Associate Level Material
Media and Government
Read the following two short articles about air quality at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Links to the articles may be found on the Electronic Reserve Reading page for Week Seven.
Answer the questions in the chart with complete sentences by explaining what each source reports..
Articles:
China can't fully fix air quality problem for Olympics. (2008, July 16). Space Daily.
Beijing able to honor Olympic commitments: City party chief. (2008, July 21). Xinhua News Agency.
Question
What is the cause of the poor air quality?
What steps is the Chinese government taking to improve the air quality?
How effective have these steps been?
What is the stance-attitude and tone-of the article? Provide examples to support your interpretation.
How may the differences between these articles be attributed to governmental influence on the media?
In describing libertarian perspectives, Vivian (2011) states that "human beings (can) come to know great truths by applying reason" (p. 399). How is this attitude reflected in the American article?
Vivian (2011) states that the premise of authoritarian media systems is that "the government is infallible, which places its policies beyond questioning" (p. 397). How is this attitude reflected in the Chinese article?
Vivian, J. (2011). The media of mass communication (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.