Lesson 6: Identifying Stereotypes in the News

Rationale
As students try to sort through information from movies, television, the Internet, radio, newspapers, and magazines, they often have a difficult time figuring out who's "telling the truth." This lesson looks at how the media contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes. Students will learn how to identify "loaded words" that contribute to stereotypes, recognize that news coverage varies from source to source, and understand that the amount and type of coverage influences our perceptions of the people in stories.

Materials
Flip chart and markers, one copy of Two Teens Accused scenarios reproduced and cut into five separate news stories.
Procedure
• Ask the students to define "fiction" and "nonfiction." Write the characteristics of each on chart paper.
• Ask them if they think the news we get from television, newspapers, radio, magazines, and the Internet is fiction or non-fiction. Refer them to the flip chart definitions for support and clarification.
• Explain that while news reports are nonfiction, the information in news stories often represents a particular point of view. The topic of whether news reporting is objective and impartial has been debated since the beginning of the news industry in this country.
• Divide the class into five groups. Give each group one of the five news stories from the Two Teens Accused scenarios. Ask each group to look for words and phrases that might influence a reader's perception of the characters in the story. Next, ask the students to brainstorm the perceptions triggered by these words (five to 10 minutes).
• Ask each group to share its findings with the class. Trigger words might include teenagers; African Americans; adopted; or prominent physician. In scenario #5, words such as accidental; held up at knifepoint; their purchases; free themselves; and escape give facts that contradict negative perceptions based on age, race, family status, and geography.
• Discuss the ways in which the use of particular words can perpetuate stereotypes. Which descriptions are needed to convey factual information? Which could be omitted?
• Suggest that the class select a continuing news story to follow for several days. Assign students to different news sources such as long-format news coverage (C-SPAN or CNN), specific news broadcasts, and newspaper articles. Keep a written list of key words and phrases used to describe the event and note whether the words and phrases change from one broadcast to another. Students also should note film clips or photos that accompanied the story, what experts reporters interviewed, and whether the coverage included different points of view. Share the results.

Extension Activities
• Ask the students to write a complete version of the story that is as unbiased as possible.
• A 1989 publication, Asian Pacific Americans: A Handbook on How to Portray Our Nation's Fastest Growing Minority Group (National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Asian American Journalists Association, and the Association of Asian Pacific Americans) identified "loaded words" the media uses to describe individuals who belong to certain groups. These words reinforce stereotypes and prevent readers from appreciating differences among people. For example, words used to describe Asian Pacific people include serene, shy, quiet, reserved, stocky, buck-toothed, myopic, delicate, submissive, and inscrutable. Ask students to search news presentations - print and broadcast - for words used to portray members of other groups (Source: Respecting Our Differences).
• Encourage students to examine the front-page photos in  
two or three daily papers for fairness. For one month, they should track who is featured in these photos. Students might suggest comparisons such as men and women, whites and people of color, and government officials and grassroots activists. What percentage of the coverage is devoted to which groups? Of these, which are "hard news" stories and which are human-interest stories? Which depict athletes, criminals, or victims? (Source: Rethinking Our Classrooms and Extra!, a publication of Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting).
• Ask students to tabulate who is quoted in the paper, using a different color highlighter marker for each group of interest. For example, students can analyze by gender, race, government officials versus ordinary citizens, or celebrity status. Students also can count the number of times people of specific groups are featured in stories of crime or drug addiction compared to positive portrayals (Source: Rethinking Our Classrooms).
 

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