Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr. Robertson.

I'm delighted to be with you today for the start of a brand new unit of work.

This unit is called Religion and the Media: How Can We Live Online Together?

And in this unit, we're gonna be thinking about the growth of different forms of media and the consequences that might have for thinking through how we consume articles relating to religion or belief.

Today's lesson is called The Changing Landscape of the Media, and we're going to set the scene here about how the media has changed rapidly in the last few years and the consequences that has for the way in which young people particularly, see the world and consume current affairs.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain how traditional and non-traditional media holds society to account and how this affects the role of journalists.

In this lesson, we have three keywords.

Firstly, we use the term media, and by that, we mean channels of communication, like newspapers, TV, radio and online platforms that deliver information to the public.

Next, we have this term, fifth estate.

And by that, we mean independent individuals who use the internet to share information, influence society, and hold governments, businesses and the media to account.

And finally, we have the word journalist, and a journalist is a person who investigates, writes, or reports news for the public.

As we go through this lesson, I think you're gonna become really familiar with these terms, and they're gonna be very helpful to you.

So this lesson is made up of two parts, and in the first part of this lesson, we're gonna be thinking about changing media.

Aisha's family are discussing where they get their news from.

Aisha says, "I use social media.

" Aisha's uncle says, "I read newspapers online.

" And Aisha's grandmother says, "I get my news from the radio and television.

" I wonder, where do you get your news from?

Is it any of those that you can see there?

Is it a combination?

Is it something different?

And I also wonder, what makes you trust one source more than another?

You might want to pause the video here and talk to the person next to you about either of those two questions.

I wonder what you said.

I wonder whose answer you were closest to?

We're gonna be using the term "estate" in this lesson, and the term "estate" refers to a group or force in society, and this term has been in use since the middle ages.

Now, traditionally, we may have talked in society about three estates, one being the church, priests, monks and bishops, one being the nobility, the people who ruled, and one being the workers, everyone else.

So, for a very long time, these were the kind of three classical ways in which we have talked about different people in society and the way in which they lived.

Amanda is a journalist who works for a national newspaper, and she's going to explain how the term "fourth estate" came about.

She says, "Journalists are known as the fourth estate, because we're traditionally seen as watching over the first estate and second estates.

Today, that means we hold governments, institutions and other powerful organizations to account.

We do this on behalf of the public, the third estate, by checking facts, asking tough questions, and exposing wrongdoing.

" So, those three estates which we talked about on the previous slide, nowadays, really, the first estate still refers to the church or religion or belief, the second to governments or other powerful organizations, such as big companies, and the third is the public.

The fourth estate, journalism, tries to hold these people to account on behalf of the public.

Amanda says that society needs this kind of journalism to hold people to account, and holding people to account is a really important part of being a journalist.

Now, we can find out how people consume media and news in particular.

The organization, Ofcom, monitors all sorts of data relating to the media.

In 2025, it looked at media consumption across the UK.

It found out that 31% of people find their news and current affairs through television, 18% through radio, 11% online direct from a publisher, 5% through print that's traditional newspapers you could buy in a shop, 29% through online intermediaries, so that might be through search engines such as Google where you've got some AI information, 3% from podcasts, and 2% from YouTube news.

I wonder, which of those examples are seen as belonging to the fourth estate, given the definition that Amanda gave us earlier?

So, these are the traditional media sources of TV, radio, print, and direct online, such as going to websites of newspapers like "The Times" or "The Guardian.

" Let's just check our understanding so far.

Why are journalists called the Fourth Estate?

Is it A: they have the power to create laws and influence government decisions?

B: they observe and hold governments, institutions, and powerful groups to account on behalf of the public?

C: they are part of society's traditional nobility or clergy?

D: they represent the views of the majority of citizens in government debates?

Excellent.

It's B, isn't it?

It's about observing and holding governments, institutions, and powerful groups to account on behalf of the public.

Excellent if you got that right.

So, another term we're going to be thinking about today is that of the fifth estate, but what does that mean?

Well, Amanda's going to explain it to us.

She says, "The fifth estate refers to the huge range of online voices who aren't traditional journalists, but still share information and challenge decisions or expose problems.

The term emerged as the internet created a new kind of public power outside the old media system.

Anyone with a phone can publish instantly, so stories spread faster and from more viewpoints.

This creates a mix of facts, opinions and rumors, so audiences need to think carefully about what they trust.

" So, this term fifth estate is a new term referring to a new form of media.

Why does Amanda say people have to think more carefully about who they can trust?

You might want to pause the video here and read what she says again carefully.

So, you may have noticed she talks about news stories spreading quickly, anyone can publish them, and that they can be a mix of facts, but also opinions and rumors.

So we need to be really careful when we read them to check that they're trustworthy.

The fifth estate had its origins in the beginnings of the internet.

We can see that: in the early days, we had old-fashioned home computers.

You may still have one of these at home, and you had very basic online access.

From there, you had a growth of online forums and user communities where people could share information with each other, but they had to be a member of that forum.

And, of course, at that point, there wasn't such wide internet usage, so it was a relatively limited number of people.

Next, you have the huge growth in phones and phone ownership and the rise of social media, and this creates this fifth estate of social media and user generated content, which is widely available to a huge number of people, which is a massive cultural change compared to where we were even 10, 20 years ago.

