News Diary
You’ll be keeping a news diary in Term 1, below are some tips on a healthy diet!
You’ll need to follow a topical news issue in 3 or more media. That could be an independent journalist, big or small news organisations, domestic, international, left leaning, right leaning or state media. Try to pick a variety. Read features, news and opinion. Download the news organisations apps and read content on both desktop, tablet and mobile to compare different user experiences on different screens. We’d recommend news snacking once or twice a day and then spending a longer more focused period of 20 mins to an hour to consume a long form piece 3 to 4 times a week. It might be a podcast or a documentary or a long form text. Think about when you prefer to consume longer pieces. Make a bookmarking system so you can easily return to articles later.
Think about: (You’ll see I’ve borrowed and adapted some of these questions from the article above).
Question 1: Why are you consuming this piece of news?
What time of day is it? Are you just news snacking, scanning headlines and updates or are you trying to gain a deeper understanding of an event? Do you want to read an opinion piece? Perhaps you are a little tired of the mainstream narrative and want to find an alternative perspective by a local journalist for example? If you want to gain more depth what is it you want to know — why did you choose the article? What attracted you?
Question 2: What is the best way for me to consume this article?
- If it’s quick news updates do I consume from trusted sources or do I have the time to verify what I'm reading.
- What device do I want to read or watch on? What time of day? Where will am I? How long will I spend?
Question 3: Do I want to act on this news share, publish, comment, discuss?
- Will I share it afterwards, in an email, an article, or social feed?
- Will I want to save it for later?
- Do I want to participate in the issue, write about it, comment or debate on it?
For longer pieces, scan or read the lead — are you really interested in reading it carefully? If not, switch. Read actively and critically — make notes (in your diary) as you go along or at the end as you prefer. Doing this ahelps you keep your mind focused on the material.
WHILE READING: Read paragraph by paragraph and digest as you go along. Ask yourself:
- What is the story about? What’s the angle?
- Is is fact based news or is it a news feature with some interpretation of the facts? If so how does the author support the premise ? Is the premise valid?
- Does the article imply or assume anything?
AFTER READING: Once you have read the material, take a few moments to reflect on it. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What was the most important thing you remember about the article
- What was the main message?
- What could be the biases of this book?
- What did this book leave out?
- Does the article change or add to your understanding of the issue you are exploring, how?
- What questions remain that you want to explore?
