Diversity Audit

Author: Canadian Newspaper Association
Level: Secondary Cycle Two
Subject Area: English Language Arts

Description: This is the fifth and final lesson in a unit designed to teach students to think critically about the way Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities are portrayed in the press. "Diversity Audit" is a summative activity that ties together all the information students have learned during this unit about newspapers, and the presence of bias, fact and opinion in the news. In this lesson, students will conduct a "diversity audit" on a local paper – providing a "snapshot" of the way various racial/ethnic groups are portrayed.

Cross-curricular Competencies Broad Areas of Learning

To use information

To solve problems

To exercise critical judgement

To adopt effective work methods

To work with others

To communicate appropriately

Media Literacy

Citizenship and Community Life

This lesson satisfies the following English Language Arts Competencies from the Quebec Education Program:

COMPETENCY 1 uses language/talk to communicate and to learn

Compares the affordances of written, media and multimodal languages in achieving a specific purpose

COMPETENCY 2 Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts

Constructing a Reading of a Text

Focuses on the relationship between self as reader and the text to construct an interpretive reading
Activates relevant prior textual knowledge before, during and after reading text(s) to monitor the meaning(s) s/he is making, (e.g. uses what is known about a writer/producer and her/his style to make predictions, draws on knowledge of structures and features of a specific genre, applies knowledge of codes and conventions particular to specific texts)
Activates relevant prior personal knowledge and experience to make sense of a text which is frequently expressed in text-to-self connections, text-to-world connections, text-to-text connections
Asks questions of self, writers(s) and text(s) as s/he reads to clarify and focus reading
Determines the most important ideas/messages/themes in a text
Draws inferences from a text
Retells or synthesizes what s/he has read, e.g. attends to the most important information and the quality of the synthesis itself to better understand the text

Reader, Text, Context

Draws inferences about the view of the world presented in a text

Identifies dominant elements and interprets their use, e.g. point of view, specific literary conventions, structure and sequence of argument, patterns of cause and effect
Identifies the characteristics of the writer/producer and evaluates how these influence meaning, i.e. how stance, socio-cultural context, values and/or beliefs shape the world of the text
Explores how power relationships are constructed in the text
Examines how language (word, sound and image) is shaped to present ideas and information
Makes connections between the depiction of different groups in texts and the context or setting of a text

Justifies her/his interpretation(s) of texts on the basis of own fluency as a reader

Evaluates the way specific codes and conventions of a spoken/written/media text are employed to have an impact upon the assumptions, actions, values and beliefs of readers:

codes and conventions of a specific genre that are employed to have an impact on readers in general or on a target audience in particular
mode(s) of representation (sound, word and image) that influence the message(s)/meaning(s) of a text and how these reveal the intention(s) of the writer/producer(s)
linguistic and textual features that situate or position the reader, e.g. connotations and denotations, stereotypes and bias, aspects of characterization and setting that evoke a specific emotion or response, appeals to mainstream values and beliefs

Interrelates characteristics of the writer/producer(s) of a text and self as a reader:

recognizes how authors and producers of written persuasion and argument, whose views are accorded great respect in our society and culture, influence her/his interpretation(s), i.e. in particular, of what can be considered factual, objective
analyzes the representation of different groups, including interest groups, in the press in relation to controlling ideas, opinions, main ideas

COMPETENCY 3 Produces texts for personal and social purposes

Researching as a Writer/Producer

Develops topics that are personally and socially relevant:

considers open-ended question(s) to facilitate topic development
broadens and/or narrows the scope of the topic

Assuming Roles as a Writer/Producer

Explores different dimensions of a character, issue

Public and Private Space

Conducts a genre analysis:

compares and contrasts texts within a social function, i.e. Why do people produce them? Who has access to these texts? Do they serve the same purpose? How do they communicate the values of a community?
evaluates the structures, features, codes and conventions used
examines how language (sound, word and image) is shaped:

to represent and/or exclude people, events, ideas and information
to organize and develop ideas
for special effect

Applying Codes and Conventions

Explores the representation of gender, race, appearance, culture, social class

Production Process

Media Practices

Examines issues of media ownership and control
Examines impact of production roles on final text, e.g. editor’s decisions