Blog Post on a Recent Article
Introduction: Imagine you are a political writer with your own blog. You write about current events and what they mean for the U.S. government and its citizens. You have been asked to write a blog post of 2-3 typed pages about an event from the last 3 months involving U.S. political issues or policies.Step 1: Choose one of the following political issues or policies:
- the U.S. President
- congress
- administrative departments
- political activists
- judicial rulings
- a campaign
- an election
Step 2: Choose 1 reputable news source that has reported on your chosen event. Here are some sources to choose from:
- liberal leaning news: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vox, HuffPost, Politico, CNN, Time Magazine
- conservative leaning news: National Review, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Federalist, Fox Online News, Washington Examiner
- centrist news: NPR Online News (National Public Radio), Reuters, BBC, CNBC News, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Pew Research Center
- To see ratings of news sources, visit AllSides’s Media Bias Ratings.
Step 3: Summarize your chosen current event in 1-2 paragraphs. Include what the event is, when it took place, and the political issues or policies to which it connects.Step 4: In addition to your brief summary, answer each of the following questions:
- What specific branch of the U.S. government is involved in this current event? (1-2 paragraphs)
- Who or which groups are affected by this event? (1-2 paragraphs)
- What biases or leanings exist in the media source you chose? Give examples. Were these counterbalanced in any way? (1-2 paragraphs)
- What are your opinions on the issue? Use relevant facts and supporting evidence from your source(s) to support your opinion. (1-2 paragraphs)
Step 5: Cite your selected news article and any other sources using the Strayer Writing Standards format.
