9 Breaking News Scenario
Andrew M. Clark, PhD
Author Bio
Dr. Andrew Clark is a Professor in the Department of Communication specializing in broadcasting. He is also the QEP Director for the university and the Associate Director of the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning Excellence, in the Office of the Provost. He completed his Ph. D. at the University of Florida. A native of New Zealand, Dr. Clark worked professionally in radio and television before entering academia. He is past Chair of both the Radio and Audio Media Division and the International Division of the Broadcast Education Association, and also past Chair of the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators. He has won awards for his teaching, research, and assessment work.
Course Context
This activity is designed to be adaptable to a variety of contexts, but it was originally designed with the following student population in mind:
- Discipline: Communication
- Level: Undergraduate or Graduate
- Course Name: Broadcast Writing or Writing for Mass Media
- Modality: Face-to-face, but it could be adapted for online.
- Context: This course gives students the tools to write effectively using broadcast style with emphasis on writing under deadline pressure, writing in active voice, developing appropriate questions, and evaluating material presented by public officials.
- Number of Students: 10 – 20
Activity Overview
This is a scenario-based activity that uses ChatGPT or other AI applications such as Co-Pilot or Gemini to conduct a press conference on a breaking news topic of the instructor’s choice. Students engage with the AI as journalists asking questions to gain details so that they can write three stories under deadline: an initial story with minimal details, a second story with greater details, and a third story that summarizes the whole breaking news event. Students gain experience asking initial or follow-up questions and evaluating the information that is necessary to include in each type of story. The assignment allows students to develop questioning skills, writing skills, and critical thinking skills as they evaluate the answers given by the public official for clarity, usefulness, and truthfulness. The type of breaking news scenarios is only limited by the instructor’s imagination. AI can imitate various persona, and an assignment such as this could be used in many other disciplines as well.
Directions
For Instructors
- Prior to class, create/log in to your Gen AI account. This activity was originally implemented with the ChatGPT but may be replicated using other Gen AI platforms such as Gemini or Co-Pilot.
- In preparation for the class, develop a breaking news scenario with as much specificity as necessary to accomplish the goal of having students write three brief news stories with varying degrees of information. For example, in the Gen AI prompt box you may write “This is a breaking news scenario to help students learn how to gather information and ask relevant questions. You will play the role of a 35-year-old female named Wendy Jones, who is the media relations person for the city of Somewhere, Texas, a town of 50,000 located in the Texas panhandle. A train has derailed spilling chemicals, and a press conference is held to provide updates and answer questions. This is a breaking news situation, so you do not have a lot of information to give to the media. Students will ask questions following your initial statement.”
- When the prompt is written as above, students can type questions to which Gen AI responds. You may also write a prompt in such a way that the Gen AI provides questions and answers itself. For example, your prompt might be: “This is an exercise to train journalism students on how to ask questions and evaluate answers. I want you to play the role of both a journalist and a public information office to give students an example of questions to ask and answers they may receive. You are a journalist for a local TV station and a public information officer for a small town where there has been a hazardous chemical spill on a major road. There is a press conference. Please ask questions as a journalist and provide answers as a PIO.” What you do depends on whether the emphasis is on questioning skills, or critical thinking skills where they evaluate the questions and answers that are provided.
- Depending on the size of the class you may act as the press conference moderator and either assign a group of students to ask questions for the first press conference, another group for the second press conference, and the rest of the class for the third conference, or you may randomly call on students to ask questions.
- Project your computer on to a large screen and explain to the students the assignment. As the students call out their questions, you will enter the questions into the Gen AI prompt box, and they will see the response(s).
- Once the allotted number of students have asked their questions you will then give all students a set time to write their story. When the time is up each student should allow a classmate to review their story and provide feedback. Students will then rewrite their initial story incorporating the feedback.
For Students
This is a breaking news scenario. In this type of situation information changes rapidly and you need to determine what is accurate and useful for your audience, or what information may or may not be accurate. For this assignment there will be three news conferences where you will receive information about a breaking news event from an official spokesperson. Each story you write will be slightly longer because you will have received more information.
Story One will be no more than three lines long. It should contain initial information and should be factual without being alarmist.
Story Two will be no more than five lines long and may include some of what you wrote for Story One but should include additional details updating earlier material.
Story Three will be no more than eight lines long and will be a summary of the entire event with the latest information that is available.
Your role as a reporter is to not only ask relevant questions that elicit useful information, but to think critically about the responses and whether the information provided meets your needs, and the needs of your audience.
Once you have written your story you are to have a classmate review your story and provide suggestions. You will then amend your story based on their suggestions, but you must keep both copies to turn in.
By the end of class, you will have six total stories. The three that you originally wrote, and three more that incorporate suggestions from your classmate.
Benefit to Students
Upon completing this assignment, students will develop three original stories, and three revised stories. Students will demonstrate skills in:
- Writing for deadline
- Writing in broadcast style
- Questioning skills
- Critical thinking
- Analyzing the work of another student
- Developing clear and concise feedback
Assessment
This exercise will take place live in class where students ask questions as if it was a press conference and they were all reporters. Once each student, or selected group of students, have asked a question, or a follow-up question, students will be given a set amount of time to write an initial story. In pairs students will evaluate each other’s stories and offer feedback. The students will then rewrite the initial story considering the feedback. The students will submit three original stories, and the three revised stories, noting what feedback was received. It will be up to the instructor which components of the exercise are graded and how they are graded based on what material has been covered in the class.
Cross-Disciplinary Applications
This scenario could be used in any discipline to train learners on how to conduct a press briefing or press conference, and to be aware of questions that might be asked and the appropriate responses that should be given depending on the scenario.
Political Science
In Political Science it could be used to simulate a press conference for a political candidate who may be addressing a public controversy that is breaking.
Criminal Justice
In Criminal Justice it could be used to simulate a Police Chief addressing the media about a breaking news event.
Public Health
In Public Health it could be used to simulate a health professional briefing the media about a breaking health scare.
Disclosures/Acknowledgements
AI-assisted content . Mavs Open Press defines work as AI-assisted when author-created content is enhanced, organized, or edited using an AI tool. This OER was created using AI assistance.
