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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 AUG. 30, 2010 Debate over Islamic mosque near ground zero shows sensitivity of words![]() ![]() Read an article about the Islamic center plan in Lower Manhattan and tell if you think it's balanced. Is the location described fairly in the text and headline? Beyond quotes from either side, do tone and word choices seem neutral?
![]() Pick an editorial, column or guest commentary on any other topic and look for loaded language. While this is OK in opinion writing, try to substitute words to make a different point or tone down the rhetoric.
![]() Ads obviously use words to persuade. Find one with phrasing that seems extreme, amusing or even silly.
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Work is nowhere near ready to start on a proposed Muslim center two blocks from the World Trade Center destroyed on 9/11. The group planning it still needs to arrange financing, for one thing. But the project, which won city approval in May, is a national flashpoint for hot talk about freedom, sensitivity, symbolism, tolerance, respect, a sacred site and a sacred faith. As with other touchy topics, words are selected strategically to sway opinions.
Is it a mosque for prayers or a community center? Would it rise "on hallowed ground" or blocks away? Does it dishonor 9/11 victims or display America's diversity and openness? Are opponents patriots or "Islamophobic" (fearing Muslims)? In each case, it depends who's talking. Distinctions can blur in the era of online information as the most frequent wording gains a big boost from prominent rankings on Google, Bing, Yahoo! and other search engines. That concerns journalism scholar Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute, a training center in Florida. "Accurate or not, people are searching for the term 'ground zero mosque.' So if you want to reach people who are looking for information, you have to use that term," she posted last week. She and others urge news producers and consumers to watch for efforts by any partisans to use loaded language that frames a debate in lasting ways. "With the rise in the number of voices that can command an audience, it stands to reason that the number of distortions will also rise," McBride wrote.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024
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