Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. The purpose of the news media is to provide unbiased information about local and global events to inform the masses. However, political bias has had an impact on the media, affecting the way events are reported. In what ways does the media inform citizens? What might be the impact of biased reporting? Is bias possible to avoid? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt introduces the theme Truth Versus Perception. Before beginning, you may want to use a hand-raising or digital survey to ask students to show which media they use—television, social media, newspaper—to receive their news. Then, you could briefly discuss how each medium delivers information in different ways. 

• “AllSides Media Bias Report” provides an infographic overview of various online news sites and categorizes them by the amount and type of political bias: far left, left, center, right, and far right. It may help to explain “left-leaning” versus “right-leaning” for increased comprehension.
• “How to Spot Fake News” is a Common Sense Media site detailing how to teach students to identify “fake news” through different inquiries along with tips for what to look for on the site itself.