This
activity was designed for year 11 students by teachers at Hobart
College, as part of a broader unit on news. Students are invited
to investigate the ethical responsibilities of journalists and
editors by studying one of the many films that have highlighted
these issues. Below are instructions for students and a note
for teachers about a related activity.
Instructions
for students
View
a film that focuses on issues of ethics and responsibilities
of journalists.
Examples
include: Evil Angels, Newsfront, All the President’s
Men, The China Syndrome, Absence of Malice, Up Close
and Personal, The Paper, Broadcast News.
Choose
one of the following as a response:
1.
Create a film review
Include
in your review discussion about the issues related to ethics
and responsibilities. Use incidents from the film to support
the points you make.
For
example:
What
does the film have to say about journalists and making the news?
Whose
interests are being served by the news?
What
role does the news editor play?
What
does the film say about the career of journalism?
How
is technology used by journalists?
2.
Design a new video cover that includes what the film
is about and the issues the film raises.
3.
Interview a character. Imagine you have interviewed a
character from the film. Write up a transcript of the interview.
Include questions about the role of the media.
4.
Make a poster that highlights the issues in the film
using words, phrases and pictures.
5.
Create a mind map or flow chart about the issues raised
in the film.
___________________________________________________
Note
for teachers:
You
be the editor
On
the excellent
Media
Awareness Network site there are many other ideas for teaching
about news. One activity for students is called
"You
be the editor".
Students
are given a set of scenarios presenting ethical dilemmas for
news editors. For each of the scenarios, based on real cases,
students choose which of two possible courses of action to take.
The scenarios were originally published in an English newspaper
and were debated by both general readers and news editors. For
each case, there is a summary of how each group responded to
the dilemmas. Reasons for the choices are given. The public
and the professionals often seemed to agree on what was appropriate,
but there are some fascinating disagreements for students to
consider.
