CLASSROOM:
Student / Teacher Activities | Student
Links | Teachers
| See
No TV, Hear No TV |
Blindfold
yourself and listen to a newscast.
- As you listen, note what is interesting information, how
engaged you are in the newscast, and what strikes you as
the most interesting story.
- Next, select a new broadcast—one on a different channel
or broadcast later in the day. This time, turn the volume
on the television down and just watch the news. Again, note
what is interesting about the newscast, how engaged you
are in the program, and what is the most interesting story.
- How well can you follow what is going on?
- Compare and contrast your reactions.
- Is television news primarily a visual or auditory media?
- How is the newscast altered when either sound or visuals
are removed?
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| News
by the Numbers |
In
the May 27, 2001, edition of
the Denver Post, it was reported that a typical
late evening half-hour news program is divided into the following
segments:
- News: 44.2 percent,
- Commercials: 24.4 percent,
- Sports: 11.7 percent,
- Weather: 9.1 percent,
- Promotions: 9 percent, and
- Chat: 1.3 percent.
The data was gathered by an analysis
of the late evening broadcasts of March 7, 2001 on Denver’s
five biggest TV stations. The report further stated that local
news made up 74 percent of the news report, national news 21.8
percent and international news 4.1 percent. - Using a stopwatch
or a watch with a secondhand, view a local news program for
three or four nights and time and record the minutes and seconds
devoted to each of the segments.
- Then add the total for each
segment and establish an average.
- Are your local news program
segments similar to the time percentages listed above?
- If not,
were there circumstances that altered the percentages?
- Does
the way the newscast is segmented have any bearing on the way
stories are presented?
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| Create
the Perfect News Team |
Local
and national news anchors (the men and women who
report the news from behind desks in studios) are sometimes
characterized as “full-time performers and part-time reporters.”
As “performers,” anchors are given clothing allowances,
assistance with hair care and styling, and makeup artists. Additionally,
they are coached in their deliveries so as to appear friendly,
confident, and knowledgeable.
- Using old magazines, cut and paste
pictures to form a collage of the perfect news team of two news
anchors, a weather person, and a sports person.
- After you have
completed the collage of the team, describe the essential qualities
of each member and discuss why you chose to “create”
the team as you did.
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Other great activities:
Get
the News You Want
Do a Comparison Study
Create
a Newscast for Your Audience
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