'Fake' v 'Real' News--June 21

Activity #1
It would be really interesting for students to compare what Jon Stewart discusses on The Daily Show and compare it to information/news in reliable sources like the BBC and the New York Times (or other such valid news sources). Comparing the two shows students that Jon Stewart isn’t making everything up and is “encouraging us to view official news more critically and thus compelling official news to become more credible and engage in…solid journalism” (Kothe 9). This concept could also tie into the idea to teach students to find reliable sources for their information. The Daily Show is based in some fact and is using humor to show the failings of official news through a lens of humor and accessibility for young people

Learner Outcomes:
Students will compare the ‘fake’ and ‘real’ news (The Daily Show v. CNN/BBC/PBS etc)
Students will see the value, other than comedic value, of watching ‘fake’ news; it allows them to become more critical of ‘official’ news.

Procedures:
Have students get into groups of five
Each group will be given an article from a reliable source (the articles will be about similar topics)
In groups, students will read the articles and write a summary of main points.
Students will complete a jigsaw activity, sharing the main points of their article with group members
-compare and contrast the main points; which are the same, which are different
Next, show students a clip from The Daily Show and an official news source (CNN, MSNBC, FOX News etc) that has similar information to the articles
Have students compare what is presented in The Daily Show and the official news source to what they read in their articles.
-have a discussion about: Which source was easier to understand? Which did they learn more from? How does humor effect if they like one or the other? For the students who like the reliable print sources, why do they like them better? Is it similar to the way they hear the news at home?
Discuss with students about the relevancy of ‘fake’ news and how comedy is appealing and makes us be critical viewers of official news (in written or visual form)

Rationale: Students will be able to explore the value of news in their own lives. By seeing news in humorous and more serious forms, students get two different perspectives on the news, neither of which are entirely right or wrong; together both types of news make a very well rounded, critical viewer. I also hope, with this activity, to encourage students to be critical viewers in the same way we teach students to be critical readers (and the whole concept of critical literacy). Hopefully they can apply these same skills of viewing multiple sides of things to literature and their own lives, making them better students and people in their communities.

Activity #2
Learner outcomes:
Students will view Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update”
Students will make a connection between the satire and farce in The Importance of Being Earnest and “Weekend Update”
Students will see the importance and capacity of both satire and farce to create a deeper meaning

Procedures:
Students will have completed Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
Redefine satire and farce
Show a clip from SNL’s “Weekend Update”
-What elements of farce are present?
-What elements of satire are present?
-How do these elements make you laugh?
-Do you believe anything the anchors are saying? Why or why not?
-If something is humorous does it automatically make it untrue?
-How are the anchors making a critique on American society/American news?
Relate the clip back to The Importance of Being Earnest
-Wilde is using his play to make a critique on Victorian society in the 1890s
-How are Wilde’s techniques similar to SNL’s?
-What elements are similar? What are things in the play and Weekend Update that you like? What are the things that make you think?
-Find one example in IBE that is similar to the broadcast on Weekend Update.(For example, the witty banter between the anchors and the witty banter between Algernon and Jack; physical humor employed by both)

Rationale:
I think that making a connection between a play written in 1895 and a comical sketch written in 2009 are important; students see the importance of satire and farce in something that is current and funny. Students are also being exposed to the ‘news’ and are able to judge for themselves what they would like to believe (since we know that “Weekend Update” isn’t official news). Wilde is only portraying Victorian England as he sees it which could also be seen as ‘fake’ news because we only get one perspective, although he is taking elements from reality. Wilde’s purpose is to make his audience laugh and to make them aware of their own absurdity just as “Weekend Update” is poking fun at news casters and the presentation of the American news.