homework

JRN 205WI

Outside Your Comfort Zone writing assignment

Follow and analyze a media source that reflects an interest or point of view different from your own.

First take the Pew Center’s Political Typology Quiz at — HYPERLINK http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/group/43876732

Your results (which you do not need to share with me) will place you in one of the eight categories listed below, determined by your views on social, political and economic issues. The Typology Quiz asks a series of 23 questions.

Based on your category, choose one recommended media source to follow over the next two weeks. (Select one that you feel will challenge your personal perspective. You’ll find it a lot more interesting.)

Check your chosen site at least daily, read latest updates and top headlines, and pick no fewer than one or two articles per day to read completely. Look for examples of different types of content: breaking news coverage, enterprise reporting (“slow/investigative journalism”), data analysis, commentary, reader comments, etc. Along the way, you’ll want to take notes on your findings and bookmark some of the content so you can come back to it.

Second, write a report on your site and the content you find there. Follow this structure:

Introduction: In one or more paragraphs, tell which source you followed and why you chose it. Provide an overview of what you learned about the site, the information it offers and how it’s presented. Describe the source in broad terms, including things like its appearance and tone, who you think the intended audience is, whether it provides mainly news or opinion, if it aggregates or does its own reporting, if it seems biased, if the quality is high or low, etc.

Body: Using at least five specific separate examples (in bulleted paragraphs, if you like), discuss the content you encountered. This is a place for objective analysis, not just opinion, so support your conclusions. Consider questions along these lines:

• Would you say the source’s main purpose is to inform, mislead, entertain, outrage or something else, and why do you conclude that?

• How trustworthy is the content, and how do you judge?

• Do you perceive bias? What gives it away?

• Are there certain topics this source highlights and/or ignores?

• Did you check any content against other sources, and what did you find?

• Did any of your initial assumptions turn out to be incorrect?

Conclusion: In one or more paragraphs, discuss what you learned from following this source. This is a place for personal reflection: What did you find surprising, eye-opening or infuriating? Was there anything you might wish to challenge, and how? Did you open or change your mind about anything? Do you think this exercise may change how you perceive media sources or people with different points of view? Do you think you’re in a media “silo, echo chamber” and if so do you see value in broadening your perspective?

Media choices

Here are the eight survey categories and links to media sources to choose from for each:

If you are a Steadfast Conservative, read

• "http://slate.com" Slate,

• "http://salon.com" Salon,

• "http://huffpo.com" The Huffington Post,

• "https://www.thenation.com" The Nation,

• "http://americanprogress.org" Center for American Progress,

• "https://www.bloomberg.com" Bloomberg News,

• "http://www.motherjones.com" Mother Jones,

• "https://www.democracynow.org" Democracy Now,

• "http://www.thedailybeast.com" The Daily Beast,

• "http://www.msnbc.com" MSNBC or

• "http://www.dailykos.com" DailyKos.

If you are a Business Conservative, read

• "http://www.epi.org" Economic Policy Institute or

• any of the suggestions for Steadfast Conservatives.

If you are a Young Outsider, read

• "http://reason.com" reason.com (libertarian perspective) or

• any of the suggested conservative or liberal sources, depending on which view runs counter to your own.

If you are a Hard-Pressed Skeptic, read

• "http://reason.com" reason.com (libertarian perspective),

• "http://factcheck.org" factcheck.org or

• any of the suggested conservative or liberal sources, depending on which view runs counter to your own.

If you are a Solid Liberal, read

• "http://conservativetribune.com" Conservative Tribune,

• "http://www.breitbart.com" Breitbart,

• "http://www.foxnews.com" Fox News,

• "http://www.theblaze.com" The Blaze,

• "https://www.infowars.com" Infowars,

• "https://townhall.com" Townhall,

• "http://reason.com" reason.com,

• "http://dailysignal.com" Daily Signal,

• "http://dailycaller.com" Daily Caller or

• "http://www.nationalreview.com" National Review.

If you are a Next Generation Left, read

• "http://conservativetribune.com" Conservative Tribune,

• "http://www.breitbart.com" Breitbart,

• "http://www.foxnews.com" Fox News,

• "http://www.theblaze.com" The Blaze,

• "https://www.infowars.com" Infowars,

• "https://townhall.com" Townhall,

• "http://reason.com" reason.com,

• "http://dailysignal.com" Daily Signal,

• "http://dailycaller.com" Daily Caller or

• "http://www.nationalreview.com" National Review.

If you are a Faith and Family Left, read

• "https://sojo.net" Sojourners,

• "http://religionnews.com/category/news/" Religion News Service,

• "http://reason.com" reason.com or any of the suggestions for Solid Liberals.

If you are a Bystander, immerse yourself in political news by reading

• "http://www.politico.com" Politico,

• "http://thehill.com" The Hill,

• "http://www.vox.com" Vox,

• "https://fivethirtyeight.com" FiveThirtyEight or

• "https://www.gop.com/news/" GOP.com, or

• by finding political stories at "http://npr.org" NPR, "http://cnn.com" CNN, or "http://www.usatoday.com" USA Today.

Completion and grading

Turn in your finished report in Blackboard by end of day/midnight Sunday, October 15.

The assignment is worth 30 points, based on the following:

• Adheres to the assigned structure.

• Includes at least five specific separate content examples.

• Analyzes objectively and with supporting evidence.

• Summarizes with personal perspective.

• Applies knowledge from course readings or classroom discussions.

• Writes cleanly and grammatically, avoiding misspellings, typos and style inconsistencies.

Don’t worry about word count. If you follow the assigned structure, it will be long enough.