THE MEDIUM AND THE MESSAGE: PRINT AND BROADCAST NEWS

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES
A government is planning to change legislation that will affect environmental protection.
A government official has just made a speech to justify the government’s position.
A large group of young people are present to protest and a struggle breaks out between
the protesters and the police

● Predict how this event will be covered by a newspaper, a radio station and a
television station. How do you think the coverage will differ and why? How much of
this difference would be based on the unique characteristics of each medium?

Select a current event or issue of interest, such as a new school policy, a recent cultural
or political event, or a health issue. Working in groups, develop a news story on this
event that would appear on radio, in a newspaper and on a television news programme.
For the radio, the story can be no longer than 20 seconds; for the newspaper, 210 words;
and for television, 1–2 minutes. After completing the stories, discuss the results using
the following questions as a guide:

● How do various media affect the kind of coverage and information that can be given?
● What codes and conventions used in the development of each story?

● How is this exercise an example of the phrase ‘the medium is the message’?
● Create a collage of images or symbols that could be used to promote a school or other
institution, considering the target audience and the information being conveyed

ASSESSMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Description and assessment of the kind of news coverage possible in a variety of media
Development and analysis of a news story for radio, television and newspapers