Activity 4: Who controls the press?

Aims

To encourage pupils to think about the moral issues and legal restrictions on press reporting and whether they are tight enough.

National Curriculum links

Pupils should be taught:

1(a) about the legal restrictions imposed on the press and the operation of the civil justice system; (g) the role of the national press in society
2(b) to orally defend a personal opinion about events; (c) to contribute to class discussions

Resources

Activity

Ask the class about who controls the press and what restrictions are placed upon them. Give them information from the background sheet if necessary. Discuss the pros and cons of a free press. Give out Activity Sheet 4.1 and ask pupils to feed back to the whole class on their views on the discussion points.
Give out Activity Sheet 4.2 and organise the class into groups. Ask the groups to imagine that they are the editorial team on the school newspaper and that they must consider whether it is appropriate to print the story. They must then come up with a list of guidelines about what they will and will not print and why.
Ask the groups to feed back their decisions to the whole class and discuss them.
Look at newspapers and discuss whether there are any real stories pupils may not have published.

Differentiation

Pupils can work in pairs or groups according to ability.

Extension

To research how frequent an occurrence it is for newspapers to be fined for contempt of court.

Discussion

Should there be greater or more formal restrictions and punishments imposed on the British press? What are the advantages of having a free press?