News Commentary Assignment Instructions

This assignment has several purposes:

• To help you notice how often legal issues turn up in daily life, and therefore, the news
• To get you to think about those legal issues in more depth
• To encourage a critical reading of the news, keepin mind that the way a news story is reported can influence the way we perceive the law

Assignment Instructions:

1. Pick a news article that is:
   1. Recent (no more than six months)
   2. Published by a reputable source (any major Canadian media outlet, such as CBC News, CTV News, Global News, and so on)
   3. Has a Canadian legal issue as an important aspect of the story and
   4. Is substantial enough to give you something to analyze (i.e., a three-paragraph article is not enough)

1. Write an analysis of the news article (about 2-3 pages, 1.5-line spacing) with the following structure:
   1. Brief summary of the key facts given in the article
   2. Critical analysis of the article for:
      • Omissions of facts that would be useful to analyze better the legal issues (i.e., what facts should the author have included in the article that would make it easier for the reader to understand the legal issues discussed)
      • Omissions of legal rules or arguments relevant to the topic discussed (i.e. what law or legal argument should have been included in the article to make it easier for the reader to understand the legal issues discussed)
      • Errors about the law (for example, incorrect summaries or characterizations of legal rules, if any)
   3. Conclude with a brief statement of your opinion about the legal issues in the article and the article's coverage of them

Note: Make sure to criticize the article, not the law (except in your conclusion). While this is not a research paper, it will be helpful to familiarize yourself with the law discussed in the article and look for any resources that may help you better analyze the article. You can use any commonly used citation format for this assignment. Include a link to the article you are analyzing. Also make sure to distinguish between your own views and those expressed by others, including the author of the article you are analyzing.

Here are a fewtipson how to find articles for the assignment.The best way to find an article is to think about a legal topic you are interested in and search the Canadiannewswebsites suggested in the instructions. For example, you could search for "civil liberties" if you are interested in the Charter. If you are interested in criminal law, you could search for "conviction" or a specific offense, such as "assault" or "murder". Then screen the search results for a suitable article. If you are not sure if your article is suitable, you can send me the link.

The submission folder for this assignment is on Blackboard.

Use the following template for your paper (you can use these as headings):

1. Brief Summary of the Facts

1. Critical Analysis of the Article

1. Omission of Facts

1. Omission of Legal Rules

1. Errors About the Law

1. Conclusion