Media Literacy in the Digital Age
Directions:
Select a social issue or ethical dilemma in the news. Find two recent articles from two different types of media sources on the issue. In your introduction, for both of your examples, be sure to carefully identify what types of sources you are analyzing (news story, editorial, commentary), the name of the media company, and the date and author. Then, answer the following questions:
- What assumptions do you make about these articles before reading them? How is your mind already “at work”?
- What is the main claim and/or point of view expressed (if there is one) by the article? Is the article objectively written? Be careful here – if the article is an editorial opinion, note that the purpose of this type of article is very different from that of a news story. If you are analyzing an editorial, is the argument presented logically?
- Apply evaluative criteria to your analysis. Is there a particular audience that the article is targeting? Is there an appeal to sensationalism? Can you discern a vested ideological perspective?
- What is a peer-reviewed source? What peer-reviewed sources did you find that helped in thinking critically about your issue?
Requirements:
- Cite all claims and ideas using scholarly sources.
- Include at least two scholarly sources
- Your paper should be 4-5 pages in length (not including the title page and reference page).
- Format your paper according to APA (7th edition) format
Requirements: 4-5 pages
Answer preview
Last year marked a critical moment in the fight for social justice and racial equality in the United States. Law enforcement officers’ killing of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd prompted countrywide protests, as many people joined the #BlackLivesMatter movement in protesting the racial disparity within the American criminal justice system. Most of them embraced the rallying call made by the #BlackLivesMatter movement to defund the police. To understand more about the clamor for such action, I researched and found an editor and a commentary discussing the issue. The editorial is titled “Defunding the Police” and was authored by the Iowa State Daily editorial board. This editorial was posted on the Iowa State Daily’s website on June 17, 2020.
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