With all the talk of 'fake news' and Russian 'collusion' in the last election, how is any American supposed to know who is telling the truth? This is not a problem in China, where misinformation is tightly controlled by the government, and the telling of 'falsehoods' is punishable by jail time or worse.
The Chinese government demonstrated just how much power it has over the opinions of its billion-strong population by deciding to ban use of a single letter. That letter is 'N' and its censorship followed moves by the Chinese Communist Party to remove the ten year limit on a presidency from the country's Constitution.
In the immediate aftermath of Dr. King’s assassination on April 4th 1968, U.S. Congressman John Conyers of Michigan introduced the Conyers King Holiday Bill in the House of Representatives. Submitted four days after King’s death, the legislation sought to establish a federal holiday to honor the slain civil rights champion; however, Representative Conyers’ bill languished in congressional committees for years even though he dutifully submitted his legislation at the beginning of every new congressional session. Contributing to the delay was the fact that King was not viewed favorably at that time by many members of Congress, nor among a substantial portion of the American public.
Finally, in 1979, the Conyers’ bill was voted on in Congress but fell five votes shy of passage. Undaunted, the King Center in Atlanta, led by Dr. King’s widow Coretta Scott King, continued to lobby for a national holiday. They were soon joined by a powerful ally, musician and songwriter Stevie Wonder. In 1980, Wonder channeled his discontent with opposition to the holiday into “Happy Birthday,” a song that completely reimagined the traditional song and featured lyrics celebrating Dr. King’s peaceful mission. “Happy Birthday” became an international hit in 1981 and an anthem for the campaign.
The popularity of the song substantially increased awareness of the campaign, resulting in increased public support of enacting the new law. By the end of 1982, the King Center had gathered six million signatures on their petition in support of federal legislation to establish a Dr. King federal holiday. Mrs. King and Mr. Wonder presented the signed petition to Massachusetts Congressman Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
A new bill, House Resolution (H.R.) 3706, authored and sponsored by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, was submitted to the 98th Congress on July 29, 1983. Although it was met with opposition in both the House and Senate, a bill “to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a legal public holiday” passed both chambers of Congress.
What power does the media have? What responsibility do we have to check it? Answer the above questions in the area above the water. List everything you already know about 'freedom of speech and social media.'
Beneath the Surface
After watching the story, answer the following questions in the area of the iceberg under the water: What happened? What choices were made in this situation? By whom? Who was affected? When did it happen? Where did it happen? What factors influenced the particular choices made by the individuals and groups involved in this event? Can they be corroborated by multiple sources? Is it true or is it 'fake news?'
Debrief
This step is often best done in groups so that students can brainstorm ideas together.Prompts you might use to guide journal writing and/or class discussion include:
1) What did you learn from completing your iceberg?
2) What questions do you still have and what more would you like to know?
3) How does the information in this iceberg help you better understand the world we live in today?
Welcome to the home page of Mr. Kelly's Current Events class. This course looks at the role of the media on international, national, state, local, and school wide levels. Although the content is constantly changing there are recurrent themes including domestic and foreign policy, the economy, war, crime, and the environment. Here you will find assignments, online discussions, and your grades. Be prepared to keep up with weekly reading assignments and be respectful of each others opinions on this site.
