05. Traditional vs. social media - Who to trust more?

Objectives

‍

Critically examine the reliability of traditional media versus social media, considering credibility, bias, sources, and the influence of technology.

‍

Timeline

‍

1. Introduction to the Topic (10 minutes)

2. Text and video-based analysis (20 minutes)

3. Forming Debate Teams (5 minutes)

4. Research and Preparation (15 minutes)

5. The Debate (25 minutes)

6. Class Reflection and Vote (10 minutes)

7. Conclusion (5 minutes)

‍

Level: The difficulty level of the debate based on the provided scale is 2.

Medium (2): A topic that requires some research and analysis, but is not too complex.

‍

Assessment

‍

• Students observing the debate (and the teacher) decide on the winner of the debate according to objective evaluation criteria such as the strength of the arguments, the success in defending the debate thesis, and the quality of the speeches of both teams.
• For each of the six debate speeches, the students who evaluate the debaters enter notes on positive aspects and suggestions for improvement in three categories. They use their notes to ultimately decide the winner of the debate, making their decision based on objective observations.

‍

Preparation

‍

• Classroom preparation is very important for holding a debate.
• The teams should sit facing each other.
• Arrange the chairs so that the audience can actively follow the debate and react to the presentations.
• Prepare worksheets for teams to write down their arguments or key concepts on.
• Provide students with some additional resources such as notes, books, and internet access to help them prepare.
• You can use presentations to help clarify concepts or visually support arguments.

‍

1. Introduction to the topic (10 minutes)

‍

• Write the proposition on the board: Traditional vs. social media - Who to trust more?

‍

Context Setting:

• How can we define trust in the media?
• What factors affect the sense of credibility of information from both media?
• Do you trust the news you see on TV?
• Do you think social media is always reliable?

‍

Explain the topic:

Media is a term used to refer to those structures in society that exist to communicate with the general public. They are a means of transmitting and spreading information, knowledge and creating ideologies in modern societies.

Traditional media are well established and usually follow a professional editorial process. Information is produced by a team of professionals and then distributed to the audience.

Traditional media refers to television, radio, and print media. These media have long been the only source of news and entertainment around the world. 

Traditional media have decades of trust due to journalistic fact-checking practices and editorial ethics. However, people increasingly feel that some media lean too much towards certain viewpoints and agendas, making the reporting seem more biased.

Social media are online media, social platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, blogs, and email. They have changed the way information is created, shared, and used around the world.

One of the characteristics of social media is the way in which they allow users to be active participants. They can consume content, but also create and post their own.

Social media has less oversight and guidelines regarding user-generated information.

‍

Debate Objective: The goal is to critically analyse both forms of media to determine which one is more credible.

‍

2. Text and video-based analysis (20 minutes)

‍

Divide students into two groups. One group should analyse a media article and the other a short video clip of the same news on traditional media and social media (e.g., natural disaster, a political election).

Discussion Prompts:

‍

1. Article

• Which article made a stronger argument for credibility and why?
• Do you think traditional media is biased because of ownership or political affiliation? What about social media?
• How do you rate the credibility of the sources cited in each article?

‍

2. Video clip

• Have you noticed any biases in either traditional media or social media clips?
• Which video seemed more factual and credible? Why?
• How did the interaction (or lack thereof) with the audience affect the reliability of each medium?

‍

3. Forming debate teams (5 minutes) 

‍

• Divide students into two groups. One group defends traditional media - Team A (Pro traditional media), and the other group defends social media - Team B (Pro social media) as a more reliable source of information.
• Assign or allow students to choose roles in the debate: introductory speaker, rebuttal speaker, closing speaker, researcher, debate organizer, and moderator (8 students).
• Depending on the size of the groups, students may take on multiple roles.
• With the student acting as moderator (and keeping track of time), the teacher can monitor student contributions to make sure everyone is participating.

‍

4. Research and Preparation (15 minutes) 

‍

• Give both teams 15 minutes to prepare their arguments, referring to the articles and video analysis they’ve examined.
• Suggested points of investigation:

For traditional media: journalistic standards and professional ethics, fact-checking teams and editorial oversight, regulatory authorities.

For social media: reporting in real time, different perspectives and inclusion of marginalized voices, misinformation on social media.

‍

5. Debate structure (25 minutes) 

‍

• Opening statement (5 minutes per team):

Team A (Pro traditional media) will argue why traditional media is more trustworthy.

Team B (Pro social media) will argue why social media is more trustworthy.

• Rebuttal round (4 minutes per team):

Team A responds to the points made by Team B.

Team B responds to the points made by Team A.

• Closing statements (3 minutes per team):

Team A wraps up their argument, emphasizing key points.

Team B does the same for their side.

‍

6. Class Reflection and Vote (10 minutes) 

‍

• Open the debate to comments from all students:

After each side has presented its closing arguments, let the rest of the class comment, ask questions, or present new evidence.

• Have the students vote for the team that made the most convincing argument based on the tables they filled out during the debate. Ask students to raise their hands in favor of the arguments made by the A or B team.

• Ask students if the debate changed anyone's opinion. If so, ask them to explain.

‍

7. Conclusion (5 minutes)

‍

• The teacher will highlight the key points that were discussed during the debate with the students.
• Traditional media are often considered more reliable because of their professional standards, fact-checking and accountability, but they too can be biased. One of their disadvantages is that they are slow to adapt to rapid development.
• Social media sources news and delivers it in real time, offering different perspectives and the opportunity for anyone who uses it to create or share news. One of the disadvantages of social media is that there is not enough monitoring, so misinformation is often presented.
• The goal of the debate is for students to better understand how both types of media influence the way we use information and to learn to evaluate the credibility of news. Both types of media have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to trust, and it’s crucial to approach information from both sources critically.

‍

Tips and tricks:

‍

• This debate lesson is taught in classes that have experience with debates: they know the rules of debate; they know debate roles. 
• If students are encountering the debate form for the first time, the teacher should prepare a debate guide that will explain as well as offer guidance and resources for research.
• When classes are larger, students who do not participate directly are assigned the role of audience members who evaluate the teams' work and vote. 
• For each debating lesson, it is necessary to assign roles to other students, so that after a few lessons, everyone has experience in each of them.
• Useful links: https://edutorij.carnet.hr/ ; https://csus.libguides.com/pro-con/websites; https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide/classroom-debates.shtml 

Appendix 1: Text about media

‍

• Media is a term used to refer to those structures in society that exist to communicate with the general public.
• They are a means of transmitting and spreading information, knowledge and creating ideologies in modern societies.
• Traditional media refers to television, radio, and print media. These media have long been the only source of news and entertainment around the world.
• Traditional media are well established and usually follow a professional editorial process. Information is produced by a team of professionals and then distributed to the audience.
• Traditional media usually follow editorial standards, which oversee the creation and dissemination of information.
• Social media are online media, social networks, blogs, and email. They have changed the way information is created, shared, and used around the world.
• One of the characteristics of social media is the way in which they allow users to be active participants. They can consume content, but also create and post their own.
• Social media has less oversight and guidelines regarding user-generated information.
• Today, disinformation is increasingly present and it is very important to know the strengths and weaknesses of each type of media and how to adequately manage them.
• Both traditional and social media have been accused of spreading disinformation and "fake news."
• Traditional media have decades of trust due to journalistic fact-checking practices and editorial ethics. However, people increasingly feel that some media lean too much towards certain viewpoints and agendas, making the reporting seem more biased.
• Social media can spread false or misleading information quickly because of a lack of editorial control. In this way, various scams, rumors and conspiracy theories can become popular.

‍

Appendix 2: Table for evaluation of teams

‍

‍

‍