet.
7. Have student answer the Part Two questions as a group.
8. Students will write a blog entry describing what they learned about media coverage of the United States Supreme Court.

Extension Activities and Trips:

For educators in the Philadelphia Region or on the East Coast, the following trips are encouraged to supplement the student activities.

1. The Newseum 555 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 2001

888-NEWSEUM www.newseum.org The newseum is an interactive museum dedicated to the history of the press and the protection of the First Amendment.

2. The Atwater Kent Museum 15 S. 7^th Street Philadelphia, PA 19106

215-685-4830 www.philadelphiahistory.org The Atwater Kent Museum is dedicated to Philadelphia History however; they have an excellent simulation called “Experience Philadelphia” which teaches students about the various aspects of city government including the role of the media.

Dilulio, John J; Melchior, Mary Beth; Wilson James Q. Instructor’s Resource Manual American Government Tenth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

This is a textbook that is designed for use in an Advanced Placement Government course. It focuses on the major components of American Government. This book has teaching resources for use in the course.

Dilulio, John J; Wilson James Q.; American Government Tenth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 This is a textbook that is designed for use in an Advanced Placement Government course. It focuses on the major components of American Government.

Greco Larson, Stephanie; Teaching the Media as a Linkage Institution; AP U.S. Government and Politics: 2005-2006 Workshop Materials, College Board This is an article produced by the College Board to help Advanced Placement Government teachers understand and teach about the mass media as part of an AP Government course.

Lasser William; Perspectives on American Politics, Fourth Edition; Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004 This is a reader that includes various articles on government and politics ranging from the Constitution, civil rights, political culture and public opinion to the branches of government and public policy. Each chapter is divided into these sections: the “Foundations, American Politics Today, The International Context, and the View from the Inside”.

Linder, Greg; “The Trial of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of Freedom of the Press; Historians on America: Decisions that Made a Difference;” U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs http://usinfo.state.gov

This article is part of a larger work on events significant to American History. It contains eleven events that each contributing author felt was a ”decision that made a difference” in American History. The entire work is available in pdf format from the website above.

Palsley, Jeffery L.; Constitutionalism in Philadelphia: How Freedom of Expression Was Secured by Two Fearless Newspaper Editors, Legacies Volume 8, Number 1 pp. 6-11; May 2008 This is an article produced by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as part of a series of articles on Defining Civil Liberties in Pennsylvania.

Websites

Annenberg Classroom

AnnenbergClassroom.org is an online gateway to a wide array of award-winning print, web and multimedia resources. www.annenberclassroom.org

The New York Times’ Supreme Court Page

The New York Times site contains news articles about recent Supreme Court decisions, as well as links to several blogs. It also contains links to articles relating to each of the Justices, interactive multimedia features, and a summary of the notable cases from the present term.

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court)

FactCheck.org

FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. www.factcheck.org

FactCheckEd.org

FactCheckEd.org is an educational resource for high school teachers and students. It’s designed to help students learn to cut through the fog of misinformation and deception that surrounds the many messages they’re bombarded with every day. www.factchecked.org

First Amendment Center

The First Amendment Center site allows for research on First Amendment issues, cases, news, and commentary. The lesson plans section is well done containing a section on key concepts for each lesson, first principles, links to relevant cases, very detailed lesson plans with supplemental material, links to additional resources, and enrichment activities at the end. All of the materials can be adjusted for a variety of levels and learning styles. (www.firstamendmentcenter.org)

The Living Room Candidate Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2008

This site was created by the Museum of the Moving Image. It contains more than 300 presidential campaign advertisements from 1952 to 2008. It is an excellent resource to show the growth of television and advertising as a political tool. http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/

The 30 Second Candidate

This website gives a historical timeline of the use of television in political campaigns and the events that precipitated that use. http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/index.html

The Oyez Project, New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) available at:

(http://oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1963/1963_39)

Pearson Prentice Hall

This is the website for the textbook company Prentice Hall. It contains resources for teaching Advanced Placement United States Government. www.Phschool.com

Student Voices

www.student-voices.org

Student Voices is a civic education program sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. It is designed to provide teachers and student materials and resources to learn about and become civically engaged. Student Voices provides curriculum materials for use in the classroom.

