This assignment is designed to help familiarize you with newsworthiness, major news outlets and the
different choices media outlets make when covering a story. You will select a prominent hard news
story that is of interest to you and compare and contrast how three different major DAILY
publications (print or digital) covered the story on the same day.
Using a table, record the date the story ran, the publication and the major features of the story. What
evidence was offered? Was there data? What experts were quoted? How much space (how many words
if digital) did each outlet give the story. Did it run a photo? If so, of what? This information
provides the data for your analysis. For each of the papers, also be sure to capture headlines.
Based on your data, provide a brief analysis how the outlets’ covered differed or was similar by
applying agenda-setting and framing theories we discussed in class. Are there themes that appear
across broadcasts? Are there vast differences in the length of time/space outlets give a story? Does
there seem to be a “frame” for the story? What do you notice about the people or evidence each outlet
chose to use? Pay attention to language. Does anyone use loaded language? If so, how? What images
are used in each story? Be sure to include a conclusion about the impact of what you observed in these
news broadcasts or papers. Is there any implication of only reading one outlet vs. another? Your paper
should be roughly 3 pages double-spaced, not including your table.
