News Goggles: Kent Porter, The Press Democrat

Grades: 4-6, 7-9, 10-12+

Type: Classroom Activities

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Photos and videos are a crucial form of reporting and storytelling in journalism. They can add context, hold the powerful accountable and offer a window into people’s lived experiences.

This week, we talk to Kent Porter about his work as a photojournalist at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in Northern California. We examine the role of ethics in visual journalism, including the steps photojournalists take to document stories accurately and fairly. Porter explains how he has earned the trust of his community after covering the area for more than three decades. He also shares his perspective on the rise of artificial intelligence to generate images and underscores why photojournalism remains important in the digital age. Grab your news goggles!

Note: Look for this newsletter feature the first Monday of the month. You can explore previous News Goggles videos, annotations and activities in NLP’s Resource Library under “Classroom Activities.”

Resource: “Practicing Quality Journalism” (NLP’s Checkology^® virtual classroom).

Idea: Contact a local visual journalist and ask them to discuss the role of standards and ethics in their daily work.

Another Idea: Examine a recent news story that includes photos or videos from a visual journalist. How do these visuals impact the news coverage? How do they contribute to your understanding of the topic? What would your experience with news be like if there were no photos or videos?

Dig Deeper: Use this viewing guide for the featured News Goggles video to help students take notes on what it means to be a photojournalist.

News Goggles annotations and activities provide news literacy takeaways on timely topics. These resources feature examples of actual news coverage, including full news reports, headlines, breaking news alerts or excerpts.

This video originally appeared in the April 3, 2023, issue of The Sift^® newsletter for educators, which explores timely examples of misinformation, addresses journalism and press freedom topics and examines social media trends and issues. Read archives of the newsletter and subscribe here. Stock music in this video was provided by SoundKit from Pond5.

Have feedback about this resource? Or an idea for a future News Goggles? Please share it with us at [email protected].