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HOW TO READ A NEWSPAPER:
| 1. Read each headline. . . on the front page and try to understand what each means. 2. Read the first two paragraphs of each story. Remember, these stories are placed on the front page of the newspaper because the editor thought them to be the most important news items of the day. If an article captures your interest, continue reading. 3. Identify. . .the WHO and WHAT of each story and try to summarize each in a few words. |
4. Turn through the next several pages. . . or all the way through the newspaper. Scan the headlines and look through the photos to get an idea of what's in today's edition. 5. Continue through the newspaper in this way. . . pausing to enjoy your favorite part, whether it is the comics, sports, columns, town or business sections. |
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| Points
to Ponder: |
| • What is news? News is information that is true, timely, important, concise or unusual. As John Bogart, Editor of the New York Sun stated, "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, but when a man bites a dog, this is news." • Why use a newspaper when TV, Radio and the
Internet are faster? The radio is the fastest
source of news, TV the easiest, and the Internet has the most choices;
however, the newspaper provides more indepth coverage and a variety of
local, state, national and international information. Newspapers also
allow readers to pick and choose what they want to read and when they
want to read it. The best method for being an informed citizen is to
use all of these sources regularly.
• Why is freedom of the press important? Having a free press is essential to having a free country. Consider that one of the first steps of a dictator or an invading army is to censor the newspapers of the conquered people. |