Media and current events

Analysis Questions

The following questions can guide you in analyzing and discussing your particular chosen event.
The questions can apply generally and to each of your media sources.

Media analysis
Medium
How do the constraints of the various media (print, television, internet, radio etc.) affect the
nature of the description of the event?
How is the event presented/structured differently in a given medium?

Sources
What sources have been used?
How have they been described? What effect may this description have on the viewers
perception of the event?
Are the sources legitimate? (How do you know?)

Language and image

What connotations, labels, loaded words, stereotypes etc. have been used in various media
outlets?
Are there any weasel words or euphemisms used? By whom?
What images have been used? What effect are they likely to have?

Slant / ideology
Is there any evaluation in a given article (i.e. a comment which judges the event in a given light)
Does the description expect a particular ideological agreement for the reader/viewer?
Are there broader cultural perspectives involved? How would they differ from other cultural
perspectives?
Are there any false dichotomies (either-or choices) presented to try to simplify the event?
Event analysis
Origin and reach
What is the story? How did it start?
What are the facts? Are they verified?
What are the causes of the event?
What are possible consequences?
Why was it selected as a story (out of the thousands of potential other stories)?
How widely does the event have an impact (e.g. local, national, international)?

Stakeholders
Who are the primary stakeholders?
What are their various perspectives?
Which stakeholders get to define the event? How do they define it?
Do they make any logical fallacies in defining an event or in proposing solutions?
What choices of action do the stakeholders have? What is the logical choice?

Your take
What do you not understand about the event? What else do you need to know?
What information do you not have access to?
What is your insight into the event?