According to the news platformNewscompare, just 41 percent of Americans believe the mass media report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” Even fewer Americans who are politically involved believe what they see on television, read in newspapers, or hear on radio. Newscompare is trying to change that. This one-of-a-kind, free news platform takes snapshots of major media outlets every hour and lines them up side-by-side, making it easy to teach media literacy. The media reports are also searchable by date and time.
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students read or view a literary text, and then identify and discuss examples of propaganda techniques in the text. Students then explore the use of propaganda in popular culture by looking at examples in the media.
PBS affiliate WETA has made available a list of propaganda techniques that make false connections (such as the techniques of “transfer” and “testimonial”), or constitute special appeals (such as “bandwagon” and “fear”), or are types of logical fallacy (for example, “unwarranted extrapolation”).
The Mind Over Media web platform gives students aged 13 and up an opportunity to explore the subject of contemporary propaganda by hosting thousands of examples of 21st-century propaganda from around the world.