If you died....

In response to the killing of an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri, and the biased media coverage of the victim that followed, young people of color on social media began wondering how they might be portrayed if the same happened to them. These pictures are powerful reminders of how stories get told in America.

How do we detect bias in the news?

Police and Thieves

On the final "Last Week Tonight" of August, John Oliver dove into what sadly has become the biggest national news story of the summer, the ongoing violence in Ferguson, Missouri.

"This whole story is depressingly familiar," Oliver began. "And there are so many unanswered questions regarding why an officer would shoot an unarmed teenager. What is absolutely clear is that the police have handled everything since then terribly."

From there, Oliver went on to criticize officials at every level in Missouri, from the city's police chief and mayor to the governor, for their tone-deafness, hostility and overt patronization of the citizens of Ferguson.

The comedian reserved his most pointed barbs, however, for the police themselves, not just in Ferguson but throughout the country. While Oliver made it clear that "not all cops are bad," he drove home the top-down problem of an increasingly militarized police force in the wake of the war on drugs and September 11 attacks.

Are the criticisms of the Police fair? Are they likely to bring about change? Why or why not?

Read the Ferguson Perspective from a Cop's Wife. Does this change your opinion?

Newsworthiness

What was NEWSWORTHY about your SummerVacation?

What makes something newsworthy?

Use the newspapers in class to complete 'Where does news come from?'

Is this story newsworthy?