What is the mission of journalism today?
This podcast by Audie Cornish examines not only objectivity, but also public trust and the “shutting out” of news. The podcast includes a journalist talking about covering former President Donald Trump.
Quill and Scroll Guiding Principles:
Truth, Learning, Leadership, Loyalty, Initiative, Integrity, Judgment
Materials:
Set up:
Make sure the podcast can be heard
Step-by-step instructions:
- Play the podcast stop at each talking point.
- Talking point 1: The :10:50 mark addresses local journalism. Ask the students how they have worked to support the local journalism coverage. What is going well? What needs to be improved?
- Talking point 2: The :11:59 mark addresses echo chambers. How does your student media work to engage readers in social media? What information is being disseminated on these platforms?
- Talking point 3: The :15:36 mark questions how the last few years’ political environment with Trump has impacted journalism, and leads into the cumulative effect of media at the :16:00 mark. What is the cumulative impact of your student journalism? And yes, this applies to yearbooks too! Think about its importance as the historical record of the school.
- Talking point 4: The :17:40 mark addresses transparency. How could you be more transparent in what you do? Also, how could you work to educate your students about what, how and why you do what you do?
- Talking point 5: The :21:30 mark examines the mission of journalism — and the need for news literacy in high schools.
- Talking point 6: The 24:23 mark looks at the blending of news vs. feature vs. opinion personas of journalists on social media. What are the students’ thoughts on this?
- What are three main takeaways to revisit in a week from the podcast? What can we learn from this?
