Most Recent Articles
A lesson from Tereza
Tereza is from the Czech Republic. Being somewhat unabashed, I quickly showed her the First Amendment printed on the back of the shirt. Her reaction? “That’s cool.” Imagine that, a young adult from a country with a history of political strife and dictatorships, thinks the First Amendment is cool. Moreso, she probably realized how important the five freedoms are and how lucky we are to have them guaranteed.
by Stan Zoller, MJE
My wife and I like to travel. It’s one of the joys of retirement. Earlier this year we decided set sail into the Caribbean to escape the cold and gloom of a Chicago winter.
Knowing I would not need sweatshirts, parkas and a plethora of other winter clothing, I made sure I backed plenty of shorts and T-shirts. And even though I am retired from active teaching and active reporting, I have not (nor will I) retired from advocating for press rights – whether scholastic, collegiate or professional.
So, I decided to combine my passion for press rights with the need for T-shirts by taking all of my press rights shirts with me – from JEA’s “45 Words” shirt to a shirt available from the Society of Professional Journalists’ “I Back the First” shirt, which, like the 45 Words shirt, includes the First Amendment.
It was a breath of fresh air to hear positive comments from people about the need for journalists and the importance of the First Amendment. There may have been some folks who took exception to a free press, but I didn’t hear from them.
One person, however, did have a question. A staff member at one of the beverage stations asked what it meant to “back the First.”
Her name was Tereza. She is from the Czech Republic. Being somewhat unabashed, I quickly showed her the First Amendment printed on the back of the shirt.
Her reaction? “That’s cool.”
Imagine that, a young adult from a country with a history of political strife and dictatorships, thinks the First Amendment is cool.
Moreso, she probably realized how important the five freedoms are and how lucky we are to have them guaranteed.
Two takeaways: 1. Perhaps she was envious. 2. Maybe we should be fortunate.
It shouldn’t take someone from an eastern European bloc country to reinforce the value of the five freedoms of the First Amendment. We also need to make sure that our student journalists don’t take the freedoms, especially Freedom of the Press, for granted.
A lot of people do.
In 2006, when the Robert R. McCormick Foundation operated the “Freedom Museum” in Chicago, it surveyed 1,000 people and found that, wait for it, fewer than one percent could identify all five First Amendment freedoms, but more than 20 percent could identify the entire Simpsons family. Reality, what a concept.
With Constitution Day just around the corner (Sept. 17), it’s a good time to revisit not only the First Amendment, but the entire constitution and goals the framers had in mind when they wrote, debated and ultimately ratified and signed it.
As American democracy comes under fire, so too does the Constitution and the freedoms it has provided Americans since its signing 235 years ago. Student journalists – whether scholastic or collegiate need to do more than memorize the First Amendment – they need to practice it and perhaps more importantly, defend it.
With Constitution Day just around the corner (Sept. 17), it’s a good time to revisit not only the First Amendment, but the entire constitution and goals the framers had in mind when they wrote, debated and ultimately ratified and signed it.
It’s hard to imagine where we would be without it and even harder to imagine where we will be in the future if its foundation crumbles.
We need to agree with Tereza that it’s “Cool.”
We also need to agree that we wouldn’t want to trade places with her.
Read MoreGauging Community Attitudes Towards First Amendment Rights
Description
The Knight Foundation surveys teens and teachers’ attitudes towards freedom of speech. Gauge your community’s attitudes towards first amendment rights as you prepare to advocate for the first ame
Objectives
- Students will assess the findings of the Knight Foundation’s Future of the First Amendment 2022 report.
- Students will interpret the findings to develop pertinent questions they would pose to their community.
- Students will survey their community, then synthesize and report results.
Common Core State Standards
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.6 | Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1 | Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5 | Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.7 | Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text. |
Length
90 minutes
Materials / resources
Knight Foundation’s Future of the First Amendment 2022 report
Form Maker (ex, Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, etc)
Markers
Poster Paper
Lesson step-by-step
Step 1 — Framing/Introduction (5 minutes)
Briefly ask students for anecdotal responses and first impressions to the following questions:
- Should Schools Punish Students for Social Media Posts?
- Does the First Amendment Protect You?
- How Comfortable are You Disagreeing with Teachers/Other Students in Class?
