by Tom Heneghan | 11 Oct 2023 | Educators' Catalog, Journalism, Media Literacy
The 24/7 news cycle turns every news item into a headline without context. The more we consume the news the less we understand. Can we break out of that cycle? A TV screen fills with the words “Breaking News” while headlines scroll over. (Illustration by...
In this article, ND correspondent Tom Heneghan explains the tension between the immediate and the eventual in journalistic reporting. In this vein, what is “urgent incrementalism”? Help boost students’ media literacy skills with this text and accompanying classroom activity.
Exercise: Read the article and define “urgent incrementalism” as a class. Then, have students scan today’s headlines and each pick one story to read. Does their story lean “urgent” or “incremental”? How might that change the way a reader understands the issue at hand?
by Tom Heneghan | 19 Jan 2023 | Europe, Nationalism, Religion, Ukraine
Orthodox Christians find themselves in a tug of war in Ukraine. When you celebrate Christmas is political and the language of prayer belies national loyalties. Clerics conduct a service in St.Volodymyr Cathedral on Orthodox Christmas eve in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan....
by Tom Heneghan | 27 Jun 2022 | Decoders, World
Questions about Pope Francis’s health are stoking speculation about who might succeed him one day as head of the powerful Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis arrives in a wheelchair at The Vatican, 5 May 2022. Francis, 85, has been suffering from strained...
by Tom Heneghan | 19 Apr 2022 | Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reflects Vladimir Putin’s unhinged state, some experts say. But his views of ‘Mother Russia’ provide a logical explanation. Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via...
by Tom Heneghan | 2 Jun 2021 | Decoders, World
Pope Francis is pushing a tricky reform drive, called “synodality,” that puts ordinary people at the core of the hierarchical Catholic Church. Pope Francis waves as he arrives at a vigil before World Youth Day in Panama City, Panama, 26 January 2019....