Lesson #7

(Part 1):
Understanding
Media Bias

Essential Question(s) of this lesson that point to the big idea:

What is the definition of bias?

What are the common characteristics of a biased media text?
How does being able to detect media biases help me to more easily make sense of
(social) media texts?

By the end of this lesson students will

K:

The definition of bias and its distinguishing characteristics.

The function of bias in (social) media texts.

Analyze various (social) media texts [i.e. television programming, articles, poster campaigns, Facebook and

D:

Twitter posts, etc.] and detect their inherent biases.

Plan for Learning Activity(ies) or Tasks, & Check for Understanding/Assessment:

Beginning of Lesson & Opening Activity (5 minutes):
1) At the start of this lesson, students will enter the classroom and sit at their desks, and answer the writing
prompt [see below & Appendices] displayed on the chalkboard/whiteboard/Smartboard in their notebooks:
-

Do you think that (social) media texts sometimes try to force certain ideas and/or viewpoints onto their
audiences, while also devaluing other possible perspectives? If you answered yes, explain why this might
be the case. Can you identify any specific examples of media texts that have done this?

During this writing activity, the teacher will take attendance and conduct a materials-check. These
procedures should take up no more than one minute of class time, although students may be provided with a
maximum of 5 minutes to answer the writing prompt.

Class Discussion (5 minutes):

2) Once all students have finished answering the writing prompt, the teacher will conduct a brief class
discussion. All students will be encouraged to share their answers with the class, as well as comment on and
respond to the answers of their peers. The following guiding questions should be used by the teacher to help
keep the conversation focused and engaging:
-

How do media texts attempt to persuade their audiences to accept specific ideas or viewpoints?

Do media texts have their own agenda?

[Media text suggested by student] is an interesting example. Do you remember some of the strategies that
this text used to make its point? Were there any words, images, or sounds that really stood out?

Video Screening & Class Discussion (5 minutes):

3) Following the class discussion will be a screening of the YouTube video, Bias News Media Coverage
Against Blacks vs Whites <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRknjB2WsaQ> [link also in Appendices].
This video calls attention to the biases of mainstream media and news outlets by observing how black
protestors are frequently dismissed as being rioters and thugs while the violence and disorder caused by
white rioters is excused as being bad behaviour.
4) After having watched Bias New Media Coverage Against Blacks vs Whites, the teacher will conduct
another short class discussion. During this conversation, The following guiding questions should be used by
the teacher to help keep the conversation focused and engaging:
-

How does the type of language used by the news anchors help them to paint the events that they are
reporting on in a certain light?

Why do you think that the black protestors in these news reports are criticized much more harshly than the
white rioters?

Would you say that the white rioters are more accurately represented when the maker of this YouTube video
remixes footage of their behaviour with the commentary of the black protestors?

PowerPoint Presentation (15 minutes):

5) The next segment of the lesson will involve a lecture with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation. In
this lecture, the teacher will define bias and briefly discuss how to detect biases in (social) media texts. In
between each slide of the PowerPoint presentation, the teacher should pause for a moment to check for
students understanding and answer any questions that they might have. Students are also to be instructed to
take notes during this lecture; the information disseminated will be of use to them later on in the lesson, as
well as later on in the unit. This lecture should take up a maximum of 15 minutes of class time.
Video Screening (5 minutes):
6) Following the teachers lecture will be a screening of the YouTube video, Bill OReilly SCARED by
Richard Dawkins <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FARDDcdFaQ> [link also in the Appendices].
This video calls attention to the biases of mainstream media and news outlets by illustrating Fox News
anchor Bill OReillys passive-aggressive stance towards Richard Dawkins rejection of religious belief,
specifically Christianity.
-

Instruct the class to take notes as they watch this video. They are to identify any elements of the interview
that are potentially indicative of media bias, including: on-screen text and images, arguments that are
proposed, the kinds of evidence used to support any arguments made, and also the way the interviewer
conducts the interview and responds to statements made by the interviewee.

