Bias? Comparing Various Accounts in Different Mediums

Reading Standards for Informational Text /Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 

       

Grades 9-10 

7. Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a  person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are  emphasized in each account.    

Let’s continue with the United Stated presidential campaign theme. There are biographies created by those without bias. (Are there any?) There are those created for their nomination conventions. Then there are those created by liberal or conservative news sources. Searches on life of Mitt Romney and life of Barack Obama resulted in surprisingly few results. Some combine video and text. Others are strictly text.

Reading an online biography is very different from reading one in print. Most online biographies include embedded hyperlinks. Depending upon the interest of the reader, these links may very well take them off on a chase for content that is, for the most part, unrelated to the biography. Online biographies may also include videos, photos, embedded timelines, click-able timelines, music and other media. Each of these media have an impact on the message.

·         Biography.com

o   http://www.biography.com/people/barack-obama-12782369

o   http://www.biography.com/people/mitt-romney-241055

·         Wikipedia

o   http://www.biography.com/people/mitt-romney-241055

o   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

·         Wall Street Journal

o   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444812704577607573219596062.html

·         Video Bio of Romney from RNC

o   http://vimeo.com/49049747

·         Timelines – search name timeline

o   http://www.american-presidents-history.com/barack-obama-timeline.html

o   http://www.american-presidents-history.com/mitt-romney-timeline.html