This could be a discussion, an independent “Do Now” activity, and/or a private writing assignment in a journal.
Step 2 — Reading/Share (25 minutes)
Teacher introduces the Knight Foundation’s Future of the First Amendment 2022 report. Students are broken up into three groups. Each group is assigned a section to read, discuss, and then briefly present back to the entire class.
Step 3 — Reflection (15 minutes)
Ask the class to consider their local context (i.e., what is going on around them recently) and to reflect on what the most important questions in the entire survey are, especially if we are looking to educate the school community about the first amendment and freedom of speech. Choose the five most important questions to pose to the school community. What would you like to know more about? What would help you understand the state and impacts of free speech at your school? Do you think your local findings will replicate the findings from the report or diverge from them?
Step 4 — Survey (15 minutes, plus HW or out-of-class time)
Build a survey to use with your class or your entire school community. Consider how you might achieve a representative sample. How many people would have to respond? Who might you need to ask to respond to make sure you are incorporating enough perspectives?
Execute the survey and record your results.
Step 5 — Report (30 minutes)
Interpret your results and develop infographics to help communicate the results. Consider the work in the Knight Foundation report as an example and think how you might visually represent your data to inform and engage your audience. Consider making posters to display around school.
Differentiation
This lesson could incorporate more digital tools to build the survey and create infographics. Teachers might choose to go more in depth to discuss the top-line findings of the report. Teachers might work with students to brainstorm strategies to educate the community about first amendment rights and social issues throughout the year.
Read More
In search of a free and fair press
Description
Democracy is based on an informed electorate going to the polls to choose its leaders. Only a free and fair press can make that possible. If news media include slanted views and bias, readers can be unknowingly swayed to believe something that may not be true. That hurts democracy. To help students read more critically, compare two news articles about the same event and start developing the skills to spot ways some media may be giving readers a slanted view.
Objectives
- Students will acknowledge that news media are at times biased.
- Students will recognize how specific words and visuals can influence how an audience views a situation.
- Students will be able to compare media coverage and recognize well-sourced and fairly balanced news.
Common Core State Standards
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1 | Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.7 | Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.4 | Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.6 | Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose. |
Length
50 – 60 minutes (one class period)
Materials / resources
● Liz Cheney takes a final swipe at Trump after GOP defeat: ‘That was a path I could not take,’ Salon, Aug. 16, 2022
● Trump gloats over nemesis Liz Cheney’s primary loss, calls her ‘fool,’ New York Post, Aug. 17, 2022 (These two articles might be dated by the time you are using this assignment. Comparable ones should be fairly easy to find.)
● Cheney Ponders 2024 bid after losing Wyoming GOP primary, Associated Press, Aug.16, 2022 and Liz Cheney is considering a presidential run to stop Trump after losing her House seat, NPR, Aug. 17, 2021 (for possibly analyzing a more middle of the road approach)
● Graphic Organizer to compare articles
| New York Post | Salon | |
| How does the headline make yoHow does the headline make you feel? Do any words make you think positively or negatively about anyone in the article? u feel? Do any words make you think positively or negatively about anyone in the article? | ||
| What about words in the story? Are any emphasized (in partial quotes or a different typography)? How does this affect your thinking? | ||
| Who is the focus of each article? (For instance, count the number of times each person’s name is used) | ||
| Are outside experts cited to analyze the situation? What kind of credentials do you think they have? | ||
| Describe the visuals in each article. Who is pictured and how do they look? Is it a sympathetic photo or video? Why? Why not? | ||
| Describe the cutlines (captions) of each photo or video. What is emphasized? |
Lesson step-by-step
- Bell-ringer: Ask students to write on a slip of paper where they and their family get their news. Tell them to be specific – which websites, newspapers, magazines, television, social media, friends, etc.
- Briefly discuss their answers and how much they trust their sources. Why or why not? Do they think their sources show bias? Why or why not?
- Project on a screen (or have students display on their devices) the Ad Fontes Media Bias chart. Explain how it works and its premise. If students included any mainstream media on their bell-ringer lists, discuss where it falls on the chart. (Sometimes the only things they will list are social media or word-of-mouth, but the pros and cons of that can lead to a discussion, too.)
