Analyzing how politics gets discussed in aggregate regarding media and politics.

Hello all,

For your first major essay, we’ll be putting to use our many discussions regarding media and politics from class by specifically analyzing how politics gets discussed in aggregate.

To be clearer, what you’ll be doing for this assignment is the following:

1. Please choose two of the following three media: print journalism, television news, online periodicals.

2. Please then choose one specific publication/TV show/website from each of your chosen media (ex: Breitbart for online periodicals and Anderson Cooper 360 for television news).

3. For one week straight, look at an issue that both sources discuss (As an example, on Tuesday, both Breitbart and Cooper reported on the US’s new policy to remain in Afghanistan; on Wednesday, both Breitbart and Cooper discussed Trump’s Phoenix rally.)

4. Consider the approach to each story as they were discussed. Did either source display implicit or explicit bias (as discussed in class, remember that this does not mean “opinion” or “judgment” or even “inference”; this means that the source had an agenda beyond the pursuit of truth)? For example, Breitbart’s reporting on Trump’s rally includes the headline “Watch: Antifa Leftist Protester Takes Pepperball in the Groin”; Cooper’s show began with a sixteen-minute long fact check of the president’s speech itself. Also consider: what is the format of these media? (Example: Breitbart’s coverage of the rally is mainly a series of people’s Twitter feeds and short responses; Cooper’s show opens with the nightly fact check titled “Keeping Them Honest,” followed by a panel discussion and then a one-one-one interview).

5. Did either source provide support for whatever information they were reporting? If not, what claims did they make to justify reporting the story? If so, what kind of support? Were their sources reliable/available? (Example: again, Breitbart’s reporting is largely blog-style op-ed reporting, or supported mainly by tweets when and if there is a source; Cooper often uses the president’s own words in video clips, or else asks establishment politicians or political commentators to weigh in).

6. Finally, research and consider the demographic for each source (this information is readily available from the sources listed on D2L under the “Materials” section. Please see me if you have trouble locating them, but we’ll be going over them thoroughly in class as well).

The ideal result of this research will be your rhetorical analysis of the news and its audience; what you should be looking to answer is the question:

How do the speakers in a given medium shift the tone and content of their message in order to reach different audiences?

The structure sheet—also provided for you in the “Materials” section on D2L—will give you a detailed account of how to build your argument fluidly, but a cursory breakdown of this essay’s structure is:

Begin with an introduction describing the two media you’ve chosen, why you’ve chosen these (rather than something else), and the dates during which you recorded their stories.

Follow up with a paragraph researching the target audiences for these outlets. Information on what types of audiences consume these sources is, again, readily available, but we’ll have a research day in class wherein I will assist you in finding this data if help is needed. Discuss here the political leanings of the audience, the age range, the income level, and any other relevant information that cues you in to the audience’s worldview.

This should be followed by a paragraph discussing your first chosen media outlet. Here, use the above demographic information to discuss how the story of the day is approached by the chosen medium. Also discuss any bias or agenda the outlet might have, and what evidence you have for said bias. (Note: evidence for bias means actual, cited, sourced evidence; you cannot simply suggest, for instance, that a source is biased against Hillary Clinton, and then use as your evidence the fact that the source criticized her—this is not evidence of bias).

Likewise, use the next paragraph to discuss the other medium you’ve chosen, and examine it the same way as above.

Finally, come to an academic conclusion about the relationship between the audience and the message. Is the audience well-informed after consuming this news? Is one medium more reliable than the other? Is the reporting biased? Is the audience subject to confirmation bias, even if the source is reliable?

Please have your first draft completed by September 8th. All drafts, rough and final, should be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point, Times New Roman font. All citations should be in MLA format. Carefully proof-read your essays before turning them in to workshop, and proof-read even more carefully before turning them in to me (the Think Tank is a great place to go for outside help, but of course I’m always available if you need assistance here).

Any questions, please contact me, or visit me during office hours!

Good luck!

--T