Decoding a Newspaper

Headline

Byline

Lead - HOOK

Hard News Lead John Roberts, 21, and Glen Thomas, 45, were later charged with 28 counts of felony burglary for the theft of diamond jewelry and laptop computers from Harrelson Hall.

Soft News Lead Two local boys were found dead in their front yard this morning, victims of what police suspect was a gang-related initiation.

Descriptive Leads Enter his second story office in Pullen Hall and the burly, former college football star will immediately envelope you in a bear hug, waving aside any attempts at formality and insisting that while you’ve just met, you’re already friends.

Narrative Leads Panting, sweating and gasping for air, Natalie Lewis digs her fingers into the chain-link fence, using every ounce of her energy to pull herself up and over, landing squarely – and hard – on the burnt clay below.

Highlight Parts of the News Report  Find the headline  Subheading  Byline  Lead (what, who when, where, why and how)  At least two quotes  First group to find the above will win the following prize:

Your News Report What you need: Headline Subheading Byline Lead (opening paragraph) 2-3 Sentences with 5ws + H Body paragraph(s) 2-3 sentences per paragraph providing facts to make report believable at have at least 1 quote Summary paragraph 2-3 sentences to finish off your news report

Decoding Print Advertisements

Advertisements There are 5 main components of Advertising:  Purpose: The message, the subject and the effect the ad is meant to have on people.  Techniques: What methods are used to achieve the purpose; the dominate feature of the ad.  Impact: The effect the advertisement had on the audience, its effectiveness in influencing them.

Ad’s Cont.’  Target Audience: Who is the advertisement aimed at and intended to influence?  Medium: The way the message reaches its audience, and where the ad is found.

Media Messages Explicit Message: When you evaluate a media text, you are using reading and thinking strategies to understand the messages. Some messages are very obvious (in your face!). These are what we call explicit messages

Implicit Messages: Some messages are less obvious because the producers of the media text have provided only clues… Take a second (or third or fourth…) look at the media that follows this slide. It’s a poster produced jointly by the government of British Columbia, the Lung Association and the Ministry of Health.

Stereotyping / Bias The definition of a stereotype is any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Stereotypes are often confused with prejudices, because, like prejudices, a stereotype is based on a prior assumption. Stereotypes are often created about people of specific cultures or races.

Common Stereotypes Men & Women Men are strong and do all the work. Men are the “backbone.” Women aren't as smart as a man. Women can’t do as good of a job as a man. Girls are not good at sports. Guys are messy and unclean. Men who spend too much time on the computer or read are geeks.

Cultures All white Americans are obese, lazy, and dim-witted. Homer Simpson of the TV series The Simpsons is the personification of this stereotype. Mexican stereotypes suggest that all Mexicans are lazy and came into America illegally. All Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. All people who live in England have bad teeth. Italian or French people are the best lovers. All African Americans outside of the United States are poor. All Jews are greedy. All Asians are good at math. All Asians like to eat rice and drive slow. All Irish people are drunks and eat potatoes. All Americans are generally considered to be friendly, generous, and tolerant, but also arrogant, impatient, and domineering.

Groups & Individuals Goths wear black clothes, black makeup, are depressed and hated by society. Punks wear Mohawks, spikes, chains, are a menace to society and are always getting in trouble. All politicians are philanders and think only of personal gain and benefit. Girls are only concerned about physical appearance. All blonds are unintelligent. All librarians are women who are old, wear glasses, tie a high bun, and have a perpetual frown on their face. All teenagers are rebels. All children don't enjoy healthy food. Only anorexic women can become models.