by Deborah Charles | 17 Jul 2024 | Decoder Replay, History, Journalism, Sports
Journalists don’t win medals. But to cover the Olympics takes extraordinary stamina. You don’t want to let down the team. The author (left) before tackling the Beijing velodrome. (Photo courtesy of Deborah Charles) Editor’s note: The 2024 Summer...
by Daniel Warner | 11 Jul 2024 | Decoders, History, Politics, Russia, United States
A fleet of Russian warships in Havana in June revived memories of the 1962 face off between Kennedy and Kruschev that had the world holding its breath. People watch the Russian Navy Admiral Gorshkov frigate arrive at the port of Havana, Cuba, 12 June 2024. A fleet of...
by Lauren Heuser | 10 Jul 2024 | Decoder Replay, Government, History, Politics
When the rule of law doesn’t apply to world leaders, can they be reined in? Should a president or prime minister be above the law? A man takes a bribe. (Photo by Kazakov Anatoliy Pavlovich/Getty Images) Editor’s note: On 2 July 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court...
by John West | 25 Jun 2024 | Decoders, History, India, Politics
Elections jolted the ambitions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling party. But they may have breathed fresh life into India’s flagging democracy. Supporters of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a bike rally campaign for the general...
by Leia Neilson | 11 Jun 2024 | Contest winners, Europe, History, Politics, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Youth Voices
When you think of France, you might picture sitting at a café. But taking to the streets to air grievances is as French as Beaujolais. Protesters in Rennes, France march over pension reforms and more, April 2023. (Photo credit: Clover Choi) This article, by high...
by Tira Shubart | 6 Jun 2024 | Educators' Catalog, France, History, Journalism, News Photography, United States
With the 156,000 allied troops who came ashore at Normandy on D-Day were 500 news reporters armed only with pens, paper, cameras and recording equipment. While hundreds of others move towards the beach in landing craft, American assault troops, with full equipment,...
Accompanying the 156,000 allied troops who came ashore at Normandy on D-Day were 500 news reporters armed only with pens, paper and recording equipment. Correspondent Tira Shubart looks at what it was like to be a war reporter in 1944.
Exercise: Read the article and discuss the dangers journalists faced in the Second World War, the reasons why they chose to report and the difficulties they might have had in reporting. Imagine you are a WWII reporter. Write a journal entry describing a snapshot of what you experienced on a given day. For inspiration, search for photos or articles by Robert Capa, Martha Gellhorn or Lee Miller and use them as a starting point. Think about what happened before and after the article or photo. Keep in mind how the events you experienced had wider, cross-border importance and how your chosen event impacted the world.
by Marcy Burstiner | 23 May 2024 | Culture, Educators' Catalog, History, Media Literacy
Historians dig up stories that document our past the way archeologists sift through relics. The more they learn the more we realize how much we don’t know. A stack of books in a bookstore that tell only one version of the world. (Illustration by News Decoder)...
Historians dig up stories that document our past the way archeologists sift through relics. The more they learn the more we realize how much we don’t know. News Decoder’s Editorial News Director Marcy Burstiner examines history and the versions of history that we’re told.
Exercise: Explore the idea of stories being told from different perspectives and of certain histories being silenced or underrepresented. Choose a current topic and have students look at it from different perspectives. What kinds of histories might be forged through telling the story in different ways?
by Enrique Shore | 17 May 2024 | Americas, Educators' Catalog, History, Human Rights, Politics
Photojournalist Enrique Shore captured the work of a commission investigating the disappearance of tens of thousands of Argentine dissidents. Human rights protesters wearing white masks representing the disappeared march in silence in Buenos Aires in 1985. (Credit:...
Photos tell stories. Sometimes they speak louder decades on. Photojournalist Enrique Shore spent time capturing the work of a commission investigating the disappearance of tens of thousands of Argentine dissidents. We take a look at his exhibition, ‘Evidence’, in photos that are as relevant now as ever.
Exercise: Choose an iconic photo or a photo that you like of a current or historic event. What does it represent? Why is it important? Why do you like or dislike the photo? What themes does it deal with? Why is it an important photo? Finish by discussing the difference between writers and photographers. Is how they report on events different? Which role would you prefer?
by Paul Radford | 15 May 2024 | Decoder Replay, History, Human Rights, Politics, Sports
Millions of people will cheer their nation at the Paris Summer Olympics. Others shake their heads at its cost. Do the Games still serve a purpose? Torchbearer Didier Drogba of France holds the Olympic torch to light the cauldron at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille,...
by Yawen Xu | 13 May 2024 | China, Culture, History
“China chic” has millions celebrating China’s glorious past. The number of people traveling to historic sites and tourist attractions is skyrocketing. A woman, Zhu Zhu, wears hairpin flowers on a visit to Quanzhou, China 2 April 2024. Photo provided...