Students will read and discuss a New York Times article that examines the notion of printing highly graphic photographs related to news events, as well as evaluate photographs and their accompanying stories to determine the purpose and relevance of using such pictures to relay the news. Review the Academic Content Standards related to this lesson. Write a journal entry discussing the impact of images of violence and destruction in the news media. Analyze a newspaper or magazine photograph of an emotionally-charged image, focusing on their reactions to the photograph and their judgment of whether or not they think this photograph is too graphic to print. Read the article that accompanies an emotionally-charged photograph and assess the purpose and relevance of the photograph in relation to the content of the story.
Students then discuss their responses.
Look at the three photographs that accompany the article and the caption that explains them. Explain your ideas. Students then glue or tape their photograph, article, and responses to a piece of construction paper or cardboard. Students will present their photograph and their ideas about it in a future class. Explain your ideas.