Use these questions to practice placing news stories within wider historical, economic, and political contexts — and to discuss why understanding connections is the foundation of genuine news literacy.
Take a major news story from this week. How far back would you need to go to understand its true origins? Five years? Twenty? A century? At what point does "historical context" become essential — and at what point does it become a distraction?
Try to use: context, precedent, backdrop, legacy, underlying
News media tends to cover events — a protest, a resignation, a verdict — rather than the slow-moving processes that produce them. What kinds of important stories get missed because they are structural rather than eventful? Can you think of an example?
Try to use: systemic, structural, trajectory, gestation period, entrenched
A factory closes in a small town, and within two years the town sees a rise in substance abuse, family breakdown, and petty crime. How would you explain these connections to someone who says these are separate problems? What does this tell us about how we report on communities?
Try to use: ripple effect, downstream effect, causation, correlation, feedback loop
Geopolitical events — wars, sanctions, trade disputes — have direct consequences for ordinary people far from the conflict. Think of a recent example where a global political decision affected daily life in your country or region. How was this connection reported — or not reported?
Try to use: geopolitical, interdependent, ripple effect, domestic policy, nexus
Some argue that explaining the context behind an event — its history, its causes, its connections — is inherently political because it involves choices about what to include. Is truly neutral, context-free reporting possible? Is it even desirable?
Try to use: context, framing, structural, vested interest, positionality
"Follow the money" is one of journalism's oldest maxims. Think of a current story — a policy decision, a media narrative, a public campaign — and try to follow the financial connections behind it. Where does the money lead? What does it reveal?
Try to use: vested interest, proxy, catalyst, convergence, nexus