PBS
Journalism in War Time: What Does the Public Need to Know?
A viewing of the documentary War Feels Like War, launches an exploration of the importance of accurate and comprehensive war reporting. Groups investigate various news agencies and assess the factors that influence their stories. A...
Curated OER
Case Studies in Journalistic Ethics No. 2
Learners use texts on media ethics and various Web sites to explore real world examples of media law issues. For this media ethics lesson, students examine the Food Lion case using a transcript from the court of appeals session and...
Facing History and Ourselves
Preparing Students for Difficult Converstaitons
Many of the issues facing 21st Century learners are challenging and even discussing these issues can be a challenge. So how do teachers prepare learners for these difficult conversations? How do instructors create a safe classroom where...
Curated OER
Forming a Code of Ethics
Learners discuss and create a code of ethics for their student newspaper.
Curated OER
Teaching Ethical Situations
Learners use journalism ethics standards to learn how to write ethically correct news stories. In this journalism and ethics lesson plan, students review journalism standards for ethics. Learners use the standards as they analyze example...
Social Media Toolbox
Social Media Usage
Is there a difference in the way organizations present news via social media and in print? The third in a series of 16 lessons from The Social Media Toolbox explores news outlets and their delivery methods. Groups follow a story for a...
Social Media Toolbox
Verification
When you're putting together a great story, you've got to consider the source! Scholars discover the dangers of errors in reporting during the 14th activity in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series. Groups collaborate to create a source...
Newspaper Association of America
Press Ahead!
Give class members some great news! A media unit teaches individuals about ethics, parts of a newspaper, business writing, photojournalism, and more topics that have to do with the press. Full of material for a variety of learners,...
iCivics
Mini Lesson A: Monetization
Advertising is everywhere! Does your class know that their attention span is for sale, even when they're watching a simple news story? The second installment in a five-part series from iCivics examines the relationship between news...
Curated OER
Exploring Ethical Issues
Learners learn about ethical issues and its connection to journalism. Students examine examples of ethical issues some journalists have faced. in small groups, learners collaborate to write a code of ethics for their school newspaper....
Curated OER
Law & Ethics for Photojournalists
Students identify and discuss First Amendment rights, examine how to make sound legal judgements regarding photographs of private individuals, examine difference between public and private figures as far as libel law is concerned,...
Newseum
Fake News — What's the Big Deal?
In a time of fake news and alternative facts, young people must have the ability to identify it and its role. Scholars watch a video of teens reflecting on the concept of fake news and the impact of sharing fake news stories. They then...
News Literacy Project
News Goggles: Identifying the News Source
A 25-slide presentation teaches viewers how to identify the source of stories in newspapers and online news sites. The slides show how to locate the byline where either the reporter's name or the wire service that provided the story can...
News Literacy Project
News Goggles: Chasing Scoops and Verifying Raw Information
A 23-slide presentation teaches young media analysts how to identify a scoop or exclusive first report of a breaking story, how these reports become verified, and how subsequent reports in other news sources add information or refocus...
Newseum
Breaking News: Tracing the Facts
Breaking news reports can be short of facts. Young journalists select a pair of news articles about a disaster; one published within hours of the event and the second published the following day. They examine whether facts in the report...
Curated OER
Cell Phones with Cameras Banned in Locker Rooms
Students research the way phones work and what places - both locally and nationally - have already faced the problem of in appropriate use. Students also interview gym owners or managers in their community and those who use they gyms....
Online Publications
Become a Journalist
Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...
Facing History and Ourselves
Citizen Watchdogs and the News
To conclude their case study of media coverage of the shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, class members consider the role of citizen watchdogs in a democratic society, develop strategies for combating...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Importance of a Free Press
"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;. . ." Why is this guarantee of free speech and a free press the First Amendment to the US Constitution? Why are these rights so essential to a democracy?...
West Virginia Department of Education
Intelligence of Authentic Character - News Coverage and John Brown's Raid
The resource, a standalone, shows how news coverage of John Brown's Raid began when the event happened and how that reporting shaped perception in West Virginia history. The resource includes interesting anticipatory discussion...
Newseum
Anonymous Sources in Our Daily News
Young journalists search for two examples of news stories, either published or online, that use anonymous or unnamed sources. They then consider the possible motives for why the sources remain unidentified, the types of stories that use...
Curated OER
Case studies in journalistic ethics No. 1
Students examine the importance and responsibilities of journalists through examination of illegal immigration. In this journalistic ethics instructional activity students analyze scenarios and look at the pros and cons of illegal...
Social Media Toolbox
Reporting with Social Media
What does it take to create news stories that are both informative and objective? Aspiring journalists walk the line between engagement and activism with lesson 15 of a 16-part series titled The Social Media Toolbox. Grouped pupils...
PBS
Copyright and Fair Use
When is using someone else's copyrighted material appropriate? Learn about copyright and fair use with a lesson from PBS.org. Scholars read through a reference sheet about authors' rights and users' rights, and then create posters for a...