Think-Pair-Share (5 minutes):
7) Once the class has finished watching the YouTube video and writing down their observations, the teacher
will initiate a Think-Pair-Share activity. Students will be instructed to pair up with the classmate sitting
closest to them and review each others observation notes. They will then create a combined set of notes
which they will present to the rest of the class. This activity will last for a maximum of 5 minutes of class
time.
Reading Biased Articles (10 minutes):

8) The next segment of the lesson will involve reading two journal articles, one of which is an example of a
biased text. The articles that the class will be working with are Cell Phones Dont Contribute to Learning
[see Appendices] and Reading and the Cell Phone: An Up and Coming Romance [see Appendices]. Each
student will be provided with hardcopies of these texts, and will follow along as the teacher reads them
aloud. Reading these articles should take up no more than 10 minutes of class time.
Article Analysis Activity (25 minutes):
9) For the remainder of the lesson, students will reread and analyze the two aforementioned articles in order to
determine which one is biased, as per the instructions listed on the Is This Article Biased? Activity
handout.
Wrap-Up (end of class):
10) The teacher will collect all student work for evaluation, and dismiss the class. The students will also be
instructed to bring in newspapers and magazines for next class; the bias lesson will continue on into the next
class session, and these newspapers will be required for the main class activity.

Materials Needed:

Writing materials (i.e. pencils, pens, erasers, loose-leaf paper, etc.)

Laptop computer
Projector
Projector Screen and/or Smartboard
Bias News Media Coverage Against Blacks vs Whites YouTube video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=jRknjB2WsaQ> [link also in Appendices]

Bill OReilly SCARED by Richard Dawkins YouTube video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=2FARDDcdFaQ> [link also in Appendices]

Cell Phones Dont Contribute to Learning
Reading and the Cell Phone: An Upcoming Romance
Is This Article Biased? Activity Handout

Appendices:
1) Lesson Opener/Writing Prompt:

Do you think that (social) media texts sometimes try to force certain ideas and/or viewpoints onto their
audiences? If you answered yes, explain why this might be the case. Can you think of any specific
examples of media texts that have done this?

2) Bias News Media Coverage Against Blacks vs Whites YouTube video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=jRknjB2WsaQ>
3) Please see the Lesson 9 folder on the Part 3 page of the unit-plan website for a downloadable
version of the Bias PowerPoint presentation
4) Bill OReilly SCARED by Richard Dawkins YouTube video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=2FARDDcdFaQ>
5) Cell Phones Dont Contribute to Learning and Reading and the Cell Phone: An Up and Coming
Romance articles included below as printable handouts
6) Is This Article Biased Activity Handout included below, as a printable handout
Copy and paste this template for the number of lessons you write. Note that some lessons could take more
than one class.

Appendices (contd):
Cell Phones Dont Contribute to Learning Article:

Cell Phones Don't Contribute to Learning

Return to Virginia Tech "On Campus" page
People are using cell phones everywhere, even in schools, leading some school systems to ban
them during the academic day. "Cell phones don't contribute to learning and are potentially a
distraction," says Thomas Sherman, Virginia Tech professor of education. "There are already
enough distractions; there's no need to add another."

Sherman, who researches how children learn,

explains that cell phones may inhibit younger
children from learning the full range of
communication.
"Cell phones mediate or 'stand between' people,"
he says. The words are sent but the non-verbal
information is not. Some consider the voice tone,
facial expression, and physical gestures as
important to the meaning of a message as the
words. When communication is frequently
mediated, it is possible children will not learn
these subtle aspects of communicating well.
Today much communication is mediated with
telephones, computer e-mail, and video. It is
appropriate to limit this mediated communication
with young children.
Modern cell phones are sophisticated devices
that, like games, television sets, and computers,
operate from screens. The idea of excessive
"screen time" worries many educators. Children
can spend two to four hours each day in front of
screens. Much of this time has limited physical and mental activity. Often solitary entertainment
screen time can occupy the majority of children's out of school free time. Educators recommend
that children engage in active play, read, play social board games, and fantasy play. "Screen
time" should be limited.
Sherman listed a few other reasons for not having cell phones in school including that the ringing
can be a distraction. Cell phones could contribute to social inequities creating a new level of
"have/have-not" distinction. There may also be a "keep up with Jones'" response as new and
fancier phone technology comes along. Cell phones are small and getting smaller, thus, are easily
lost and a potential target for theft.
"There are no good reasons for children to have cell phones," he says. One of the reasons
frequently given for youngsters to have cell phones is to allow them to be able to contact
someone in an emergency. "But schools are safe places so emergencies don't happen often,"
Sherman says. "Schools are good about recognizing emergencies and making the appropriate
contacts. Besides, it is not good to give children the impression schools are unsafe - exactly the
opposite of the truth.
"There really are no clear learning related uses," Sherman says, "and several disadvantages."
It also is not accurate for families to think that the cell phone is making it easier for daily
planning. Sherman suggested that waiting until the last minute to make plans -thus necessitating
a call to the child - is a poor model for children. It is a better model for children to be learning to

plan and study with a longer perspective. Parents should keep children informed and within a
well planned context.
"Young students don't need this electronic tether to home and parents. They should learn to make
decisions and experience the consequences. If children can't make, on their own, the decisions
needed at school, they may never learn to be independent thinkers. We just don't need to be so
'connected,'" Sherman says.
Mary Ann Johnson
Thomas Sherman, professor of teaching and learning, can be reached at (540) 231-8348
tsherman@vt.edu

