Purpose: To aid students in becoming more aware of society’s view of child maltreatment, what we as a society can do (or not do) to help to prevent it, and the impact that something as influential as the media has on the way we think about such a social issue.
Assignment: Start collecting newspaper articles (in print or online) that pertain to any aspect of child abuse or neglect (write-ups about a case, descriptions of a new program or personal stories about children or families) anything that relates to the topic will work for this project. You can choose articles based around a theme of your choice, it is completely up to you. Ideally, you should collect 8-10 articles between now and the time the assignment is due (be sure to always note the date they appeared). It’s a good idea to use different newspapers sources, since each may have a different slant.
Choose the best 5-10 articles in order to analyze the following:
1. What impact does the article have on the reader?
2. What value laden words does the author use?
3. What appears to be the reporter’s view of the people involved? 4. Does the reporter appeal to the reader to adopt a specific view? 5. Does the reporter offer any solutions?
Summarize all of your findings in a 3-4 page paper that answers the question, “What effect does the media have on child abuse and neglect?”
Examples of conclusions can include: how the media informs and educates, how the media tends to only report the sensational and further victimizes victims, how different ethnicities are portrayed, etc.
There are no real right or wrong answers, this assignment is meant to get you to really think about the impact media has on the topic of child abuse and neglect.
