Talking about a news story extended speaking

Without saying anything, listen to your partner speak as long as they can about one news story they know about. If they talk about any of the topics below, tick that box. When they can’t think of anything else to say, ask them questions about some of the topics that haven’t been ticked. Read through all the categories below before your partner starts speaking.

 What happened

 Place it happened

 People involved/ People to blame

 Time it happened

 Reasons why it happened

 Consequences (past, present and future), and how long they have/ will last

 Similarities to other events

 How important it is

 How and where it has been reported

 Your reaction

 Other people’s reactions

 Amount and quality of coverage by the media and how it compares to coverage of other news stories

 Variation of coverage from different sources

 Memorable images and quotes

 If it is controversial or not, and why

 If it or something similar is likely to happen again

 If it is a well known story or not, and why

 If it is the top story/ front page story or not, and why

 When, where and how you first heard about it

 Things you still don’t know about it/ would like to know more about

 Most interesting/ disturbing/ important aspect of the story

 Why you chose this story to talk about

 How long this story will be remembered/ talked about

 Other stories that were happening at the same time and how this story and how it was covered compares

 The best news source for this story

 Unreliable news sources for this story

 What commentators and people you know think about this story

Do the same, but with an anecdote or rumour someone you know told you. This time you will need to make up your own extra questions to ask your partner when they have finished speaking.


PDF version for easy printing: NewsStoryMiniPresentations


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