Who’s in the News?
Tell students that even if a news article is objective, it doesn’t necessarily give the whole picture.
Like all media, news articles are frames that show you only part of reality.
Reporters and editors choose which facts to include, what people to interview, and which quotes to use.
The choices they make can affect what the think about the story, and about the world.
Have students access the student chapter Who’s in the News? or display it on a screen or digital whiteboard. (The image can be expanded by clicking or tapping the plus sign at top right.)
Ask students:
Who and what is named in this story?
- The elephant, Kindani; the place where it happened, Sheldrick Elephant Nurseryun in Nairobi, Kenya.
Who is not named that you think should be?
- This is a trickier question because, after all, anyone or anywhere might have been named. Prompt students to think about who was involved in this story and who was affected by it, and consider if any of those people were left out. If students still need prompting, point out that while we see his picture the reporter who was tickled by the elephant, Alvin Kaunda, was not named.
Tell students that while this is a lighthearted example (and Kaunda was named in the full article), researchers who study the news have found that people are more likely to say an issue is important if they have often seen it in the news. That means that we are less likely to think that something (or someone, or someplace) is important if we don’t see it in the news.
Not favoring one side or another of an issue.
Framing is what the media makers choose to show us or how they choose to present it.