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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF APR 10, 2006 New 9/11 movie scrapes sensitivities![]() ![]() "United 93" advance coverage shows why entertainment and culture reports don’t appear just in feature sections of the newspaper. Challenge students to find or recall other news events involving music, film, books, broadcasting or art that ran on the front page, business section or with national/world reports. (Hints: A TV show co-host and a best-selling novelist got prominent coverage last week.)
![]() When a movie makes news, journalists are covering an industry that’s also a major advertiser. Ask class members to discuss the ethical and economic issues this raises. Invite pupils to assume the role of an editor considering the benefits and risks of coverage that may upset a customer such as a theater chain.
![]() As with most touchy topics, news columns are not the only place "United 93" will be explored. Have the class compile a group list, or individual lists, of how many ways the print or online newspaper could present views about the film. Describe where and in what forms different items could appear.
A provocative feature film called “United 93” is causing a stir weeks before it opens April 28 around the country. It’s about the fourth hijacked plane that crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, and an emotional debate focuses on whether it’s too soon for a Hollywood treatment of that turning-point day. A Manhattan theater stopped showing the preview trailer after complaints. The real United Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field after 40 passengers and crew members fought back against terrorists in the cockpit. That drama was depicted in a January cable TV film, but the new release will be the first feature film dealing explicitly with the attack on America less than five years ago. Its trailer shows hijackers with explosives rushing the cockpit, panicky passengers using cell phones and the unforgettable video of another plane flying into the World Trade Center. Writer-director Paul Greengrass, who also made "The Bourne Supremacy," gained approval from each victim's family. Still, questions are being raised in newspaper columns, blogs and online discussion forums: Is it too soon? Is Hollywood cashing in improperly on our national trauma? Will a mass audience want to see it?
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024
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