Do an audit of your local newspaper or newscast

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The sources used to build a story determine the perspective from which a story will be told. Here's a way to determine if your local newspaper or broadcast group is allowing the a wide range of voices to be heard in the work they present to the public.

Take today's paper and choose three or four stories at random to read. As you are reading, write down what you learn about the sources they use. Are they male or female, old or young, rich or poor? What race are they? What part of the country are they from-north, south, east or west? Do they belong to a political party?

Other things to note: How much space did they give to one source as compared to another? Was there a balance of opinions? Do you believe the sources used were best suited to speak to the issue, or did the writer choose sources that supported his or her own theories?

You can do this with tonight's news broadcast, too.

If you do an audit of your local newspaper or newscast a number of times over the course of a month, you might be able to see a few patterns emerge.

Audit this month's Windspeaker and let us know what you find.