Activity 01
Jigsaw: Australian Media Ownership Experts
Assign small groups one major owner like News Corp or ABC. They research holdings, market share, and influence examples using reliable sources. Groups then teach their findings to the class via posters or presentations, filling a shared ownership chart.
Explain how media ownership structures can influence news coverage.
Facilitation TipFor the jigsaw, assign each expert pair a single ownership chart and a short reading so they can prepare a focused mini-presentation to their home group.
What to look forPose the question: 'Imagine you are a news editor at a media company owned by a large conglomerate. What pressures might you face when deciding whether to publish a critical story about one of your owner's business partners?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to connect ownership to editorial decisions.
UnderstandAnalyzeEvaluateRelationship SkillsSelf-Management
Generate Complete Lesson→· · ·
Activity 02
Pairs Compare: Coverage Clash
Pairs select a recent political issue like federal budget. They find articles from two outlets with different owners, highlight biases in language and emphasis, then share findings in a class gallery walk.
Compare the perspectives offered by different media outlets on a specific political issue.
Facilitation TipWhen pairs compare coverage, hand them a shared table with identical prompts so both students record evidence side-by-side before they discuss differences.
What to look forProvide students with two short news articles from different Australian outlets (e.g., The Guardian Australia vs. The Australian) on the same topic. Ask them to identify one sentence in each article that demonstrates a potential bias related to ownership and explain their reasoning in writing.
AnalyzeEvaluateCreateDecision-MakingSelf-Management
Generate Complete Lesson→· · ·
Activity 03
Whole Class Debate: Monopoly Impacts
Divide class into teams to argue for or against media monopolies. Provide prep time for evidence from ownership data. Hold structured debate with rebuttals, followed by vote and reflection.
Critique the role of media monopolies in shaping public opinion.
Facilitation TipDuring the whole-class debate, assign one student to track arguments on the board and another to note moments when students explicitly link ownership details to editorial choices.
What to look forOn an index card, have students write the name of one Australian media conglomerate and list two types of media outlets they own. Then, ask them to write one sentence explaining how this concentration of ownership could potentially limit the diversity of news presented to the public.
AnalyzeEvaluateCreateDecision-MakingSelf-Management
Generate Complete Lesson→· · ·
Activity 04
Individual Audit: Personal Media Diet
Students list their top three news sources, trace ownership online, and note potential biases. They compile results into a class survey for discussion on echo chambers.
Explain how media ownership structures can influence news coverage.
Facilitation TipFor the individual audit, provide a simple template with clear categories so students can log media type, owner, and topic in under 10 minutes.
What to look forPose the question: 'Imagine you are a news editor at a media company owned by a large conglomerate. What pressures might you face when deciding whether to publish a critical story about one of your owner's business partners?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to connect ownership to editorial decisions.
AnalyzeEvaluateCreateDecision-MakingSelf-Management
Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Teachers should treat this as a detective unit: guide students to gather ownership facts first, then trace those facts into story selection and framing. Avoid telling students what to conclude; instead, design tasks that force evidence-based comparisons. Research shows that when students themselves identify patterns of bias in real materials, the lesson sticks longer than any lecture could deliver.
Successful learning looks like students moving from noticing basic facts about media owners to explaining how concentration shapes what news reaches the public and why that matters for democracy. They should be able to cite evidence from ownership charts and article comparisons in their own words.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
During Jigsaw: Australian Media Ownership Experts, students may assume that media owners never influence editorial content.
During Jigsaw: Australian Media Ownership Experts, have each expert pair add one example from their ownership chart to a class list of editor appointments or policy directives, then ask home groups to explain how these influence the stories they cover.
During Pairs Compare: Coverage Clash, students may believe that more news outlets always mean diverse perspectives.
During Pairs Compare: Coverage Clash, direct pairs to map cross-ownership links on a whiteboard before comparing articles, then ask them to note how many voices actually appear across outlets owned by the same company.
During Whole Class Debate: Monopoly Impacts, students may think public broadcasters like ABC are completely neutral.
During Whole Class Debate: Monopoly Impacts, require each debater to reference ABC’s funding sources and recent government statements when discussing perceived neutrality or bias.
Methods used in this brief