PROGRAMME 3

Activities

Discussion Group Questions

1. What does 'democracy' mean? What sort of democracy will exist when the Enabling Act is passed?
2. The Prime Minister, Richard Wheeler, says that the Enabling Act is designed for times of crisis, and that this is a time of crisis. What in your view constitutes a crisis?
3. Where do the 'suits' take Tariq? What rights are contravened here?
4. Tariq's reaction to what has happened to him is to collect together a gang and take vigilante action. Can this be considered a form of conflict resolution? What other courses of action might Tariq have pursued?
5. Why might the news programme have edited out the substance of what Melissa Wheeler was trying to say about her father's government? Do you think this sort of thing happens in the real world?

Activity: Understanding Newspaper Bias

Before beginning this exercise it is important that you have a clear understanding of the following terms:
bias – means one-sided. When a source is biased it gives only one view of a set of facts or an event.
fact – a fact is something that you can prove is true.
opinion – an opinion is somebody's view of a set of facts or an event. Opinions cannot be proven to be true, but can be shown to be convincing – or unconvincing!

Your teacher will present you with two or three newspaper reports from a selection of recent papers.

1. Underline or highlight all the facts in the articles in one colour.
2. Underline or highlight all the opinions in the article in another colour.
3. Decide for each article whether you think it is biased in favour of the government or against.
4. What other clues helped you spot the bias?

Further Discussion Points

• Do people like reading biased reports?
• Is it always easy to differentiate fact from opinion and spot bias?
• Do you think bias is something to worry about – is it important?
• Would biased reporting influence you? Does it influence others?
• How might media bias affect young people planning political campaigns?
• What could politicians do to try to get their interpretation of events into the newspapers?