Best for
Media studies, English text analysis, current-events comparison, or building a senior critical response paragraph.
English / Media studies • Years 9-13 • Senior analysis version
Media Literacy: Algorithms, Representation, and Influence
This senior version asks ākonga to move beyond “Can I trust this?” and into “How is this platform or text shaping what I notice, feel, and repeat?” It foregrounds audience positioning, omission, and representation in an Aotearoa setting.
Free senior analysis page, premium adaptation path
This handout is ready for immediate classroom use. Te Wānanga becomes useful when you want to rebuild the comparison around a local election issue, a community controversy, or a media text your class has already discussed.
- Swap in two contemporary texts on the same Aotearoa issue.
- Generate a scaffolded version for support learners or a more independent essay bridge.
- Keep the adapted text set in My Kete and refine it later in Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 30-45 minutes if students compare two texts and write a paragraph.
- Grouping: Pairs for comparison, followed by individual writing or a short kōrero debrief.
- Prep: Select two texts on the same issue, ideally with different platform styles or editorial choices.
- Teaching move: Push students to explain how structure, image, voice, and omission establish credibility and influence audience response.
- Support / stretch: Use one shared comparison for support; ask students to bring their own second text for stretch.
Resources already provided
- A short explainer on algorithms, framing, and engagement
- A comparison scaffold for two media texts
- Representation and omission prompts
- An analytical paragraph planning frame
- A matching curriculum companion for teacher-only planning
This page is meant to feel more senior than a generic worksheet. Students have to compare, justify, and explain, not just tick whether something is biased.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how media and digital platforms shape audience response through deliberate choices.
- We are learning how representation, omission, and framing can privilege some voices over others.
- We are learning how to compare texts using evidence rather than reaction alone.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can identify at least two deliberate features that influence audience response.
- I can explain whose perspectives are centred, limited, or absent.
- I can compare two texts and justify my conclusions with evidence.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
The companion page makes the senior English links explicit around critical analysis of media texts, context, purpose, and how multimodal features establish credibility and influence.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
Students in Aotearoa are navigating feeds where attention, outrage, and novelty are rewarded. That means it is not enough to ask whether a story is true. Students also need to ask how the text was shaped, who benefits from that shaping, and whether Māori, Pasifika, and community voices are being represented with mana.
This matters through a mātauranga Māori lens because media can either reduce people to stereotype or open space for context, whakapapa, and responsible voice.
Read first: why algorithms matter
Algorithms are not neutral observers. They sort, recommend, and repeat content based on signals such as attention, shares, watch time, and likely engagement. That means a post may be widespread not because it is balanced or accurate, but because it keeps people reacting.
Media texts also frame issues differently. One article may centre policy detail and local expertise, while another may centre conflict, fear, or a single quote taken out of context. Those differences influence how audiences interpret the same event.
Compare two media texts
- Text A title or source: _____________________________________________
- Text B title or source: _____________________________________________
- The issue both texts address: ______________________________________
- The strongest credibility signal in each text: ______________________
- Whose voice is centred in each text: _______________________________
- What is omitted or underplayed: ____________________________________
Representation and influence prompts
Who is allowed to speak?
Identify whether Māori and community voices are speaking for themselves, summarised by others, or left out entirely.
How does the text try to guide response?
Notice image choice, quoted voices, sequencing, urgency, headline framing, and repeated ideas.
What would a more balanced version include?
Name the context, perspective, evidence, or history that would make the text more responsible.
Analytical paragraph planning
Write a short paragraph explaining which text is more credible or more responsible in its representation. Use evidence from both texts.
Useful starters: “Text A positions the audience by...”, “Text B privileges...”, “A more responsible representation would...”
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
English — Te Reo Pākehā
Level 3–4: Read and interpret a range of texts for meaning and purpose; identify author intent, text structure, and language choices; write clearly for specific audiences and purposes using appropriate conventions.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how texts construct knowledge and perspective; evaluate the credibility and purpose of different sources; communicate ideas and findings effectively in written and oral forms.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, language — reo — is a taonga: a treasure that carries culture, identity, and whakapapa across generations. The ability to speak clearly, to argue persuasively, to read critically, and to write with purpose are not simply academic skills — they are forms of mana in action. Māori oratory (whaikōrero) has always valued precision, evidence, and the ability to locate one's argument within a broader cultural and ancestral context. Students who develop strong literacy skills are developing the same capacities that made great orators powerful: the ability to be heard, understood, and taken seriously in any room they enter.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
Curriculum alignment
- Reading — Making Meaning: Students will select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies to identify, form, and express ideas across a range of texts.
- Writing — Creating Meaning: Students will select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies to write in a range of text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.