Analyzing News Coverage
Grade: 12
1
Duration:
2 hours
Subject: current events;
language, writing, and
analysis
Lesson: 1
Topic: Analyzing News Articles
of 1
Common Core Standards:
 Reading Standards for Informational Text
6–12: 1-10
Objectives:
 Students will be able to compare articles from different news sources that
cover the same story.
 Students will be able to identify the differences between explanation,
information, and analysis.
 Students will be able to analyze two articles about the same story and
critique their strengths and weaknesses.
Lesson context:
 This unit is designed to help students understand the difference between
analysis and explanation in the context of new coverage.
Resources/Materials Needed:
 News articles brought from home (class time could also be used to find
news articles).
 All items listed in bold in lesson are in appendices following lesson.
Main activity:
 A few class sessions before this unit, ask students to bring in or
print two news articles from different sources about the same topic.
 Pass out Appendix A: News Articles, which contains articles about the
assassination of Libya’s Deputy Minister of Industry, Hassan al-Droui.
Some of the articles contain hyperlinks instructors can use to navigate to
other stories that may provide students with context.
 In small groups, students should complete Appendix B: Analyzing News
Articles. Review important concepts with the class, such as the difference
between reporting information objectively vs. subjectively, as well as the
differences and intersections among facts, opinions, and analysis.
 As a homework or individual assignment, ask students to complete
Appendix C: Analyzing News Articles using the articles they brought
from home.
Appendix A: News Articles
Analyzing News Coverage
2
From The New York Timesi
Senior Libyan Official Assassinated, First Since Qaddafi Era
TRIPOLI, Libya — A Libyan deputy cabinet minister was killed by gunmen on Saturday
evening in the first assassination of a senior government figure in the country since the
ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi more than two years ago.
The deputy minister of industry, Hassan al-Droui, was hit by a spray of bullets in the
former Qaddafi stronghold of Surt, which he had represented in the wartime transitional
council and then in the elected Parliament.
Assassinations of military and police officers, usually presumed to be the work of
Islamist extremists, have been accelerating in the eastern cities of Benghazi
and Darnah[1]. But the government had usually been able to negotiate its way out of
threats to central institutions or top officials, as it did with the[2]kidnapping of Prime
Minister Ali Zeidan[3] from a Tripoli hotel a few months ago. Previous attempts to
assassinate senior officials had all failed.
Mr. Droui’s death is also the latest sign that the pattern of assassinations may be
spreading westward; Surt sits roughly midway between Benghazi and Tripoli on the
coastal road.
Analyzing News Coverage
3
Possible motives for the killing include a desire for revenge by Qaddafi loyalists or
antagonism toward the secular transitional government by Islamist extremists. Mr. Droui
had joined the rebel’s transitional council when most of Surt, his hometown, remained
stalwart in its support of Colonel Qaddafi, another son of the city. In the final weeks of
the revolt against him, Surt was the site of some of the most horrific violence in the
conflict, including at least one massacre of dozens of unarmed Qaddafi supporters, as
well as the assassination and disfigurement of the colonel himself[5].
Since then, however, Surt has joined Benghazi and Darnah as theaters of operation for
armed Islamist extremists. Some of the fighters from neighboring cities who occupied
the city at the end of the rebellion reorganized themselves into the core of a militant
group, Ansar al-Shariah of Surt, an independent organization that shares its name with
counterparts in Benghazi, Darnah and Tunisia. (Ansar al-Shariah means supporters of
Islamic law.)
Tensions are rising across the country ahead of elections for an assembly to draft a new
constitution. Mr. Zeidan recently survived a no-confidence vote by the transitional
Parliament, which would have required a two-thirds majority, and he promised to
replace members of his cabinet. But much of the public has lost trust in Parliament,
whose members were elected in 2012 but have struggled to exercise authority over the
Analyzing News Coverage
4
country. Parliament once planned to transfer power to a new elected body by this
February, but there is little chance of meeting that deadline.
Regional groups in eastern Libya and tribal groups in the south and west have cut off or
disrupted supplies of oil and gas. And over the last two days, fighting has erupted
between rival tribes competing for control of smuggling routes around the southern city
of Sabha; dozens have been killed so far.
Optimists, however, point to plans by several Western nations, including the United
States, to train recruits for a professional Libyan military that may help the government
control the fractious local militias that have proliferated across the country. And Western
diplomats in Tripoli say they hope that the elections for a 60-member panel to draft a
constitution will revive momentum toward the formation of a new Libyan state. No date
has been set for the voting.
From The Hinduii (India)
Libyan minister Hassan al-Droui shot dead
A senior government official was killed in the coastal city of Sirte, Libya’s official news
agency LANAreported on Sunday.
Gunmen shot Hassan al-Droui, the Deputy Industry Minister, in an overnight attack in
his hometown, east of the capital, Tripoli, the agency said, citing a security official.