United States Congress – House of Representatives

The website for the United States House of Representative which provides information about the history of the House and links to every U.S. Representative’s website, House committees and constituent services.

www.house.gov

United States Congress – United States Senate

The website for the United States Senate which provides information about the history of the House and links to every U.S. Senator’s website, Senate committees and constituent services.

www.senate.gov

Glossary of Key Terms from Government Alive! Power Politics and You Chapter 9 Public opinion: the sum of many individual opinions, beliefs or attitudes about a public person or issue.

Political Socialization: The process by which people form their political values and attitudes. This process starts in childhood and continues through adulthood.

Opinion poll: A method of measuring public opinion. This is done by asking questions of a random sample of people and using their answers to represent the views of the broader population.

Margin of error: A measure of the accuracy of an opinion poll. The smaller the margin of error, the more confidence one can have in the results of the poll. The margin of error usually decreases as the number of people surveyed increases.

Mass media: Means of communication that reach a large audience. Today the mass media include newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet.

Spin: The deliberate shading of information about a person or event in an attempt to influence public opinion.

Media bias: Real or imagined prejudice that is thought to affect what stories journalists cover and how they report those stories.

Negative campaigning: trying to win an advantage in a campaign by emphasizing negative aspects of an opponent or policy. In the past this type of campaigning was called “mudslinging”.

Pennsylvania Academic Standards:

This unit corresponds with Pennsylvania History Standards 8.1,2,3 A, 8.1,2,3 B,

8.1,2,3 C, and 8.1,2,3 D. and Pennsylvania Civics and Government Standards 5.3.12J however it will focus primarily on the standards listed here specifically.

The standards for 8.1.9 Academic Standard: History: Historical Analysis and Skills Development: Pennsylvania’s public schools shall teach, challenge and support every student realize his or her maximum potential and to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to analyze cultural, economic, geographic, political and social relations to:

5.3.12.J – How Government Works: Evaluate the role of media in political life in the United States and explain the role of the media in setting the public agenda.

8.1.9A – Analyze Chronological Thinking: Difference between past, present, and future; Sequential order of historical narrative; Data presented in timelines; Continuity and Change; Context for events.

8.1.9B – Historical Comprehension: Literal meaning of historical passages; Data in historical and contemporary maps, graphs and tables; Different historical perspectives; Data from maps, graphs and tables; Visual data presented in historical evidence.

8.1.9C – Historical Interpretation: Fact versus opinion; Reasons/causes for multiple points of view; Illustrations in historical documents and stories; Causes and results; Author or source used to develop historical narratives; Central issue.

8.1.9D – Historical Research: Historical event (time and place); Facts, folklore and fiction; Historical questions; Primary sources; Secondary sources; Conclusions

The standards for 8.2 Pennsylvania History and 8.3 United States History:

A – Contributions of Individual Groups

B – Documents, Artifacts, and Historical Places

C – Influences of Continuity and Change

D – Conflict and Cooperation Among Groups

Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

1.6. Speaking and Listening

1.6.11. GRADE 11

1.6.11A. Listen to others.

• Ask clarifying questions.

• Synthesize information, ideas and opinions to determine relevancy.
• Take notes.

1.6.11B. Listen to selections of literature (fiction and/or nonfiction).

• Relate them to previous knowledge.

• Predict solutions to identified problems.
• Summarize and reflect on what has been heard.
• Identify and define new words and concepts.
• Analyze and synthesize the selections relating them to other selections heard or read.

1.6.11C. Speak using skills appropriate to formal speech situations.

• Use a variety of sentence structures to add interest to a presentation.
• Pace the presentation according to audience and purpose.
• Adjust stress, volume and inflection to provide emphasis to ideas or to influence the audience.

1.6.11D. Contribute to discussions.

• Ask relevant, clarifying questions.
• Respond with relevant information or to influence the audience.

1.6.11D. Contribute to discussions.

• Ask relevant, clarifying questions.

• Respond with relevant information or opinions to questions asked.
• Listen to and acknowledge the contributions of others.
• Adjust tone and involvement to encourage equitable participation.
• Facilitate total group participation.
• Introduce relevant, facilitating information, ideas and opinions to enrich the discussion.
• Paraphrase and summarize as needed.

1.6.11E. Participate in small and large group discussions and presentations.

• Initiate everyday conversation.

