Overview: This assessment is designed to encourage students to regularly review selected domestic and foreign news media from a critical geopolitical perspective. The student must choose two, on-line, news media sources that cover international, geopolitical news. These sources must be reviewed on a daily basis until the assessment due date. One of these sources must be an English speaking source, based in an English speaking country and the other should be in the student’s mother tongue, based in their country of origin.
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The two newspapers i choice are: 1. The New York Times 2. De Volkskrant (Dutch newspaper)
The article is about: Mercenaries Join Nigeria’s Military Campaign Against Boko Haram
Links from the articles:
NYtimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/world/africa/nigerias-fight-against-boko-haram-gets-help-from-south-african-mercenaries.html
Volkskrant: http://www.volkskrant.nl/dossier-boko-haram/huurlingen-helpen-nigeria-in-strijd-tegen-boko-haram~a3900269/
1. The student should give a short 2-3 sentence summary of the topic, a comparison of the two articles (focusing on the differences), some geopolitical analysis and finally some personal comments and opinions.
2. The student must read reports covering the same geopolitical issues found in both news media
3. In your own words, summarize the topic (2 – 3 sentences), compare and contrast the articles and then write an analysis. The journal must be typed and indicate the date, title, author and media source of the reports (APA end of text referencing). Your analysis should include references to other outside sources. You should have at least 1 in-text reference for each entry from a source that is different from your entry sources (the two ones i gave you). These in-text sources must be in English! Students should not make in-text references from the articles they are comparing. All In-text references need to have an end of text reference at the end of each entry.
4. Students will need to write at one page (minimum) analytical conclusion based on their journal entries and research, highlighting different perspectives and approaches apparent in the two news media as well as a geopolitical analysis of the chosen topics.
5. To help you with your journal entries, here are some suggested questions you may want to consider:
• What is the actual story?
• What kinds of sources do the different reporters use? (e.g. government
officials; and/or people on the street; and/or local NGOs?)
• What are the contrasts in editorial positions between the newspapers?
• What issues do the different news media stress as important? What issues are ignored? • In what ways do perspectives vary between the news media?
• How might these differences reflect the politics of the newspapers and their country’s governments?
• How has reading the foreign news media changed your own idea of what should count as ‘world news’?
• What do you think readers of the foreign news media would make of the coverage in the English language paper and vice-versa? Would they think it biased? Or would they just frame the same issues in different ways?
