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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

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Bell-ringerRespond in writing to the following prompts:

How might the adage “With great power comes great responsibility” relate to the news media?

What power does the news media have?

What responsibilities do they have?

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Gatekeeper: The news media decide what becomes news by introducing topics and giving them lots of “airtime”.

Example: The media’s coverage of the debate about Obama’s birthplace legitimized the debate and made it an issue in the election.

Powers of the News Media

Scorekeeper: The news media keeps track of who is important by the amount of airtime and the type of coverage it provides.

Example: In the 2008 presidential primary, the media did not give Democratic candidates Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd as much attention as the other candidates; therefore, Kucinich and Dodd were not considered viable contenders.

Watchdog: The news media scrutinizes powerful people, agencies, and organizations and alerts the public to unethical behavior, injustice, inequities, safety concerns, and abuses of power.

Example: The media exposed the torture of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

GatekeepersScorekeepers

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(Decide who and what is important)

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Watchdogs

(Expose malfeasance)

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= This is really important

= I don’t understand this

= Journalists rarely follow this

Some statements may have more than one annotation.

Code of EthicsAnnotate the article using the following symbols:

?

!

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Journalist=Superhero?Respond in writing to the following prompt:

How does the role of journalist compare to that of a superhero?

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