• Select and present an oral reading on an assigned topic.
• Conduct interviews.
• Participate in a formal interview (e.g., for a job, college).
• Organize and participate in informal debate around a specific topic.
• Use evaluation guides (e.g., Nationa l Issues Forum, Toastmasters) to evaluate group discussion

(e.g., of peers, on television).

1.6.11F. Use media for learning purposes.

• Use various forms of media to elicit information, to make a student presentation and to complete class assignments and projects.
• Evaluate the role of media in focusing attention and forming opinions.
• Create a multi-media (e.g., film, music, computer-graphic) presentation for display or transmission that demonstrates an understanding of a specific topic or issue or teaches others about it.

1.8. Research

1.8.11A. Select and refine a topic for research.

1.8.11B. Locate information using appropriate sources and strategies.

• Determine valid resources for researching the topic, including primary and secondary sources.
• Evaluate the importance and quality of the sources.
• Select sources appropriate to the breadth and depth of the research (e.g., dictionaries, thesauruses, other reference materials, interviews, observations, computer databases).
• Use tables of contents, indices, key words, cross-references and appendices.
• Use traditional and electronic search tools.

1.8.11C. Organize, summarize and present the main ideas from research.

• Take notes relevant to the research topic.
• Develop a thesis statement based on research.
• Anticipate readers’ problems or misunderstandings.
• Give precise, formal credit for others’ ideas, images or information using a standard method of documentation.
• Use formatting techniques (e.g., headings, graphics) to aid reader understanding.

The complete standards are available online at:

www.pde.state.pa.us/stateboard_ed/lib/statebord_ed/E.HISTORY-web03.pdf

Teacher Resources

See bibliography for a list of books and websites used in this unit.

Sequence Chain adapted from the book Successful Strategies for Reading in the Content Areas Shell Educational Publishing 2004

The Media – Sequence Chain

Directions: Trace the events that led up to the formation of the modern day media described in the text. Start with the Party Press and ending with the Mass Media of today.

Campaign Advertising Analysis

Use this form in analyzing political advertisements. Based on the medium analyzed (print, radio, TV or internet), complete only the appropriate sections.

Your Name: _______________________________________________________

1.Describe the ad visually. What is the location? Are props used? Do people appear in the ad? If so, who are they? Is written text used? If so, what information is provided?

2.Describe the music used. What type of music is used? What is the emotional impact of the music? What is the target audience for this type of music?

3.What kind of ad are you analyzing? Does the ad appeal to the emotions? Is it intellectual? Is it an attack ad? Does it provide contrasts and comparisons? 4.What claims are made? Is evidence used to support the claims? Is the ad believable? Is it persuasive? Is it effective?

Name ________________________________ Date___________________

THE COURT in the NEWS

Choose four articles about recent Supreme Court decisions from online. The group must come to a consensus about which articles to analyze. Each person in your group will read one of the articles. After reading each article, fill in the grid below to discuss the main ideas of the article.

How was the coverage in each article the same?

How was it different?

What lessons can we learn about the media’s coverage of the US Supreme Court cases from this exercise?

Name ______________________________________ Date _______________________

The Congressional Record

Activity: In the chart below, track the issues being addressed by the members of congress from your state – on their Websites, in classroom visits, and in news coverage. Be sure to list where you found the information. (Issue category headings with some specific examples are under the category. See the example under issue #1). List issues on the left side of the chart, down the first column. When watching the news or other congressional interaction, try to fill in as many cells as possible, listing what the member of congress said he or she would do about the issue or problem. List the names of the your Congressmen and Senators first:

Your Congressman: __________________________________

Senator 1:___________________________________________

Senator 2:___________________________________________

Issue 2

Issue 3

Issue 4

Think about the following questions: How will the mass media cover each of the issues you chose? Will the coverage reflect the position of the members of congress? Do you think they will mention the position of your members of congress?

The Media Coverage

Directions: Choose three media sources. (Ex. Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN, Fox News) You may use the websites for these sources. List your sources below. Choose the same issues you analyzed in the Congressional Record worksheet. Answer each of the following questions: What does each source say about the issue? Is the coverage fair and unbiased?

Media Source 1: ____________________________________________

Media Source 2: ____________________________________________

Media Source 3: ____________________________________________

Issue 2

Issue 3

Issue 4

How does the mass media cover each of the issues you chose? Does the coverage reflect the position of the members of congress? Do they mention the position of your members of congress?

SEE PDF FOR PHOTOS.