Burnet News Club 2020-2021 | Issue 4

1. How should news
make people
feel?

2. How do people
feel during an
infodemic?

3. What do you think about
the power the media
has over what the public
think and do?

4. What do you think about
the power the public
has over which types of
story appear in the news?

5. What do you think about
how numbers are used in
the news?

6. How do you feel about
the media’s ability to
shape a story?

7. Which statistic concerns you the
most? Why?
About
90%
of all reported news
is negative.
A
By December 2020,
31%
of people were trying
to avoid news about
covid-19.
B
7%
of people think the media
has made the covid-19
situation better but
35%
think the media has
made it worse.
C

8. FINAL PIECE
Your challenge is to write an information pull-out page that could be
printed in a newspaper to help people navigate the covid-19 infodemic.
1.
You must start with
your chosen statistic
(from the previous
slide) and use it to
explain why this
Issue is important.
2.
Your information
page should include
at least
four well-explained
top tips. Use the
Planning sheet to
help you gather your
ideas.
3.
Don’t forget - your
pull-out needs to be
both informative
AND eye-catching.
4.
You can work
alone, in a pair or in
a small group.

9. TOP TIP
EXAMPLE
NEWS RESOURCES
WHAT’S THE SITUATION?
• How does an infodemic
spread misinformation?
• Why can this be a
problem?
… so what’s your top tip
to help people find
reliable news?
During an infodemic, people are bombarded
with news from a range of sources. This
means people might see more facts but also
more misinformation and fake news.
This is a problem because, with so much news
flying around, it’s hard to tell the difference
between what’s true and what’s not.
NEWS RESOURCES
TOP TIP
To make sure people are finding the facts,
people should get their news from a reliable
source. For example a trusted news website or
television channel.