A1 Level – Elementary
1. Where do you get your news?
2. Do you read the newspaper every day?
3. What is the difference between truth and lies?
4. Do you like watching news on TV?
5. What makes a story important?
6. What is the job of a reporter?
7. Do you trust all the news you hear?
8. What is a popular newspaper in your country?
9. What is a “headline”?
10. Do you use social media for news?
11. What makes a good photograph for a news story?
12. Is it safe for journalists to work everywhere?
13. What is the difference between a journalist and a writer?
14. What makes a news report seem biased?
15. What are the best ways to check if news is true?
A2 Level – Pre-Intermediate
1. What are the key differences between news reporting and opinion commentary?
2. Describe one major international news event you have followed closely recently.
3. What are the pros and cons of getting news instantly on your phone?
4. What are the common challenges journalists face when covering a war or disaster?
5. Have you ever realized that a news story you read was completely false?
6. What kind of rules should journalists follow to ensure they are objective?
7. What role do citizen journalists (ordinary people reporting) play today?
8. What is the difference between broadcast news (TV/radio) and print news (paper/online)?
9. How has the need for constant updates affected the quality of news reporting?
10. What are the most common things people misunderstand about media bias?
11. What is the importance of having a variety of different news sources?
12. Do you think governments should control or regulate the news media?
13. What are the challenges of translating a complicated news story into another language?
14. What are the best ways to teach children to be skeptical of online news?
15. What is the difference between investigative journalism and routine reporting?
B1 Level – Intermediate
1. Discuss the impact of social media algorithms on exposing people to diverse or polarizing news sources.
2. How can traditional news organizations compete financially with free online content and user-generated posts?
3. What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of anonymous sources in investigative journalism?
4. Do you agree that the primary role of journalism is to hold those in power accountable?
5. Describe a time when a specific piece of journalism significantly influenced public opinion or policy.
6. To what extent should journalists be allowed to express their personal opinions on social media?
7. What role does photojournalism play in conveying the human reality of a news event?
8. How do cultural norms and political systems in different countries influence press freedom?
9. Discuss the psychological phenomenon of “news fatigue”—feeling overwhelmed by the constant flow of information.
10. What are the challenges of reporting on complex topics like economics or climate change accurately?
11. How does the speed of modern reporting affect the accuracy and fact-checking process?
12. Should public funding support local, community-focused journalism to ensure diversity of coverage?
13. What is the difference between a journalist’s duty to report the truth and their duty to avoid causing panic?
14. Discuss the concept of “clickbait” and how it affects the quality of news headlines.
15. What is the long-term impact of consistently consuming news that reinforces your existing beliefs?
B2 Level – Upper-Intermediate
1. How does the commercial need for high engagement (clicks, views) encourage sensationalism in modern journalism?
2. What are the ethical arguments about the media’s coverage of private family tragedies or victims of crime?
3. Should major social media platforms be legally responsible for the spread of “fake news” on their sites?
4. What are the psychological reasons why people prefer to believe news that confirms their existing biases?
5. How has the rise of personal newsletters and direct-to-consumer models affected the media landscape?
6. Discuss the idea that true objectivity in journalism is impossible because every reporter has a perspective.
7. What is the role of data journalism—using statistics and large datasets—in modern reporting?
8. How do political advertising and lobbying affect the overall editorial content of major news outlets?
9. What are the challenges of protecting journalists who work in war zones or under authoritarian regimes?
10. Discuss the concept of “agenda setting”—the media’s power to influence which issues the public thinks about.
11. What is the difference between media literacy (understanding media) and simply consuming media?
12. Should there be stricter rules about the relationship between journalists and the politicians they cover?
13. What is the impact of paywalls and subscription models on public access to high-quality news?
14. How does the history of propaganda and state-controlled media continue to affect modern news consumption?
15. Discuss the idea that in the digital age, everyone is a journalist, for better or worse.
C1 Level – Advanced
1. Analyze the macroeconomic factors that link the decline of local print media to the rise of centralized digital giants.
2. To what degree should the legal system recognize and protect “whistleblowers” who leak sensitive information to journalists?
3. Discuss the philosophical concept of “the public sphere” and the role of journalism in sustaining it.
4. Evaluate the impact of new technologies (e.g., generative AI) on the future employment and ethics of news writers.
5. How does the strategic use of framing and language subtly influence public perception of complex social issues?
6. Examine the legal challenges of holding international news organizations accountable for defamation or misinformation across borders.
7. What ethical guidelines should govern the use of undisclosed political donations to fund news organizations?
8. Discuss the concept of “post-truth politics” and the struggle of journalism to uphold factual authority.
9. How do different national laws define the line between legitimate journalism and foreign intelligence operations?
10. Analyze the interplay between the massive financial consolidation of media ownership and the diversity of public voices.
11. What ethical challenges arise when journalists must decide whether to publish information that could directly cause public panic or violence?
12. Debate whether a state-funded public news service (like the BBC) is inherently more trustworthy than a privately owned one.
13. How does the architecture of newsrooms and broadcasting studios affect the internal culture and speed of reporting?
14. Discuss the concept of “civic journalism”—reporting that actively seeks to engage and mobilize citizens around local issues.
15. To what extent does the need for journalists to constantly engage with social media compromise their professional detachment?
C2 Level – Proficiency
1. How do you analyze the idea that journalism is fundamentally a historical narrative about the present, constantly being revised?
2. Formulate a critique of global regulatory bodies’ effectiveness in curbing the industrial-scale spread of disinformation and coordinated propaganda.
3. Analyze the intersection of digital surveillance, source protection, and the vulnerability of journalists under authoritarian regimes.
4. Discuss the philosophical distinction between “fact” (verifiable data) and “truth” (deeper, agreed-upon meaning) in reporting.
5. Critically evaluate the long-term impact of personalized news feeds on the cohesion and shared knowledge base of a democratic society.
6. Propose a new sustainable economic model for high-quality investigative journalism that does not rely on ad revenue or political patronage.
7. Examine the psychological function of narrative structure and characterization in making complex news stories accessible and memorable.
8. How does the semiotics of visual design (e.g., font choice, color palette) communicate a news organization’s political stance?
9. Discuss the ethical responsibilities of media executives concerning the mental health and safety of their journalists operating under extreme stress.
10. Analyze the historical relationship between the invention of the telegraph/radio and the subsequent acceleration and centralization of news distribution.
11. Articulate the inherent tension between the journalist’s pursuit of truth and the public’s desire for comforting or simple narratives.
12. Debate whether artificial intelligence can ever fully replace human judgment in the complex ethical decisions of war or crisis reporting.
13. Assess the long-term societal effects of widespread public distrust in all forms of institutional journalism.
14. Discuss the philosophical definition of ‘objectivity’ and whether it is an achievable standard in human communication.
15. How might the principles of news gathering and verification be used to model processes of complex problem-solving in non-journalistic fields?
