Project exercises
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontiers, RSF) is an international non-profit organization founded for the purpose of safeguarding freedom of information. It publishes the Press Freedom Index, which ranks the countries of the world by their press freedom. The lower the score, the greater press freedom is in a country (the Scandinavian countries are routinely at the top of the list). Go to the website of the Press Freedom Index and compare the ranking of the English-speaking countries with that of your home country. How are the English-speaking countries ranked in comparison with your own? What may be the reasons for the differences? Prepare a five-minute presentation on the topic.
Freedom of the press in the US
Search the Internet and write a blogpost on the history and development of the freedom of the press in the United States. You may want to start your search by watching this video on the YouTube channel CrashCourse:
News consumption in the United Kingdom
Study the following infographic on news consumption in the United Kingdom in 2019. What trends can you identify? What may be the possible reasons for them? Prepare a four-minute presentation based on the information.
News agencies
What is a news agency and what does it do? Why are traditional news agencies in crisis these days? Watch the following video to find out more about the history and current state of news agencies and prepare a four-minute presentation on the topic.
British newspapers
Identify some typical distinguishing features of British newspapers, including the following papers, then prepare a five-minute presentation on the topic. How do British newspapers differ from those published in your home country?
- The Daily Mail
- The Daily Telegraph
- The Financial Times
- The Guardian
- The Independent
- The Scotsman
- The Times
- The Sun
- The Daily Mirror
- The Herald
The British Royal Family
The British Royal Family may be considered as one of the greatest “brands” in the history of the country. Read the following article and do some research on the official website of the Royal Family, then prepare an A3 (or bigger) poster on the media representation of the Queen and the rest of her family. Try to represent some of the most important episodes from the history of the family’s media appearances and the different views on the Royal Family as an institution.
The official website of the Royal Family
Online news sites and magazines
Choose an online news site or magazine and write an e-mail to your English language learner friend to recommend the news site or magazine to him/her.
The most popular television programs in the UK
Study the following chart with statistical data on the most popular television programs in the UK in 2020 and summarize it in a five-minute presentation.
Streaming services
How do streaming services work? What are the major differences between on-demand streaming and live streaming? What are the most popular streaming services in the United States? Watch the following honest trailer listing the American streaming services, then choose one and present it in five minutes.
The distribution of social media
The following infographic shows the distribution of social media all around the world. Look at the data presented in the infographic and summarize it in a short essay of two or three paragraphs.
The Social Dilemma
In 2020, Netflix published a docudrama on social media entitled The Social Dilemma, which explores how social media has damaged society and how it exploits people. Watch the film and form two debate groups, one of which should argue for social media and the other against it. Prepare for the debate by taking notes based on the film and other sources about the positive and negative aspects of social media.
Media consum of different generations
With the coronavirus outbreak, people had to withdraw to their homes, so they had more time to consume media content. The following infographic shows research on what kinds of media the different generations consumed after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and the United States in 2020. What are the most important similarities and differences between the generations? Summarize the results of the research in a four-minute presentation.