1. Faith & Crime Reporting In News Media EMS3O w/ Mr. Richards Lesson materials from MediaSmarts.ca

2. Watch this PSA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfqsOM2WFo)

3. What is this public service announcement’s message? What stereotypes and assumptions is it based on and how does it counter them? Is it effective in delivering its message? Is its message still relevant?

4. KEY CONCEPTS Media products are re-presentations of reality Which “version” of reality does this ad respond to?

5. Recent stats: African-Americans appeared as perpetrators of crime almost twice as often in American TV news as they did in reality 37 per cent of perpetrators on the news (construction) 21 per cent in arrest reports (reality) (Dixon, Travis L. and Keith B. Maddox. Skin Tone, Crime News, and Reality Judgments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2005).

6. How are the following groups of people represented in news? Or how about in TV or film? Is this accurate? Immigrants Teenagers Persons with mental illness Motorcyclists First Nations peoples People with… TATTOOS!?

7. KEY CONCEPTS Media communicate values and messages (even if these are just the creator’s unquestioned assumptions) Media have social implications (because we base our view of the world in part on the media we consume). How might seeing these stereotypes make members of particular groups feel about themselves?

8. Faith in news reporting “WHITE CAUCASIAN MAN CHARGED WITH STABBING HIS WHITE CAUCASIAN GIRLFRIEND” “SHOOTING DEATH OF BLACK TEEN SHOCK TO COMMUNITY” “SIKH TAXI DRIVER IN COURT FOR SEXUAL ASSUALT” “MUSLIM WOMAN LINKED TO ROBBERY”

9. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS In what situations is it appropriate to identify an individual’s religion in the news? Can this lead to a misperception of a particular religion in the media? If a suspect’s religion is mentioned in reporting a crime, can this lead to negative stereotyping of that religion? How does the answer change when dealing with other forms of diversity (ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability)? Why?