ABORTION
Media Analysis: For this assignment, you are to investigate and compare media coverage of one issue from both mainstream and alternative sources.
Since you will be comparing reporting across sources, it is probably easiest to address an issue that is currently hot such as the current war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, Corporate corruption, gay marriage, abortion, or immigration issues.
Read at least one mainstream print article from a newspaper or magazine. You may use online sources such as the Washington Post, USA Today, nytimes.com, newsweek.com, time.com, and so on. Provide a link to the sources you use in your paper. Use online sources. Why?
Investigate the same topic in at least two alternative print sources, ideally one on each side of the political spectrum.
Analysis: address these questions in your paper.
1. What are the key themes in the coverage?
2. What are the different arguments that you have heard from the various articles?
3. What are the recurring patterns in media coverage of the subject?
4. How have the producers/writers/editors shaped the message(s) through words, images, or other means?
5. What is omitted from their message(s)?
6. In your view, do the messages accurately represent the totality of the subject? Why or why not?
7. In what ways does format matter and why?
8. Does anything else strike you about the coverage that you read?