- Think-pair-share exercise with students using the graphic organizer to find examples of bias in the two articles. Have pairs contribute to a list on the board or large paper to see how many examples were found. Discuss the lists. Make sure students find specific words and visuals that would sway a reader’s opinion one way or the other.
- (Optional in-class or out-of-class assignment) Find one of the “middle of the road” news outlets and compare how that covered the same story. Note that both AP and NPR focus more on what Cheney might do now than on the loss.
- Exit slip/formative assessment: “List one specific thing might you look for now in news reports to decide how much bias the article has? If you decide it’s slanted, then what will you do?”
Teacher notes:
Things they might note in the Post article:
- Headline quotes Trump saying she is a “fool”
- The word “gloat” has the connotation of being superior.
- Note the words in red – Crushing, WIN, “very decisive win” by the challenger, Cheney’s loss was “far bigger than had ever been anticipated.” Also, “wonderful result for America,” etc.
- Inset of Trump tweets – “uninspiring speech” to a “tiny” crowd and she “played right into the hands of those who want to destroy our Country.”
- More emphasis on his last election being “Rigger & Stolen”
- Finally, a meme showing Trump getting food from Cheney working at McDonalds.
Things they might note in the Salon article:
- The photo of Cheney is more sympathetic.
- The headline is from her, not from Trump about her, and shows her reason for doing the things she has.
- “Cheney sacrificed her political career when she didn’t have to” – definitely an opinion from the right with no source.
- The next sentence portrays her as still willing to continue the fight
- Paragraph about the Trump-endorsed winner points out her opposition to federal rules to protect land, water and endangered species.
- Video shows Cheney’s concession speech.
- However, tweets at the bottom are from those who were glad she lost.
Media, Free Speech, & The Paradox of Democracy
Description
“It’s better to think of democracy less as a government type and more as an open communicative culture.” Media and free speech can both nurture and hinder democratic practice, according to The Paradox of Democracy. Find out how.
Objectives
- Students will assess arguments made by Zac Gershberg and Sean Illing in The Paradox of Democracy.
- Students will create mind maps distinguishing between the affordances and limitations of TV, print media, and social media.
- Students will strategize ways to support “open communicative culture” in their classroom, school, and community.
Common Core State Standards
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.6 | Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1 | Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5 | Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. |
Length
90 minutes
Materials / resources
Transcript of Ezra Klein’s NYT Podcast with Sean Illing
Paper
Pens and/or markers, different colors
Lesson step-by-step
Step 1 — Framing/Introduction (5 minutes)
Open class with a short, catalyzing discussion:
- Does media and free speech help or hinder democracy? How and/or why? Give an example to support your opinion.
This could be a discussion, an independent “Do Now” activity, and/or a private writing assignment in a journal.
Step 2 — Mind Map: TV, Print Media, and Social Media (10 minutes)
On a piece of paper, students draw mind maps to brainstorm the affordances and limitations of different types of media: TV, print, and social media. What kinds of thinking or behaviors do these media encourage? What does it take to be successful on these platforms? How effective are they at shaping public opinion?
Step 3 — Ezra Klein Podcast (30 to 45 minutes)
The teacher guides students through the transcript, or even audio excerpts, of Ezra Klein’s podcast. As students listen or read, they annotate their mind maps in a different color to note Klein and Illing’s ideas and arguments about media, power, and politics.
Teachers may choose to focus on one of the excerpts included after this lesson, below, in the Appendix.
Step 4 — Discussion (15 minutes)
According to Illing, how exactly does media and free speech both help and hinder democratic practices, or “open communicative culture?” Why is this understanding important for democracy?
Step 5 — Strategize (20 minutes)
In groups, choose a school-wide issue and brainstorm a media approach to reporting on it. How will your chosen media help to support your focus? How will you connect with your audience and build trust? How will your work negotiate an information space that “has been shattered into a zillion pieces thanks to the internet”? How will your work be effectively persuasive?
Differentiation
Depending on time, students could listen to the podcast. Listening to the podcast could be assigned as homework before the class meeting, then students may come to class ready to discuss. This lesson could lead to pitches. Teachers might work with students to brainstorm strategies to educate the community about first amendment rights and social issues throughout the year.
