Obama-extra for Schools Gategory

Project:
Obama-extra for Schools
Gategory:
Newspaper in Education
Newspaper:
Ilta-Sanomat, P.O. Box 45
00089 SANOMAT, HELSINKI, FINLAND
Circulation 161 615 (6-days a week, 2008)
Circulation Of
Obama-Extra:
130 000
Project Director:
Managing Editor Ulla Appelsin
ulla.appelsin@iltasanomat.fi, tel. +358-9-122 3415
Production:
Foreign News Editor Jari Alenius
jari.alenius@iltasanomat.fi, tel. +358-9-122 3548
Description:
A special 16-page coverage about Barack
Obama’s election as the president of the United States.
Target:
12–19-year-old pupils in Finnish Schools
About the Project
History was made in the United States last November as Barack Obama was
elected first black president of the country. But what did it really mean to us in
Europe? How does it affect us – and especially our youngsters? And how could we
report them about it at schools and at home?
Those were the questions and challenges we faced as we started this project. Our
answer was: Let’s make a special newspaper about it and give it for free to
teachers around Finland!
As a print media we wanted to be as interactive as possible. We wanted to
challenge youngsters to think themselves, not just tell them the news. Besides,
we wanted to be as down-to-earth as possible. We wanted to bring Obama’s world
so close that youngsters could even identify themselves in it.
We selected themes we believed were important and actual. On the other hand we
wanted the themes to be interesting and daunting for young readers. The paper
should also be useful in various school subjects like Finnish language, social
studies, geography and history.
In each page we had questions to use as a base for conversation with pupils of
different age groups.
In practise:
The Obama-extra for Schools was fully financed by Ilta-Sanomat. The stories were
written by our journalists and most of the stories had already been published in
our paper earlier. The themes and questions were selected by consulting
secondary and high school teacher Harri Korpisaari in Helsinki.
The Obama-extra for Schools was then made available to every Finnish teacher
who was interested in it. As a framework we had annual Newspaper in Education week in Finnish Schools. First we sent a marketing letter to schools. After the
teachers had replied we printed 130 000 copies, inserted them inside our daily
newspaper and sent them to schools during the first week of February 2009.
Obama-extra can still be read and printed by anyone on our website
www.iltasanomat.fi.
Response & Results
We got overflowingly positive response through contacts with teachers and
officials. Following words from a prominent Finnish official sums up the feedback:
”Really interesting package, also from the point of view of a youngster. Layout is
excellent and the themes inspiring. Interesting stories about Obama’s family,
daughters, floor plan of their house and Finnish celebrities’ and politicians’
thoughts combined with weighty facts make the material really versatile and
relevant. It can be used in many ways in connection with various school subjects,
and it doesn’t go out of date very quickly.”
Kristina Kaihari-Salminen
Counsellor of Education, Finland’s Ministry of Education
We can also estimate that at least 100 000 Finnish pupils read the paper, which is
a significant amount. Therefore we believe that we’ve got new readers, which is
very valuable in a chancing media world.
The most important result of the project is that the reputation and image of our
paper improved significantly. Ilta-Sanomat is a tabloid newspaper which is not
normally associated with children’s education. After Obama-extra many teachers
thanked us spontaneously and told us to do more something like this.
Teacher’s words
”Too often are newspapers in education difficult and
uninteresting. But not this one! It was notable that many
immigrant pupils in our school were very interested in the
Obama-extra.”
Mervi Maijala
Secondary school teacher in Leppävaara, Espoo
”Congratulations Ilta-Sanomat! Very well written and
compact package that can be used both in history and
social studies classes. It speaks young people’s language
but it doesn’t give them all the answers which makes
them think themselves. I really appreciate that
newspapers give such tools to schools and I hope you
could do this also in other elections or important
matters.”
Teemu Salin
Secondary school teacher (pupils between 13–16 years)
in Kannelmäki, Helsinki
May we introduce, the 44th President of the United
States – and what does his election mean in practise?
The Dream Came True.
How Barack Obama’s election gave hope to African Americans.
How they were discriminated in the past.
Questions:
Why were the African Americans discriminated?
What was the origin of racial segregation?
Why was Obama’s election so important for the
coloured people in United States and also in the rest of
the world?
The victory of tribal brother.
Popular Finnish tv-host Jani Toivola tells what Obama’s victory
means to him. His father and Obama’s father were from the
same tribe in Kenya and he also has searched for his racial
identity.
On page 5 Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb writes:
“Let’s see when in Europe a non-white person is elected as
president or prime minister.”
Questions:
Is there racial discrimination in Finland?
In which European country could a non-white person be
elected as president or prime minister? Would it be
possible in Finland?
“We Are Ready To Lead”
Finnish experts analyse selected parts of Barack Obama’s
inauguration speech.
Questions:
What is your favorite part of Obama’s speech?
Analyse his message. How does he speak about United
States and about the rest of the world?
This Is What We Wish, Mr President.
Prominent Finnish politicians tell what they would like Obama to do.
Questions:
Read the greetings to Obama. In your opinion, what is
the best of them?
What would you ask for the president of the United
States?
First Mom.
Michelle Obama, 44, is a charismatic First Lady.
Questions:
What kind of role is the best for the First Lady?
Hillary Clinton was a female candidate in US elections?
What would it have meant if she’d got elected?
New Home for the Daughters.
There’s children in the White House again. Sasha and Malia may
decorate their rooms as they want.
Questions:
What would it feel like to be the most guarded child in
the world?
What would you do in White House?
Obama’s World.
His origins and the way to Washington.
Questions:
What advantages does Obama have because of his
multi-cultural backround?
Where have you been travelling?
What have you learned about other cultures during
your trips?