1Maddie+B.'s+Webquest+Page

=__Navigation Bar__= 1Maddie's Homepage 1Maddie B.'s Blog 1Maddie B.'s Animal Farm Page 1Maddie B.'s Tale of Utopia 1Maddie B.'s Webquest Page

First Part
1. Create a list of all the types of media you or your group can think of. If you are on your own, you may need to check out other 8th graders work as the week progresses.
 * Newspaper
 * Magazine
 * TV Commercials
 * The News
 * Billboards
 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * YouTube
 * News Website

2. Identify the purposes of all media messages – for example to entertain, to inform etc.
 * To persuade people to buy or use some product.
 * To give out information.
 * To entertain.

3. How is the media influenced by social, political and economic factors? What other influences do you think media is affected or influenced by?
 * Social, political, and economic factors influence the media because most of the time they are the ones owning the media. They have a lot of money so they can afford to make the media good for them.
 * It's influenced by big corporations.
 * Famous people influence it.
 * Politicians are always in the media.

4. What do you think are the effects on those groups of people who are not represented by these media stories and those who portray them?
 * The people that aren't represented by the media are made to look like the bad people. If the media doesn't get both sides of the story and if they use propaganda they can make people think whatever they want them to think. So those people can get a bad reputation.

Second Part
1. How are both sides of the war (i.e. Iraqis and the Americans) portrayed in these images and video?
 * The video makes it look like both of the sides are happy. It looks like the troops are coming in to save the day and lead the happy Iraqis people to take a stand against their dictator. When they show how fake the video is, it makes it look like the Iraqis people were just doing what the soldiers were telling them to do. Basically, it wasn't the Iraqis weren't tearing down the statue, it was really the American troops.

2. Your group will now undertake research on the Internet to gain a brief overview of the Iraqi culture. Consider information such as major cities, religion, government, social structures.
 * Muslims
 * Al Qaeda
 * Baghdad
 * Masul
 * Basarah
 * Irbil

3. Using the **Presentation (Resource 1),** compare the images portraying the same event. Point out the similarities and differences between them. The Areb people thought that Iraq was winning the war but when they saw the images of Saddam Hussein's statue getting taken down they were supprised The US newpapers show that the Iraqi people were helping take down the statue and that there was a bunch of Iraqi people around the statue but really it was only news reporters. They put the US flag over the statues face but later they took it down and put Iraq's flag around his neck

4. What choices were made in depicting this event in a certain way (i.e. through photographs, video, or written articles)? Instead of zooming out and showing the whole area they zoomed in to make it look like there were hundreds of Iraqi people gathered around the statue to help take it down A lot of soldiers and reports were mixed in the crowd to make it look like there were even more people

5. How did this information affect your understanding of the event? It changed our opinions about what happened because we figured out that it was staged and it wasn't spontaneous event

6. What choices were made by the media in how they captured this event? What elements did they choose to omit or select to show? What do you think the intentions were by portraying the event this way? They didn't show all the tanks around the area and they didn't show the soldiers gathering people around the statue. They did this because they wanted people in the US to think that the crowd was a bunch of people who didn't like Saddam Hussein

7. Why do you think the newspaper images were doctored? The images were changed because the media and government wanted people to think that the Iraqi people were on their side

8. What purpose did it serve? They wanted to show that the US was winning

9. Who gains from altering these images? The government and media, the people who wanted the US to win the war

10. Do you think an altered image can change history, and if so, how? Yes, because it will change peoples opinions and people believe different stories than what actually happened.

Third Part
1. Consider how the Newspaper Editors have chosen to portray the war in Iraq. Consider elements such as

a) Image size Spain has a bigger picture because they wanted to make an impact of how terrible the people in Iraq were getting hit by the war.

b) Use of colour and font size The US papers have a bigger font size so they don't have to have as much information. Also, they choose titles that make people believe that they are extremley powerful and are ultimately winning the war.

c) Dedication of space to a particular article – consider the size of the article. Does this give it more prominence?

The US paper shows all the troops that are being killed and wounded, while Spain focuses on the innocent Iraqi people that never hurt anyone yet they are being killed because they are living in a war zone.

2. Who is the audience of the newspaper? The US paper was trying to show the people in America how tough the war was and that the soldiers were risking their life for their country. Spain was trying to reach out to the people in Iraq by showing that they cared about their people.

3. Consider the ‘other’ side of the story. Who is not being represented in these newspapers? What ramifications does this have for ‘their’ side of the story? The Iraqi people were not represented at all. In most of the newspapers, there weren't many images of the people in Iraq suffering. If they would of had more pictures of what was happening people would actually know how terrible things were in the daily lives.

Fifth Part The last task for this Webquest is an individual analytical writing task. **Each student is to write their own essay answering the following question:**

"//Truth is always the first casualty of history// (or war)"

Assess how the media assists in shaping and influencing the way events are portrayed and recorded. Consider how a government or country's actions can be supported and 'legitimised' through the media. What impact do these perspectives have on historical accounts and sources for a particular event? Use the knowledge and sources you have analysed in the Webquest to support your answer. Post your essay on your webquest wiki page, and please provide images that you feel represent your experience with this webquest (Introduction, 1 body paragraphs - 11 sentences, conclusion).

The media was a big part in the war between Iraq and America. The reporters who went over to Iraq and risked their lives contributed a great deal to what we know now about the war. They also hid information from us too. Sometimes the media even used propaganda to make it look like the US was winning. Without the media covering the war in Iraq, people wouldn't have as good of an understanding about what was going on; however, the media could have reported more unbiased news coverage to help us see the whole picture.

The media gave us much information about the war in Iraq; however, some of it was misleading information. For example a video was released which showed the Iraqi people celebrating and tearing down the statue of Saddam Hussein. When Americans first saw this video, they were probably thinking,"We won the war!" but what they did not know was that the war would be going on for about eight more years. They also were unaware that earlier, US Troops gathered up a huge crowd of Iraqi civilians and foreign journalists to come watch as the troops tore down the statue of the dreaded dictator. When the cameras zoomed in on the event, it looked like there were hundreds of Iraqi people charging the statue to tear it down. When the cameras zoomed out, however, the people would see that the whole area was surrounded by American tanks and that the crowd of about seventy-five people was made mostly of US Troops and reporters. That is just one example of the media's use of propaganda to convince Americans that they were going to win the war. Another example is when they choose to publish only certain things in the newspaper. For instance, Spain chose to put a graphic picture of a young, innocent Iraqi girl who had just payed the cold dues of war. However, America shows nothing other than how tough it is for the soldiers fighting and killing hundreds of people every day. Additionally, The US paper chose to publish articles that they thought would make the Americans show sympathy for the troops. The media did not want the US citizens feeling bad for the harmless children and women getting killed each and every day. Who cares about the innocent civilians in Iraq anyway right?

In times of war countries want their citizens to be show patriotism towards their country in what they see on the television or read in the Sunday paper. If they need to use propaganda to make people stand up for their country then that is what they are going to do. Sometimes information can be misleading especially during stressful times of war. That is why it is important to know both sides of the story in a terrible situation like that.