He died before reaching the city’s hospital. There was no claim of responsibility Al-Droui
was a member of the National Transitional Council, the body that ruled Libya for 10
months after dictator Muammar Qadhafi was toppled in October 2011.
The council handed over power to an elected assembly in August 2012.
Libya’s new leaders have been struggling to assert their authority and restore security in
the North African country.
From Mail & Guardianiii (South Africa)
Analyzing News Coverage
5
Libya's deputy industry minister shot dead | News | Africa
Libya's Deputy Industry minister Hassan al-Droui was shot dead during a visit to his
hometown of Sirte, east of Tripoli, security and hospital sources said on Sunday.
The identity of the shooters was not immediately known, but the official's death was the
first assassination of a member of the transitional government since the fall of
Muammar Gaddafi's regime in October 2011.
"Hassan al-Droui, the deputy minister for industry, was killed by unknown attackers
overnight, during a visit to his native city of Sirte," a security official said.
"Unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on Mr Droui in central Sirte," the official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
An official at the city's Ibn Sina hospital confirmed the deputy minister's death and
added that he had suffered bullet wounds to several parts of his body.
Former rebel group member
Droui was a former member of the National Transitional Council, the political arm of the
rebellion that brought an end to Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
He was appointed deputy minister for industry by the transitional government's first
prime minister, Abdel Rahim al-Kib, and kept his job when Ali Zeidan took over.
Droui's hometown, which lies on the Mediterranean coast about 400km east of the
capital Tripoli, was the last regime bastion to fall into rebel hands in 2011.
Since the collapse of Gaddafi's autocratic regime, Libya has been plagued by sporadic
violence, including a string of assassinations targeting top army and security officials.
From Al Jazeeraiv
Libya deputy PM escapes assassination attempt - Africa
Analyzing News Coverage
6
Libya's deputy prime minister has survived unhurt after gunmen fired on his car in the
capital of Tripoli, an attack that reflects the chaotic state of the North African nation two
years after Muammar Gaddafi's fall.
Deputy Prime Minister Sadiq Abdulkarim, who also serves as interim interior minister,
said he was attacked on Wednesday while en route to the General National Congress
assembly from the Interior Ministry.
"I tell those who did it that Libya is bigger than you and Libya's men will not be
threatened by bullets, guns or rockets," Abdulkarim said in a brief televised statement
later on Wednesday.
The state news agency said Abdulkarim, who appeared healthy in his
television appearance, had not been wounded in the attack.
According to the LANA news agency, "unknown gunmen fired a barrage of bullets" at
the deputy prime minister's car while he was inside.
The Libyan government has been struggling to contain dozens of armed groups who
kept their guns after the NATO-backed revolt against Gaddafi in 2011. The identity of
Abdulkarim's attackers was not immediately clear.
Deteriorating security
Libya's difficulties in asserting state authority have worried Western powers, who fear
violence in the OPEC country could spill over to its North African neighbours.
Parts of Libya are already effectively under the control of armed groups, for whom the
country's fledgling army and police are no match.
Security has deteriorated in recent months, with car bombs and assassinations become
part of daily life in the eastern city of Benghazi.
The attack on Abdulkarim comes less than three weeks after the assassination of
Deputy Industry Minister Hassan al-Droui, who was shot in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte
on January 12.
Analyzing News Coverage
7
Meanwhile, an armed blockade of three major eastern ports by a group demanding a
greater share of oil wealth and more regional autonomy has choked off 600,000 barrels
per day of oil exports.
From BBC (United Kingdom)v
BBC News - Libyan cabinet minister Hassan al-Droui killed in Sirte
12 January 2014 Last updated at 03:11 ET
Libya's deputy industry minister has been shot dead during a visit to his hometown of
Sirte, east of the capital Tripoli.
Local media quoted officials as saying unknown gunmen "sprayed bullets" at Hassan alDroui near a central market.
It is the first assassination of a member of Libya's transitional government.
Libya has suffered continuing lawlessness since the overthrow of Col Muammar
Gaddafi in October 2011.
The motive behind Mr al-Droui's assassination is unclear.
Most killings of this kind, which are common in eastern cities like Benghazi and Derna,
usually target military and police figures and are often blamed on extreme Islamists
groups operating there, says the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli.
Analyzing News Coverage
8
Mr al-Droui was a former member of the National Transitional Council, the political arm
of the 2011 uprising.
He was appointed to his role by the transitional government's first prime minister and
kept his position when Ali Zeidan took over.
Sirte was the site of the final battle of Libya's civil war, during which Col Gaddafi was
captured and shot dead while trying to hide from rebels.
Militia violence
Libya has been struggling to assert itself over up to 1,700 different armed militias, each
with their own goals, following Col Gaddafi's death.
At least 19 people were killed in clashes between rival tribes in the southern city of
Sabha on Saturday.
Militias in Libya

