Problem
Compare and contrast the cable news broadcasts of Tucker Carlson (Fox News) and Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O'Donnel (MSNBC) covering the same topic. You may pick episodes from these shows dating back one calendar year for this activity. Each program can be accessed on the parent network's website or an online video archive (YouTube, Hulu, Google video, etc). Watch each program for a minimum of 10 minutes, to ensure the topic was fully addressed from introduction to conclusion.
Then, think about and respond to the following questions.
a) What was the lead story? What level of priority did political news receive?
b) What were the similarities and differences did you observe in the general nature of the stories which received coverage?
c) What did you see/hear that was relevant to your reading about the media in our text?
d) Was their a political bias to the presentation? If so, what was it (i.e., liberal or conservative)? Was it more or less obvious on one network rather than other?
e) How does this bias affect you as a viewer? As a thinker? As a voter or potential voter?