CBC Archives

Have students listen to a CBC Radio news broadcast about a current topic of national interest. Ask students to listen only to this source, and to prepare a summary of the information they gathered from listening. Students should be prepared to share their findings in class.

Have students listen to the three CBC Radio news reports about the flag debate on the topic site. From these reports, students should describe the events of the day as related to the debate. They should identify Canadian opinions, the political climate in Parliament and within the Progressive Conservative Party and, using only the audio reports, describe the major flag designs in the debate. Students might also include information on other designs that are mentioned. Encourage students to identify the limitations of an audio-only news source, as well as its advantages over print media.

Using the information they have gathered, and keeping in mind the advantages and limitations of radio news, students will create and audio tape a radio report about the raising of the Canadian flag on Parliament Hill on February 15, 2005, the 40th anniversary of the current flag. Reports should include on-the-spot interviews, and editorials that comment on the impressions of the flag from English Canadians, French Canadians, and from a world perspective.

Have students play their completed radio reports for the class. At the end of each report, all students can share their opinion about the report, its content, and how well it conveyed information. Encourage discussion about how Canadians feel about the flag in 2005 compared to how they felt in 1965, based on information gathered from the topic site.

Have students listen to news reports about a single topic from at least three different radio stations. Students should identify differences in content, tone, and point of view among the reports, and indicate what bias, if any, was found in each report. Students can further examine differences and bias among radio reports by repeating this activity for the three radio news reports on the topic site.