ABOUT COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Community Connections is a lesson collection designed for adult learners and community colleges, with the goal of inspiring student civic action. This might be respectful debate or conversation about a local issue, planning a community event, or a creative project that helps connect local, national and global issues.
To use this lesson: First, watch the video and answer the questions below as a warm up. Next, choose one or more of the activities under "Take Action" that best fits your classroom. Or, use the segment above to inspire your own original classroom activities — the spirit of these lessons is to connect current events to actions that make your community a better place for everyone!
SUMMARY
Judy Woodruff recently examined how the loss of thousands of local newspapers across the country is depriving communities of some of the glue that holds them together and whether or not that change is fueling division.
Woodruff now looks at how some news outlets are managing to hang on and whether what they’re doing is sustainable. It’s part of the series, America at a Crossroads.
For a transcript of this story, click here.
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- Who is Anne Adams, and what is her background?
- Where is Adams' paper based?
- What role have local papers had in uniting communities, according to this story?
- Why are many local news outlets failing?
- How has Mississippi Today managed to grow?
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
When local newspapers fail, what do you think could take their place in helping to keep communities tied together and informed by similar information? Do you think it's an apt replacement? Why/why not?
News analysis: Why do you think Judy Woodruff told this story by focusing on a few local news sources?
TAKE ACTION
Do you know what local media covers your community? As a class, research what outlets cover your neighborhood, city or county. Then discuss — how is the outlet(s) funded? Who owns them, and how do they generate income? How do you think ownership influences coverage?
Use this activity and have participants bring in local news stories instead of national ones. As a class, discuss how local news could be enhanced — what important local matters aren't getting enough attention in the media?
Use this activity to plan out an event that showcases local media, including media or news produced at your school or institution.
You can also track your media diet with this activity. Discuss — how much of your media diet is made up of local news? How do you most often learn about important local events?
You might also want to watch the following companion story about the loss of local news:
This project was funded under the 2024 Leonore Annenberg Civic Mission of the Nation Initiative, sponsored by the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics. LAIC is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
To provide feedback on News Hour Classroom's resources, including this lesson, click here.
