WHAT DID THIS BOOK TEACH YOU ABOUT JOURNALISM?
The assignment is to write a response paper to the book. Bias, by Bernard Goldberg. The premise is simple: what did this book teach you about journalism? From that jumping-off point, there are lots of possibilities for development, depending on your reaction to the incidents and situations described in the text
Points to Consider:
1. Since this is a response paper, it represents your opinion and can be written in the first person. However, you must support your opinion with facts. Do not make statements you cannot substantiate. Credit your sources narratively (that means do not use footnotes or on-page citations of any sort). There will be a penalty for every footnote and/or citation you include.
2. This is not a book report so there is no need to summarize what the book is about at any length. I have read it and I know what it is about Rather, it is your response to the specific points that the author is making, and the situations he describes in the chapters. Do reference the various situations the author discusses and comment on their treatment Try to make associations between the authors points, what you have studied in class, and the real world of newsgathering and reporting. For example, you may discuss whether it is ethical to slant the news to represent a popular or politically correct point of view; and other issues.
3. You will be expected to compare the situations that the author has described with comparable contemporary examples (for example, how the news media handled the AIDS scare in the 1980s can be compared to todays reporting on similar epidemics). Compare the news environment then, to the news environment today: does the bias that Goldberg points out still prevail or has it improved?
4 Finally, were you surprised by what the author has pointed out? As a result, do you look at the news any differently? Explain.
Parameters: The paper should be about 1000 words (that is 4 pages, double-spaced, 25 lines per page, with normal margins and 11-12-point type). Tip: Keep in mind that the author is writing about a particular issue of his own choosing; this does not represent bias. You don’t criticize a pie shop for its failure to offer cake.
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