Identifying Bias in Presidential Election Newspaper Coverage

1912 Presidential Election Newspaper Coverage

Overview

Students analyze historical primary sources to identify bias and investigate the role newspapers played in shaping public attitude toward the 1912 presidential candidates. Next, students team up to find newspaper coverage (print or digital) of a contemporary presidential election, analyze the sources for bias, and then compare and contrast their historical and contemporary findings. Finally, students communicate their newfound understandings of presidential election newspaper coverage bias through a short written essay, a digital timeline, or a print or digital poster.

Related Resources

Grade

High School, Middle School

Subjects

Civics, English Language Arts, Social Studies

Length

80-120 minutes

Topics

1912, bias, campaigns, contemporary newspapers, elections, historical newspaper, newspaper articles, newspaper coverage, newspaper images, political cartoons, politics, presidential campaigns, presidential elections

Author

Primary Source Nexus

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