"Storm Lake" discussion guide on the importance of local journalism
This discussion guide serves as a companion for adult learners and community members viewing the PBS documentary Storm Lake.
Six zones of information
As the amount of information at our fingertips grows at an unprecedented rate, filtering information is an increasingly essential news literacy skill. The foundational concepts of InfoZones help guide students to the vital realization that not all information is created equal and that the credibility of different types of information is often correlated with their purpose. By helping students discover six primary purposes of information, you can help them develop the habit of questioning the purpose of all the information they encounter.
Of course, most pieces of information have more than one purpose — a television show that is produced to be entertaining can also be informative, for example, or an advertisement produced to sell a product or service can also entertain — but this lesson helps students understand that almost all the information they encounter has one primary purpose that has a significant effect on its credibility.
Primary purposes and zones:
- To entertain: entertainment.
- To sell: advertising.
- To persuade: opinion.
- To provoke: propaganda.
- To document: raw information.
- To inform: news.
Definitions for each purpose and zone are included in the poster linked below. This poster was adapted from the InfoZones lesson on our Checkology® virtual classroom. Use it with that lesson or with the classroom version of the InfoZones lesson.
Related Resources
News Diary
In this activity, students will commit to following daily news coverage from a credible, standards-based news organization for a
Breaking news checklist
When big news breaks, it can be hard to cut through the noise and find accurate information. Misinformation thrives
Listening guide: “Opinion creep: How facts lost ground in the battle for our attention”
Discussion questions, vocabulary and classroom activities to help you teach about how to differentiate between news and the views
News Goggles: Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times
This week, we talk to Los Angeles Times reporter Libor Jany about his role covering the Los Angeles Police
HIDE
Saved Resources (0)
Saved Resources (0)
0