Reading and the Cell Phone: An Up and Coming Romance Article:

A PUBLICATION OF THE FLORIDA READING ASSOCIATION

Volume 43, No. 2, Winter 2006

Technology - Feature
Reading and the Cell Phone: An Up and
Coming Romance
Terence W. Cavanaugh

In this article, Dr. Cavanaugh stretches our notions of literacy by providing examples of how
technology, in this case cell phones, can be used for reading and writing.
Cell phones and schools are not usually associated together, at least not in a good
way. But this form of technology is one that has been undergoing great leaps and
improvements, and perhaps one day soon teachers will be reprimand students for
forgetting to bring their cell phones to class, or teachers will be listening to excuses
from the student who didnt complete his reading homework because the phone
battery was recharging.
Today cell phones seem to be everywhere and in nearly every hand. While driving
past a middle school the other day, I saw school let out. Just as always, children
came hurrying out the doors, some going to the bus loop, others starting the walk
home, and some getting their bikes. One of the differences "from always" was how
many children I saw getting out their cell phones and making calls (even the kids
on bikes).
And before anyone dismisses the idea of using cell phones for reading, consider
how readily available these tools are. The digital natives of today, also known as a
member of the Millennial Generation, seem to have been born with a cell phone
(see Figure 1), to the extent that in 2003, over 43% of school aged children owned
at least one wireless device (Patrick 2004). Breaking down that statistic you will
find that in 2003, 70% of middle and high school students and 61% of upper
elementary students had cell phones (Branigan 2004), and the numbers have only
been growing since then. Just looking at how the average high school students of
today spends their time shows some of the differences from previous generations,
as todays students weekly spend more time on the internet (16.7 hours) than
watching television (13.6 hours), and still find time for talking on the phone (7.7
hours) (Yahoo 2003).

First lets think about the phone. Todays cell phones

have a number of interesting functions and abilities
beyond just voice communication. One factor of the
constant technology growth is that todays better
cell phones actually have the computing power of a
mid 1990s personal computer (Prensky 2004).
Now, a number of cell phones also have the ability
to use removable memory cards, which can be used
in the phone and in a computer. Almost all cell
phones now can send and receive text messages,
do note-taking (as voice or text), have calendars,
and the ability to play games which actually
means that they can run additional software
programs. Some phones have abilities which are
becoming more common, such as being able to
browse the Internet or play MP3s.
What does this have to do with reading? Well for
one thing, students are already reading their
phones: texting or messaging has become a common tool for students. What Im
suggesting is that teachers start thinking about using the communication tools that
students already have, are using, and are quite comfortable with. Lets start having
our students use their cell phone also as a reading tool Books on Phone. One of
the early cell phone books to receive a lot of attention was written by an author in
Japan named Yoshi, who self-published a book titled Deep Love as a serialized book
that was distributed as downloadable text files to be read on cell phones (Steuer
2004). Within three years of its release the cell phone books download site had
accumulated over 20 million hits, being very popular with female teen readers. Now
some of the book companies are already starting to use this idea. Harlequin, the
famous romance novel publishing house, now provides a subscription service called
Harlequin On The Go, which delivers serialized Harlequin stories directly to users
cell phones.
Already there are a wide variety of book types available for cell phones, including
non-fiction, poetry, graphic novels, short stories, and whole novels. For the cell
phone, these electronic books break down into three basic formats: audiobook, web
book, and Java book. If the material that you want your students to read doesnt
already exist, it is possible to create your own cell phone friendly book versions.

Phones that can play MP3s can be

used to play audiobooks. MP3
versions of books can be
purchased, created or
downloaded from sites such as
AudiobooksForFree.com. and then
played in the phone when the
user wants to listen. Web books
for cell phones are actually
webpages which show the web
page in a display format known
as WAP, which means that the
dimensions of the page are
formatted for the small size of the
phones or PDAs screen. To
create books for this format the
text is converted to html, then
set for a WAP display, and then
placed online. The last type is the Java book. In this format, the book has actually
been made part of a small program which plays in the phone and displays the book
on the screen (see Figure 2). This format may be better for text display versions,
because it will not require the reader to be connected, thereby avoiding per minute
charges for being online. There are a number of free programs and websites that
will convert text material to the Java book format. For example t41 readme is a
website that allows users to upload text versions (.txt) of books to the site, which
will then convert the book into the Java format, which users can then download and
share (see Figure 3).

