M03 Historical Hack: Bias & Sensationalism in Primary Media Sources

Optional Enrichment Activity - Complete this optional activity to learn how to use the HAPPY analysis to identify biases within a source, and understand why those biases are present (Historical context, Audience, Purpose, Point of View, and whY). You will also learn how to identify sensationalist reporting, its goals, and the techniques used by the reporter.

Suggested Activities:

• Read and review the information listed in the bias activity Links to an external site. at the end of this page. Imagine that you are a reporter gathering information about life for working Southern Black women in 1917. Imagine that you are interviewing a Southern White woman who employs a Black woman in her house. In what ways should you anticipate the interviewee's perspective limiting a full understanding of what life was really like for Black women in the South? 
• Complete the two blue activity boxes on this page Links to an external site.. These activities ask you to identify sensationalist reporting in today’s media. 
• Your responses should define the goal of the journalist for the media chosen (gain subscribers, influence public opinion), and the sensationalist reporting techniques used.