I would like you to choose an event that has been covered in the news recently and do an analysis of the way it was covered in 4 different news outlets. In the spirit of what we’ve been doing all term, I would like you to find multiple narratives for the story you choose. Talk about how the issue is being presented from multiple perspectives. The news story can be anything you choose, but you must relate it to one or more of the sociological concepts we’ve been learning about this term. Stronger papers will relate the story to more than one sociological concept and integrate their analysis with their outlining of the narratives constructed about the event.
Your paper must be roughly 4-6 pages in length (double spaced, 12 point times new roman font, 1-1.25” margins) and include a description of the current event in detail, what news sources you chose to analyze, what those news sources are saying about it (Include as many disparate articles as possible from at least 4 different news outlets).
You must use concepts of media literacy to back up your analysis. Talk about the reasons that news outlets might have for constructing narratives differently. Refer to class discussion and/or outside sources from the library for your discussion of media literacy and critical reading of news.
You must also discuss how the coverage of the issue, and the issue itself, relate to the sociological concepts we’ve covered this term in class.
You will be graded on detail, structure, critical analysis, and connection to class material. The paper is worth 100 points, roughly 22% of your final grade.
You will be graded on:
1: The Level of detail and Thick Description (What were the articles saying? How were they saying things differently? What might the outlet’s political and economic motivations be for telling the story the way that they do?) (60 Points)
2: How you relate the event you’re discussing to specific concepts of media literacy and from any other concepts from class discussion and the readings/text/any other sources/articles you find. (30 Points)
3: Organization and quality of writing (10 Points)
PAPER FORMAT:
1 Introduction (Includes Thesis Statement)
2 Review of the literature (Media Literacy, critical reading of news, content analysis.)
3 Data (Talk about the articles you found. How do they construct the narrative of the event you chose? How are the narratives constructed differently across the 4 articles you’ve chosen to analyze?)
4 Analysis (Relate what you found to the media literacy theories you outlined. Relate the event itself to any of the sociological concepts from class that you find to be relevant.)
5 Conclusion (Wrap it up-Tie it together.)
