In this post 9/11 climate, prejudice and racism is directed at Arabs, middle easterners and those who practice Islam. How does it manifest in mainstream media and what is the resulting public discourse? This three-hour lesson plan addresses this question. The lesson plan was developed to teach CEGEP or undergraduate students critical media skills by examining the how the media reported two murder cases.
In June 2009 Mohammad Shafia, an Afghan immigrant to Canada, conspired with his wife and son to kill his first wife and three daughters by drowning them in Rideau Canal near Kingston Ontario. In May 2012 Luka Rocco Magnotta killed and dismembered an international Chinese student in Montreal. These events created an intense civic engagement in both online and offline environments.
In this lesson plan, students will critically examine:
- The public conversation that ensued over the Shafia and Magnotta cases.
- The means in which the media represented both cases. Students will identify examples of hate speech and explain how the Shafia case represents a post-911 discourse shaped by the media.
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