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Young Adult Nonfiction Media Studies

The News

The News

by (author) Peter Steven

series edited by Jane Springer

Publisher
Groundwood Books Ltd
Initial publish date
May 2010
Category
Media Studies, General
Recommended Age
14 to 18
Recommended Grade
9 to 12
Recommended Reading age
14 to 18
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780888998231
    Publish Date
    May 2010
    List Price
    $11.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780888998224
    Publish Date
    May 2010
    List Price
    $18.95

Classroom Resources

Download Teacher’s Guide

Download Teacher’s Guide

Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

"[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail

Too many of us have no choice about the type of news we receive. Too many of us remain ignorant of major issues and diverse opinions because the news isn't providing them. Over the past twenty years the news media has become more restricted, less diverse and of steadily declining quality. Fewer owners and managers control editorial policies, journalists have been sacked, and those who remain find themselves working at a faster pace on more superficial stories. Most of us rely on a dominant media, controlled by a few globalized giants. These groups have attained enormous financial and political power.

But as this book shows, the trends are not all bad. Outside the West, particularly in Asia, citizens receive better and more diverse news than ever before. Rising levels of literacy and education in India, Korea, Indonesia and China have fostered vastly increased newspaper circulations, and the Internet has brought a much broader world to some restricted societies.

About the authors

Peter Steven teaches media studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, and he is the author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Global Media. His writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Le Devoir, the New Internationalist, Jump Cut, the Canadian Journal of Film Studies and the Beaver. He holds a PhD in Radio/TV/Film from Northwestern University in Chicago. Peter lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Peter Steven's profile page

Jane Springer is the author of Genocide, part of the Groundwork Guides series for which she is also the series editor. She is a consultant in international development and has lived and worked in Mozambique and India. She is the author of Listen to Us: The World's Working Children and translator of the Portuguese-language books Nest Egg and Tales from the Amazon. Jane Springer lives in Toronto.

Jane Springer's profile page

Awards

  • Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens, Starred Selection

Editorial Reviews

...offers plenty of food for thought about [the] topic in a clear, cogent way.

Booklist Online

good for students

Resorce Link

...an excellent resource for today’s high school–aged students.

J-Source.ca

The News is an informative and thought-provoking analysis...Highly recommended.

CM Magazine

Steven makes a strong case for the power of the news media to shape our thinking about national and world events.

School Library Journal

"News people often tell us that a free media provides the oxygen for a healthy democracy. Reliable news helps us maintain our civil rights - to speak openly, to gather with others in public, to vote and run for office. But a free media also helps maintain our basic human rights - to food, safety and health. Without the ability to receive and distribute basic news information we live in fear and danger - a long way from democracy."

Librarian Reviews

The News (Groundwork Guide)

Is the news we receive today accurate, reliable and complete? Or is it unreliable, superficial and insulting? Author Peter Steven looks at issues that surround the way news is delivered today. He examines how levels of literacy have increased newspaper circulation and how the Internet has opened the world up to some restricted societies. He reminds us that not all of the trends are bad and that news means different things to different people.

Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. 2011.

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