1. What comment first made Sheila realize just how much power the news media possesses? 2. Walter Lippmann notes that the "news" we see is the result of a series of "selections". How can this selective process shape the news?
3. How do you shape your social media feed? What selections, edits, and choices do you make that determine how you are perceived by other
people on those platforms?
4. Why do you think people buy into biases presented in the media?
5. Why do you think people who control the media are willing to pay billions of dollars every year to shape "public opinion"?
6. The article references an exchange between two news anchors on CNN: Jack Cafferty says, "The news media is only objective if they report
something you agree with." Zahn replies, "Right." Cafferty concludes: "Then they're objective. Otherwise they're biased if you don't agree, you
know." What does this exchange tell us about how people choose their news sources?
7. On page 2, what does it mean when the author urges us to be "discriminating" and to "scrutinize" everything we hear and see?
8. Given the challenge of fake news and misinformation spreading so easily on the internet, how should freedom of speech and freedom of the
press be reformed in order to ensure that all media platforms are used responsibly? What new rules would you want to include if you were
starting a media platform?

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every american was to fall heir. this note was a promise that all men—yes, black men as well as white men—would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. it is obvious today that america has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. instead of honoring this sacred obligation, america has given the negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked “insufficient funds.” but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. and so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. in this section of the speech, analyze martin luther king’s connection between a defaulted promissory note and the lack of freedom experienced by african americans. which option offers the best analysis? question 3 options: mlk creates this analogy to communicate that america has enough freedom for all, but it needs to live up to its promises. mlk makes the analogy that america has run out of freedom. not everyone deserves to have it. mlk communicates that america should equally distribute funds to all citizens. everyone deserves equal access to the government’s money. mlk demonstrates that america is improving in equality and should keep the forward momentum.