Appendix: Excerpts
- Ezra Klein: We tend to think of liberal democracies, but that’s only one possibility. You can have illiberal democracies. Democracies can vote themselves into fascism. Democracy doesn’t guarantee you any particular outcome. And so what drives a democracy, what decides what it becomes or what it stays is that open communicative culture, the way its members learn about the world, debate it, and ultimately persuade each other to change it or not change it…
- Sean Illing: But [Neil Postman] argues that print has these pretty clear biases because of the nature of the medium. It’s slower, it’s more deliberative, more demanding. It’s linear, it’s the domain of ideas, of abstract thought. Or at least it tends toward that. I think some of these distinctions that these ecologists make between different mediums maybe a little too neat. But the core point is right. But TV, unlike print, is not a medium that encourages rational thinking. It is all about action and imagery…
- Sean Illing: Yeah, we go through this — sort of the book is kind of moving through history, lurching from one revolution in media to another. And we start in and Athens and Rome, both societies that were formed in large part by speech and rhetoric, but also upended by them. And there’s a printing press where that gets us to the birth of newspapers and books and helps give us the enlightenment, but it also unleashes a devastating religious war that devours the continent…And the thing again about all those revolutions is not that the technologies are good or bad. It’s just that they’re disruptive in very unpredictable ways. Sometimes you get the Arab Spring and sometimes you get Pizzagate. But they changed the way a society thinks and orients itself. It changes the way a society relates to each other and to the world. And that has far-reaching complications. It changes us and by extension it has to change our politics…
- Sean Illing: …Twitter has been I think bad for me personally. I mean, I’ve joked that I’m the worst version of myself on Twitter. But the thing about Twitter, and I’m very curious what you think about this, is that to be on there is to give yourself over to the incentives driving it, attention, virality, the impulse to perform. And I think that’s bad. It blinkers our intuitions, it creates anxieties and pressures that bleed into our work, certainly mine. And for individual writers, it’s kind of become a platform for just personal brand promotion, and that carries its own kinds of perverse incentives…
- Sean Illing: We’re trying to think of democracy as a communitive culture. We think of democracy as a decision to open up the public sphere and let people speak, think and decide what ought to be done. So in that sense, it is a culture of open communication. And thinking of it as a culture rather than a constellation of practices or institutions is not a pedantic or academic thing. We’re trying to emphasize the open-endedness of it, the fact that it’s always in a state of becoming. And the fact that you can say that a state is Democratic and the fact that doesn’t necessarily tell you how it’s governed is pretty instructive, right? I mean, it’s not for nothing that fascism has only ever emerged out of Democratic societies. There’s something about the collision of mass media and mass politics that made fascism possible…
- Ezra Klein: So tell me then about what you call “the paradox of democracy.”
Sean Illing: Well, it’s the fact that the very thing that makes democracy possible, which is wide open, free expression that while that’s a condition of democracy, it can also be hijacked and turned against it. And that’s what fascism is. So the thing that makes it possible is also the thing that threatens it from within. And that tension or that paradox is baked into the structure of democracy if you see it in that way. There’s just no transcending that, right? If you’re going to open up society, then you’re opening the culture up to all manner of persuasion, all manner of rhetoric, the inspirational leaders and the bullshit artists and the demagogues and any other manner of bad faith actor you can imagine. It is a free-for-all in that way…
- Sean Illing: But if you take media ecology seriously, then you start with a media environment and then notice how it favors certain kinds of rhetorical appeals or incentivize a certain styles of communication. And then notice how that in turn, influences public opinion, right?…
- Sean Illing: I think a lot of the people who are deeply worried about cancel culture don’t reflect enough on what’s actually happening on these bigger questions we’re talking about here. Again, it feels very suffocating, but it really is just I think a culture of free speech doing what a culture of free speech does, unleashing lots of different voices, lots of different opinions, lots of different styles of communication, lots of disputes about where the lines are. And it’s playing itself out…
- Sean Illing: Tools like the wheel or the hammer are used instrumentally. Those are extensions of our feet and hands, extensions of our physical capabilities. But McLuhan insisted that electronic media is an extension of our nervous system. So our ability to experience what is happening isn’t limited by our bodies. We can know what’s happening anywhere, everywhere, all the time. And I think his point was that our brains weren’t equipped to deal with this much stimuli, this much information. And whatever cognitive tools we developed over time to deal with information, to organize our experience in the world, we’re going to be totally overwhelmed by the electric revolution…