English

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About this Assignment

Bias has a distorting effect on how facts are presented and interpreted by different audiences. National news networks must make decisions about what stories to run, how to present what happened, and what order to tell those stories in. Bias can be a powerful factor in how the news is reported. Your paper should be at least 
2

5

00 words.

Prompt

Select two 
national news shows (do not use local news shows) that air on the same day from two different major networks (from networks such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc. Do not choose local news shows). Note the similarities and differences between each network in terms of which stories both networks report, which stories are covered by one and not the other, and what differences there are in the stories they choose to report.

· Summarize the stories and the way they were reported including a note of body language, word usage, and omissions.

· Explore the historical issues of bias in both news sources and how that might affect coverage.

· Discuss how viewers only watching one of these sources might get a different sense of current events than one watching the other.

· Discuss what steps each source could take to reduce their bias.

Formatting & Sources

Please write your paper in APA format. You may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least 3 sources and cite them using APA format. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA (including the lesson title and instructor’s name).

· Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.

· Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as Computing Edge. You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and IEEE.org to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)

If you’re unsure about how to use APA format to cite your sources, please see the following lessons:

·

What is APA Format? Style & Definition

·

How To Format APA Citations

Grading Rubric

Your essay will be graded based on the following rubric:

Category

Unacceptable (0-1)

Needs Improvement (2-3)

Good (4)

Excellent (5)

Total Possible Points

Summary of Each Show (x3) 

Does not summarize or provide detail on stories covered by each show

Includes vague or incomplete summaries of each show

Discusses all the major stories on each network in detail with support and quotes 

Summary is highly detailed with quotes, specific observations, and strong support

15

Bias Research (x3) 

Does not discuss historical bias at each channel or its observed effect on the stories 

Discusses historical bias at each channel or its observed effect on the stories

but is limited in scope or detail

Discusses historical bias at each channel or its observed effect on the stories

Discusses historical bias at each channel or its observed effect on the stories with support and examples

15

Impact of Bias 

Does not discuss the impact of bias on viewers of each channel

Discusses the impact of bias on one channel

Discusses the impact of bias on viewers of each channel

Discusses the impact of bias on viewers of each channel with specific examples and inferences

5

Language use & writing style 

English language use was poor. Writing style was confusing and ideas didn’t flow from one to the next.

Writing style kept on point, but organization could be better. Writing style kept on point, but organization could be improved

English use was good and at higher level. Essay was easily followed and points followed each other.

English use was high level and professional. Essay was organized in a meaningful way and points were systematically covered. Easy to read and follow.

5

Before You Submit

When you complete your assignment, we suggest taking some time to check for any errors or to add any finishing touches. We also suggest that you use online plagiarism checkers such as

·

PlagScan

 or

·

DupliChecker

to make sure that your assignment is not too similar to any existing materials. Plagiarized submissions will NOT be graded.