Activity #2: Exploring Civic Issues in the News and in Your Networks

(30 min)

 

Step 1: Scan Your News Sources

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Ask students to look at today’s headlines in local print newspaper, watch/listen to local news, scan online local news sites.

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• What civic issues are featured in the top news stories?

• What civic issues are discussed but are given less space, time, and attention?

• Are there any issues being reported on that you’d be curious to learn more about? What more would you like to learn?

• What challenges might you encounter (or have you encountered) as you try to learn about this issue?

 

Step 2: Scan Your Networks

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Ask students to look at their news feeds on their favorite social media sites. They should look across the posts from a single day or across several hours if they have a very active feed. (If some students are not an active social media users, ask them to pair up with someone who is active on a social media site.)

 

Invite them to explore the following questions:

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• What are the topics or civic issues represented across the posts? Make a list of the issues you see represented in what people post - including posts that contain news articles/links in addition to original posts (status updates, tweets, etc.) in which a person is sharing an idea or perspective about an issue.

• Are there any issues being raised or discussed on social media that you’d be curious to learn more about? What more would you like to learn?

• What challenges might you encounter (or have you encountered) as you try to learn about this issue?