Numerous militias formed to topple Gaddafi still operate

Many still control the towns or areas where they were formed

Some believed to have links to al-Qaeda

Government has been unable to disarm them, instead it works with some militias

Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room, which says it seized the prime minister,
has links to defence and interior ministries

It condemned the US raid to seize al-Qaeda suspect Anas al-Liby
The fighting was reportedly sparked by the killing of a bodyguard protecting the city's
militia leader, a member of the Awlad Suleiman tribe.
Fellow tribesmen accused the rival Toubou of murdering the leader.
The violence is the worst between the tribes since they struck a ceasefire agreement in
March 2012.
Members of the Toubou minority tribe live mainly in neighbouring Chad, but are also
found in southern Libya, Niger and Sudan.
Analyzing News Coverage
They have in the past complained of not being treated as equals by Arabs from the
coastal cities of the north, who tend to dominate the country's government and security
forces.
Southern Libya thrives on the business of smuggling contraband goods as well as
human trafficking, our correspondent says.
Many of the clashes between tribes there are rooted in competition over smuggling
routes.
9
Analyzing News Coverage
10
Appendix B: Analyzing News Articles
Complete the table below using the five articles in Appendix A: News Articles. You may conduct internet searches to
find supporting information if it is helpful.
Article Source
New York Times
What is this
story about?
Does the author
explain why the
story is important?
Who is the
audience of this
story?
The Hindu
Mail &
Guardian
Al Jazeera
BBC
Analyzing News Coverage
11
Article Source
New York Times
Whose perspective
is included?
Whose perspective
is missing?
What, if anything,
did you learn from
this article that you
didn’t learn from the
others?
The Hindu
Mail &
Guardian
Al Jazeera
BBC
Analyzing News Coverage
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Article Source
New York Times
How might another
perspective affect
this story?
Does the story
provide analysis
(adding to facts to
provide more than
just explanation;
explaining how the
story is important to
a certain context)?
The Hindu
Mail &
Guardian
Al Jazeera
BBC
Analyzing News Coverage
13
Article Source
New York Times
What parts of the
story are facts?
What parts of the
story are opinions?
Would you
recommend that a
friend read this
story if she/he
wanted a good
explanation of what
was happening?
The Hindu
Mail &
Guardian
Al Jazeera
BBC
Analyzing News Coverage
14
Appendix C: Analyzing News Articles
Choose news articles that cover the same topic and complete the table. You may conduct internet searches to find
supporting information if it is helpful.
Source
What is this story about?
Does the author explain why the story is
important?
Who is the audience of this story?
Analyzing News Coverage
15
Source
Whose perspective is included?
Whose perspective is missing?
What, if anything, did you learn from this
article that you didn’t learn from the
others?
Analyzing News Coverage
16
Source
How might another perspective affect this
story?
Does the story provide analysis (adding
to facts to provide more than just
explanation; explaining how the story is
important to a certain context)?
Analyzing News Coverage
17
Source
What parts of the story are facts?
What parts of the story are opinions?
Analyzing News Coverage
18
Source
Would you recommend that a friend read
this story if she/he wanted a good
explanation of what was happening?
i
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/world/africa/libyan-official-isassassinated.html?action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults&mabReward=relbias%3Ar&url=http%3A%2F%2
Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DSection
Front%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3Dworld%26t%3Dqry302%23%2Fal-Droui&_r=0
ii http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/libyan-minister-hassan-aldroui-shot-dead/article5570147.ece
iii http://mg.co.za/article/2014-01-12-libyas-deputy-industry-minister-shot-dead
iv http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/01/libya-deputy-pm-escapes-assassination-attempt2014129123613551333.html
v http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-25701470