How do you get the book into the phone?

This is a skill that many of your students
may already have. If the book is a web
book, the reader must use the cell
phones browser to go online to the page
with the book that is to be read. If the
book is an audio or Java book, then the
book can be downloaded and installed
from the web, through a phone
synchronizing cable, or even better by
phone sharing using tools such as
infrared transfer or Bluetooth. Using
infrared or Bluetooth, the teacher could
share, by infrared beaming, the book to a
few students, who could then turn around
and share it with more students, in a
pass along format as they keep the book
and give it to someone else, too.
With this technology, as with any
technology, there will be pros and cons
about the application. Some of the issues
with using a cell phone for a book reader
include the screen and the controls.
Usually the screens resolutions is less
than 320 by 240 pixels, making it less
than half the pixel screen size of old
computers. Concerning the controls, there are no program standards, so different
programs use different buttons to control the displayed book. For example in some
books the number nine key means go down a page, while in others it means
search. Also the buttons are so small that for some people even typing in numbers
can be a challenge. On the other hand, the technology has many benefits. First, this
technology is already available to your students, so there is no additional cost. The
tool is already a familiar tool for most students, and will just be one more new
application of a tool that they are using. In terms of reading support, the cell
phones books can be displayed with variable text sizes, so while less text is
displayed on the screen, the words shown are larger and easier to see and read.
Additionally the Java books can be set to automatically scroll for the reader,
eliminating the need to keep pressing buttons when reading.
In some ways the modern cell phone is like the VCR of yesteryear remember the
flashing clock that perhaps you or your parents couldnt get to stop. Enter the
digital native: children took to VCRs and cable television programming and used
them with what seemed like instinct. Today cell phones occupy a similar niche in
the technology environment, so if you really want to know what your cell phone can
do, sit with a teenager and get him or her to take you through step by step some of
the options and abilities of your phone.

Cell phone Book Resources:

Software for creating Java books:
BookReader by Tequilacat http://tequilacat.nm.ru/dev/br/index-en.html
ReadManiac http://www.deep-shadows.com/hax/ReadManiac/index.htm
mjBook4: http://www.mjsoft.nm.ru/booke.htm
Online for creating Java books
t41 readme: http://www.t41.nl/
Existing cell phone book libraries
Audiobooks For Free: http://www.audiobooksforfree.com
HaperCollins: http://mobilereader.harpercollins.com.au/
Harlequin On The Go: http://store.eharlequin.com/splash/mobile_intro.jhtml
MobileBooks: http://www.mobilebooks.org
tx2ph: http://www.tx2ph.com/

References
Branigan, C. (2004). Schools dial up cell-phone content. eSchools News. Retrieved
August 23, 2006, from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/pfshowStory.cfm?
ArticleID=5326
Patrick, S. (2004) The Millennials - excerpted from a speech presented at the No
Child Left Behind - eLearning Summit. Orlando Florida. July 13, 2004.
Prensky, M. (2004). What Can You Learn From A Cell Phone? Almost Anything.
Marc Prensky website. Retrieved September 1, 2006 from
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/PrenskyWhat_Can_You_Learn_From_a_Cell_Phone-FINAL.pdf
Steuer, E. (2004) Phone Fiction. Wired Magazine. June.
Yahoo (2003). Born to be wired: Understanding the first wired generation.
Retrieved August, 2006, from
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/promo/btbw_2003/btbw_execsum.pdf

Terence W. Cavanaugh is an instructor in the College of Education and Human

Services at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida. He may be reached
at t.cavanaugh@unf.edu.

Is This Article Biased? Activity Handout:

Name:
Date:

Is This Article Biased?

Reread the two articles, Cell Phones Dont Contribute to Learning and Reading and the Cell
Phone: An Upcoming Romance, and highlight any elements that you think are indicative of bias

in these texts. Once you have completed your analysis of these texts answer the following
questions on a sheet of loose-leaf paper. This activity is to be done individually.

1) Which of these two articles do you suspect to be guilty of media bias? Why do you think
that this is the case? If you were to rewrite this article, what would you do in order to
make it more reliable? Be specific.
2) Why is the other article an example of a more reliable text? Discuss the ways in which it
is superior to the biased text. Be specific.