Behind ‘Behind The News’
4 09 2008
Behind the News or BtN has been broadcasting on ABC since 1969. I remember watching this in year 6 and 7 at school and to be honest, most people in my class didn’t like it. We classified news = boring and so watching this on the VHS every Wednesday afternoon became a hard slog. I think the most exciting part of BtN was when they used to show music video clips at the end and one time they showed ‘Polyester Girl’ by Regurgitator. If you’ve seen the video clip, well….lets just say the guys couldn’t stop laughing.
I, on the other hand would look forward to watching BtN. I think it was because I saw this as my opportunity to practice my journalism skills – my childhood ambition was to become a news reporter. However, there were some news stories that I actually didn’t understand and it was still a bit hard to comprehend. I think it was because sometimes we were given no context to the stories – so words like ‘treaty’ ‘upper house’ and ‘right wing party’ would be quite abstract. On the other hand, BtN also made some of the current affairs more easier to understand – back then it was the Indonesian riots, the asylum seekers, and Timor’s independance that made big news. It also covered news that mainstream news sources wouldn’t cover, with quite a few coming out of the NT.
When I start teaching, I hope to be able to use BtN as a classroom resource for news and current affairs. It’s probably beacuse I have an interest in the media industry so I am biased - but I think it’s important for kids to get a look at the issues that are impacting our country and the world. Will my students find watching BtN boring? Well, I’ve seen a few episodes recently and it looks cool. But then again, I’m now old and 21 so it’ll be interesting to see what an 11 year old thinks. Perhaps the way I facilitate the ‘BtN’ time in the classroom can also make a difference. How does an 11 year old get an interest in current affairs? How is an earthquake in the middle east relevant to a year 6 in Kalgoorlie?
Did you used to watch BtN in school? How did you find it? Would you use it with your students?
Josh I am so impressed with your blog and you didnt even have to make one.
It looks great and each topic so far has been great to read about.
I love your blog about Behind the News.
When I was in primary school we watched it a couple of times a term and then did work on it. I remember always being exciting about getting to watch it and the work we did on it afterwards was always enjoyable.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
ahh shucks thanks jess.