War Correspondents

War Correspondents’ Hall of Fame

Subject areas: History, Media Studies, Language Arts

Grade Level: 9-12

Time for Lesson: three to five class periods (approximate)

Introduction:

In this lesson, students act as a “nominating committee” for a “War Correspondents’ Hall of Fame” exhibit for a national museum. Student groups must research, collect evidence, and present a multimedia presentation, using Power Point or HyperStudio (or suitable substitute presentation) stating the case why their candidate should be considered for inclusion in the Hall.

Background:

Prior to beginning the lesson, the teacher may wish to have students view all of selected episodes of “Reporting America at War” to give the class a “feel” for the role and contributions of war correspondents in the Spanish-American War through the Gulf War. The teacher may also elect to ask students to view segments of the film that deal with their specific nominee for induction.

Standards:

This lesson meets the following standards set by the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

(http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/search.asp)

US History

Understands how World War II influenced the home front (e.g., the impact on science, medicine, and technology; how Americans viewed their achievements and global responsibilities at the war's end; how minorities contributed to the war effort and the contradiction between their treatment at home and the goals that they were fighting for in Europe; the effects of the relocation centers on Japanese American families)

Language Arts

Understands how different media (e.g., documentaries, current affairs programs, web pages) are structured to present a particular subject or point of view
Understands the influence of media on society as a whole (e.g., influence in shaping various governmental, social, and cultural norms; influence on the democratic process; influence on beliefs, lifestyles, and understanding of relationships and culture; how it shapes viewer's perceptions of reality; the various consequences in society of ideas and images in media)
Understands the role of the media in addressing social and cultural issues (e.g., creating or promoting causes: U.N. military action, election of political parties; use of media to achieve governmental, societal, and cultural goals)
Understands aspects of the construction of media messages and products (e.g., the significance of all parts of a visual text, such as how a title might tie in with main characters or themes)

Procedure:

Introduce the lesson by telling students that they have been selected as the “nominating committee” for a new “War Correspondents’ Hall of Fame” that will travel throughout the country, and then be housed in a United States national museum. The teacher should also tell the students that the museum has asked that the “committee” be divided into sub-committees, and will research one correspondent per sub-committee. The museum has also asked that the sub-committees present their findings on their nominee in a multi-media presentation. (Note: Depending on the time frame the teacher wishes to use for the lesson, as well as available technology in the school, the teacher may wish to adjust the lesson by asking students to complete a poster presentation or a written “position paper” highlighting the reasons their candidate should be included in the “Hall”.)

Next, the teacher should divide the class into groups which provide relatively equal numbers for each “candidate” for the Hall. The teacher may wish to assign students to groups, or allow students to assign themselves to groups. Once groups are assigned, the teacher may also choose to allow students to select a correspondent to research, or the teacher may wish to assign student groups a particular reporter.

List of “proposed nominees”

(Note: This list is provided as a representative group of war correspondents from various conflicts. The teacher may elect to add or subtract names from the “list of nominees” depending on objectives for the lesson, whether the teacher wishes to focus on electronic or print journalism, or if the teacher wishes to focus on a particular conflict or time period.)

Ernie Pyle

Edward R. Murrow

Walter Cronkite

Martha Gellhorn

Andy Rooney

Homer Bigart

Malcolm W. Browne

David Halberstam

Morely Safer

Gloria Emerson

Peter Arnett

Chris Hedges

Christiane Amanpour

The teacher will wish to set advance criteria for multimedia presentations, depending on the time allotted for the lesson, technology available, and level of student ability.

While each teacher will likely want to develop their own criteria, some sample multimedia criteria sheets are provided. The teacher is welcome to adapt their criteria based on these sheets, or they may develop their own.

It is strongly suggested that the teacher develop an evaluation rubric for multimedia presentations, and that rubric should be created based on the criteria the teacher sets for the project.

Sample rubrics for multimedia presentations are included. The teacher may adapt a sample rubric or may develop their own.

While the teacher should focus on evaluating the multimedia presentation, some of the criteria should include how the student group presents their candidate for induction into the “Hall of Fame”.

The teacher may also elect to have the class, or some other group, to decide which presentations are most effective in promoting their candidates into the “Hall”. The teacher may do this as part of the evaluation procedure, as extra credit, or as an “election”.

Many of the journalists noted in this lesson are also included in the companion web site and book for Reporting America at War.

Representative web resources for each of the nominees are provided below. The teacher may wish to require students to do further web research on their own, or to also do “traditional” research including magazines, books, and other sources. Students should be able to find further supplemental resources in the school library, media center, or by using a search engine like Google (http://www.google.com).

Students may also want to peruse the Library of America “Reporting World War II” (two volume set), and the LOA “Reporting Vietnam” (two volume set) for actual filed reports from many of the journalists mentioned in the film.

Indiana University School of Journalism main page, including several of Pyle’s columns

“Radio Days” web page on Murrow, including sound files of some of his radio broadcasts

Jewish Virtual Library page including the transcript of Murrow’s report from Buchenwald

University of Texas (Tyler Campus) page on “Orchestrated Hell: A Rhetorical Analysis”

NPR page on Cronkite, including sound files (Real Audio and Windows Media Player)

George Washington University “That’s The Way It Was” page, with sound clips

“Writing 69^th” page with Cronkite cable regarding reporter Robert Post, who was killed covering a bombing mission

Newseum Online Exhibit on the Holocaust script (includes interview with Rooney and other correspondents

“Nazi Admiral Yields French Hospital to American Patient”, a 1944 story written by Bigart.

Sample chapter from the “Writing 69^th” (World War II correspondents, including Bigart, Cronkite, Rooney, and others)

(Note: there are several Bigart stories in this same site, all dealing with the Cuban revolution which brought Fidel Castro to power.)

1971 NY Times story by Browne reporting the death of a Roman Catholic priest in East Pakistan

Christian Science Monitor interview with Halberstam on his work, “War In A Time of Peace”

Museum of Broadcast Communications “Vietnam on Television” page, includes a discussion of Safer’s 1965 “Cam Ne” broadcast

PBS NewsHour interview with Safer on Vietnam (also includes some Gulf War information. Christiane Amanpour is also featured)

Newseum “War Stories” interview with Safer, comparing Vietnam coverage with Gulf War Coverage

Story on Vietnam-era photographer Larry Burrows by Emerson, called “Keep Looking”

“On Their Own: Female Correspondents in Vietnam” (includes information on Emerson)

“Images of War: An Oral History of Vietnam” (includes a statement by Emerson)

WOUB-TV interview with Arnett on reporting during Vietnam and the Gulf War, as well as journalism in the Internet age (requires Real Player to play the interview, which lasts approximately 29 minutes.)

“A Gaza Diary: Scenes from the Palestine Uprising”, written by Hedges, (from Harper’s Magazine)

“What We Saw, What We Learned”, written by Hedges, (from the Columbia Journalism Review)

Second part of an interview of Hedges by “TomPaine.com” (includes a Real Audio file as well as the transcript on the web page)