Read the scenario.During the 1960 presidential election, Republican candidate Richard Nixon and Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy held the first presidential debates on US television. Since television was a relatively new form of media, the debates were also broadcast on radio. Nixon and Kennedy came across very differently on television. Nixon, who was older than Kennedy and had recently been ill, looked pale, tired, and in need of a shave. Kennedy, on the other hand, looked tanned, rested, and healthy. Kennedy looked into the camera, as if he were talking directly to the public. Nixon directed his gaze to the reporters in the room, which made it look like he was trying to avoid eye contact with the public. Polls held after the first debate showed that most TV viewers believed that Kennedy had won the debate. Radio listeners, on the other hand, believed either that the debate had been a draw or that Nixon had won. Kennedy went on to win the election in a close race.
How does mass media differ from social media?
Which scenario is an example of how social media can influence elections?
Which situation is an example of using social media?
What do the media do in their role as watchdog?
Read the excerpt from an article on the Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) web site. While some young people might not be able to vote yet, they are leveraging social media to educate themselves and their peers . . . It isn’t unusual for young teens to have hundreds—even thousands—of followers. And most teens today are already heavily networked with their peers and community, allowing them to disseminate information quickly and easily. Teens have been using social media to circulate news posts, register to vote, share petitions, fundraise, donate, offer political commentary, document and share acts of injustice and mobilize their peers to take action . . .Young people are using social media to make new avenues of activism. "Youth today are leveraging social media to move into adult-dominated political spheres,” Dr. Lee said. "Even if many of them cannot vote yet, youth have risen up to the occasion and have become leading voices.” . . .This surge of youth-inspired activism is not new, experts say. Youth activism has a rich history including the organizing in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and in groups such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Little Rock Nine and more recently the Parkland teens . . . . While social media represents a shift in the medium through which youth do activism, the attitudes have remained constant through generations."Youth are leveraging their social media expertise to mobilize their friends into conversation and action,” says Jessia Rosario, a student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. ”We are using it to recruit, educate and inspire one another to not wait for the right moment because the moment is now.”–"How young people use social media to engage civically”Ranier Harris, November 5, 2020
Read the scenario.In 2016, Michael Luo, an editor at the New York Times, used the hashtag #thisis2016 to reach accounts by Asian Americans about the racism they faced. The Times then used the accounts to create a video. South and Southeast Asian Americans were not part of the video. So, they used their own hashtag, #BrownAsiansExist, to express their frustration at not being included. The video and the two hashtags helped create a conversation about diversity in Asian American communities.
Which situation is an example of social media users acting as watchdogs?
Read the scenario.A news program decides to raise awareness of how climate change affects tribal fishing in the Pacific Northwest. The program broadcasts three reports on different parts of the problem. It airs stories on ways climate change affects tribal fish farms, efforts to block mining companies that endanger salmon populations, and ways tribes have adapted to climate change.
Read this description about social media.Social media can have both positive and negative effects. Sometimes, users post comments that spread hate, promote racism, or encourage violence. As a result, most social media platforms have policies in place to address this problem. The platforms will remove offensive posts. They also will flag and sometimes close accounts they think are inappropriate.
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