Top Story Analysis #3

DUE: April 5, 2025

This assignment is designed to help you develop your skills in evaluating mass media content by analyzing the biases built into news reporting. However, this analysis is a little different from Top Story Analysis #1 and Top Story Analysis #2. This time, I want you to find a recently released story that doesn’t seem to have received much coverage (is not a top story), but should be. Cite the source of this news and respond to it with as much depth of thought as possible.  How is this story is presented. What sort(s) of bias do you detect? Be sure to cite (quotes and/or phrases) the work that you are analyzing.  Be sure to provide complete source information. Be sure that the work(s) you analyze and cite are recent (June 19 or later). Bottom line: make an argument as to why this story should have more coverage (be a top story).  Below are some suggestions for finding an important story that has received low coverage.

  • Non-U.S. News Outlets: the challenge in using these sources is that there is a bias, a viewpoint tinted by national and cultural perspectives. However, that is also the advantage: it is always healthy to try to see how others see you. The best way to make use of these sources is to look at several of them, try to find common threads between each source’s report of a particular story.
  • The Associated Press: The Associated Press (AP) is a not-for-profit, global news organization, founded in 1846, as a co-operative for sharing news between various news organizations in the United States. It provides news content and services to newspapers, media outlets and other organizations. It strives to be factual, unbiased, and fast reporting in all formats.
  • Local Newspapers and News stations: the trouble with these is that many smaller newspapers and media organizations are owned by larger corporations. For example, Gannett “publishes USA TODAY along with hundreds of local media outlets across the United States, and over 150 news brands in the United Kingdom.” While it appears to be modeled after the Associated Press, telling “the stories of communities” and amplifying “voices across our nation,” it is a for-profit organization: it’s primary goal is to make money by providing news for entertainment, not for information. The bias — and often the actual article — is identical between these newspapers. For example, here in Ohio, Gannett owns (and runs):
    • The Record-Courier (Kent)
    • The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron)
    • The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus)
    • The Repository (Canton)
  • Letters from an American, by Heather Cox Richardson: Dr. Richardson is an American history professor who keeps a chronicle of today’s political landscape, while also tracing historical connections to America’s Constitution, laws, economy,  and social customs. Richardson has described herself as being a Lincoln Republican, and having no affiliation with any political party.
    • Richardson tends to cover a wide spectrum of stories in each “letter” that she posts. You should try to focus on one story highlighted in one post.
    • You might also look at Richardson’s sources for a particular entry, and notice how she picks from various sources for her news information: she’s an excellent role model for researching the news.
  • The Alt-US National Park Service: these folks describe themselves as “Rogue Rangers” who are not government employees (not actual Park Services Rangers) who focus primarily upon the protection of our National Parks. With this agenda in mind, they try to post news about what is happening within the government, both tangentially related  and specifically related to the future of our National Parks. You can find their posts on Facebook. These folks do not provide sources for their news, so you have to decide what to believe and what not to believe—and why.

Click on the below to examine an interactive map of bias.

How to Submit Your Work to Me

You have several options:

  1. a 300-800 word essay
  2. a 2-3 minute video (in which you talk and/or show items, such as images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)
  3. a 10-30 slide print presentation (made with Google Slides, MS PowerPoint, or something similar, that combines printed words with images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)

Once I have received an email–either with the assignment attached or with notification that you have shared it with me–I will send you confirmation of receipt for that assignment, usually within 48 hours of receipt.

How Your Work Will Be Evaluated

Your assignment will be evaluated for clarity of thought expressed, and it must be thorough—fully responding to the topic. It must demonstrate critical thinking skills, particularly as they are tailored to the communication parameters of the medium/media under analysis (media literacy skills).

RUBRIC

An A level assignment follows the assignment directions fully.  It responds to the chosen top story topic fully, with demonstrated depth of thought and logic. The analysis makes an excellent comparison/contrast between various representations of the top story. The communication is coherent (clear images, complete sentences,…).  The communication has a professional tone.  The assignment demonstrates having gone through the lesson(s), as well as having thought deeply about the content of what is being taught.

A B level assignment follows the assignment directions fully.  It responds to the chosen topic fully, with some demonstrated depth of thought and/or some logic. The analysis makes a good comparison/contrast between various representations of the top story. The communication is mostly coherent (clear images, complete sentences,…).  The communication has a professional tone.   The assignment demonstrates having gone through the lesson(s), as well as having thought considerably about the content of what is being taught.

A C level assignment mostly follows the assignment directions, but not completely. It responds to the chosen topic, there is not much demonstrated depth of thought and/or  logic (the depth of thought is weak or vague). The analysis makes an adequate comparison/contrast between various representations of the top story. The communication is mostly coherent (clear images, complete sentences,…).  The communication has a mostly professional tone.   The assignment demonstrates having gone through the lesson(s), but not much more (not much thought put into it).

A D level assignment  barely follows the assignment directions.  It responds to the chosen topic, but the depth of thought is weak or vague, and it might wander off topic. The analysis makes a rather weak comparison/contrast between various representations of the top story. The communication is sometimes incoherent, difficult to follow.  The communication may or may not have a professional tone.  The assignment does not demonstrate a lot of thought or having gone through the lesson(s).

An F level essay doesn’t really follow the assignment directions.  It fails to respond to the chosen topic in any sort of coherent and meaningful way.  Communication is mostly gobbledygook.