Level: Grades 9-12

Duration: 2 to 3 hours

Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & CREATE: A Digital Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

This lesson begins with a brief history of citizen journalism and a discussion of just what it is. Students are introduced to the key media literacy concept that media are constructions that re-present reality and consider how the traditionally “white” makeup of Canadian journalism might affect the content of Canadian news. They then discuss the effects of the increasing ability of ordinary citizens to cover, broadcast and comment on news and compare mainstream news sources and citizen journalism in terms of accuracy, completeness and diversity representation. Students then discuss the issue of ethics in citizen journalism and whether industry and government guidelines on journalism should be applied to citizen journalists. Finally, students write and comment on blogs expressing their opinion on one of the issues raised in the lesson.

This lesson is part of the That’s Not Me: Diversity in Media lesson series.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• become aware of journalism as a craft
• learn to take a critical view of how news is gathered
• become aware of the decisions made in gathering and transmitting news
• become aware of the imbalance in media representation of aboriginals, persons with disabilities, visible minorities and religious groups

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) are available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.