| Why study current events? • You will win arguments. • You’ll be a better Pittsburgher if you know about all the neighborhoods. • People with opinions are more interesting that people without. Don’ t be boring. • Your improved writing skills will help you get a job and make BIG MONEY. • Experience different points of view and explain why they are wrong. • Build up language, vocabulary, reading comprehension, critical thinking, problem solving, oral expression, and listening skills, all that good stuff. • The most important reason: We can. This is a right we have as Americans.This has not been the norm historically, or even currently. Information is power. |
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| The Questions are...
What is newsworthy? Is newsworthy the same as important? What Makes News? Every day, editors around the world must make decisions about what stories they will publish or broadcast. Stories make it into the news for many reasons. • Safety. What is dangerous? • Timeliness. What is happening right now? • Relevance. What is happening close to home? • Magnitude. What is big or setting records? • Unexpectedness. What is unusual or unexpected? • Fairness. Is the law upheld? • Impact. What is affecting the most people? • Important people. Who is everybody interested in? • Oddity. What is unique or rare? • Conflict. What is the major struggle? • Negativity. People are more interested in tragedy • Continuity.What about that thing from before? • Emotions. Where is the fear, jealousy, love, or hate? • Progress. Is there hope? What's the latest improvement? |
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| Think. Why would the following be newsworthy? U.S. military deaths in Iraq pass 3000 person mark Pope approves masses in Latin Baby panda born at zoo Miners trapped underground in a cave-in Local driver who killed a girl found not guilty |
The Five W’s and an “H” The “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of a story can give you a very complete picture of what has occurred. Newspaper reporters often use the five W’s and an H as a guide to getting the whole story about which they are writing. Usually this information is found in the first paragraph of a news story. This paragraph is called the “lead.” |
| Sources of Current Events Each has their pro's and con's • Newspapers - Cheap and available, but politically biased, too many advertisements, waste paper, and not up to the minute. • Magazines - In-depth for particular interests and quality photographs, but costly and not up to the minute • Television - Current, emotional, good debates, continual coverage, but commercials, propaganda, and not easily recordable • Radio - available in cars, homes, most locations, continuous updates, but poor reception and lack objectivity • Internet - Up to the minute, audio and visual, cross-indexed, reciprocal involvement, but sources can be unreliable • Word of Mouth - fast, but unreliable |
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| Trivia There’s more than 50 million newspapers sold every day •Nov 2nd 1920 KDKA sends the first commercialized radio broadcast to announce the results of the Harding-Cox Presidential election •The Times of India is regarded as the most difficult paper to read at an estimated 15th grade reading level •The National Enquirer is a 12th grade reading level along with the London Times and LA Times. •The New York Times and USA Today are 10th grade reading level. •Two magazines with the largest circulations in the world, TV Guide and Readers Digest, are written at the 9th-grade reading level. •John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and Stephen King write at the 7th grade level. •The Chicago Tribune started printing headlines for the 1948 elections before the totals were in. They were wrong though and Truman won. |
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