Now, the data that we looked at from Ofcom covers a period of 2020 to 2025, but in the previous information and data, we were looking at adults, but what's really interesting is seeing what happens with 12 to 15 year olds and how they access news.

On this bar, we can see three colors.

The dark purple means that it's being used most often, the light purple in the top three and the white used sometimes.

We've got different ways that 12 to 15-year-olds might consume news: talking with family, social media, TV, talking with friends, radio, search engines and printed newspapers.

What really strikes you when you look at this data?

Again, you might want to pause the video and talk about it with someone next to you.

So, you can see that compared to the other chart, a lot more younger people use social media as their primary way of consuming news.

A lot fewer use more established things such as radio or TV, but also talking with family is another really important way that people get information about the news.

So, 12 to 15 year olds are more likely to use social media and less likely to use traditional methods that may be favored by adults.

The rise of this fifth estate can be seen as both positive and negative.

So, one positive is that more people can share news and ideas.

Journalism isn't just restricted to the people who have full-time jobs or work in that industry.

I wonder if you can suggest any other positives about the rise of this social media and user-generated content?

I wonder what you came up with.

So, one thing might be that news can appear quickly from people on the scene.

They might film it and upload it themselves.

Different people may be able to hold more people to account, perhaps.

A possible negative is that the consequence of this plethora of content means that it's harder to tell who is trustworthy.

I wonder if you can think of any negatives yourselves.

So, one might be that false or misleading information spreads more easily.

Did you come up with any others?

Let's just check our understanding so far.

Why do audiences need to think carefully about what they trust in the fifth estate?

A: news from the fifth estate always spreads slowly and quietly?

B: the fifth estate mixes facts, opinions, and rumors from many online voices?

C: only traditional journalists can publish accurate news?

D: the fifth estate only shares content from official sources?

Think about what we've been listening to from Amanda.

Excellent, it's B, that the fifth estate mixes facts, opinions and rumors, and there's a lot of voices adding to this.

Brilliant if you got that right.

Okay.

I've got a task for you now.

We've got some different news items for you.

On our additional materials, we have some different voices.

I'm going to read them to you now.

The idea is I would like you to try and classify them.

These are the different possible ways you may classify them: factual with a neutral tone; opinion or emotion; trying to persuade or mobilize; an example of the fourth estate, that's a traditional print media; an example of the fifth estate, that's a new social media or online.

Just by hearing the way in which it's been written and the tone, I wonder if you could put them in the correct category?

This is number one: "So, the Home Secretary just quit.

Big news, James Whitmore has stepped down after an expenses investigation.

Public money may have been used for travel and hotels, which he claims 'good faith.

' People online are not convinced.

Comment sections are full of, 'How does this even happen?

' Stay tuned.

The full report next week is going to be spicy.

" Two: "Residents raise concerns over proposed housing development.

Residents in Brookfield have expressed concerns over plans to build 120 new homes on a former playing field.

The proposal includes affordable housing and improved road access.

Campaigners argue it may increase traffic congestion and reduce green space.

The local council stated that public consultation remains open and environmental assessments are under review.

A decision is expected next spring.

" So, again, think about that piece.

Which one do you think it might be?

Number three: "They want to build how many homes there?

!

Brookfield Council plans 120 homes on the old playing field.

Sure, we need housing, but traffic's already awful and we're losing a key green space.

The consultation's still open.

Have your say now.

Don't just watch.

Make your voice heard.

" I wonder which that might be an example of?

Number four: "Minister resigns following expenses investigation.

The Home Secretary, James Whitmore, has resigned following an investigation into an alleged misuse of public funds.

The inquiry examined claims that departmental expenses were used for personal travel and accommodation.

Whitmore stated he had acted in good faith, but accepted that mistakes were made.

The Prime Minister confirmed an interim replacement will be appointed.

A full report from the Independent Standards Committee is expected next week.

" So, I wonder which one that might be?

So, I'm gonna give you a bit of time now.

You might want to reread those yourselves, and can you decide where you would place them in each of the different characteristics they may have?

Good luck.

So, how did you do?

Well, you might have said that factual with a neutral tone would be number two, which was the resident's concern over housing development and the final one about the minister resigning.

Opinion or emotion may be the first one, because that has lots of superlatives, or number three, because they're trying to make you feel how you should feel about the houses.

Trying to persuade or mobilize would be one or three, because both of them are offering a lot of opinions and how they think you should act.

An example of the fourth estate would be the second and the fourth, because they're writing in a very neutral way, and they're giving both sides of the argument and some factual quotes.

An example of the fifth estate would be the first and third, because, again, they're in a much more playful and a tone which is more conversational, and they're also kind of leading you onto the next idea.

Brilliant if you managed to work those out.

For the next part of the lesson, we're going to be thinking about the role of the journalist.

So, as we said, there's been a lot of changes in the world of the media, and the role of the journalist has changed with the arrival of the fifth estate.

The role of the journalist is to work alongside the public to hold people to account.

There can be a pressure to be fast and accurate.

It could become harder to verify information, because there's so much online volume, and because stories are being processed so quickly, that puts pressure to be fast as well.

And finally, you need strong digital and multimedia skills, because you might be recording your piece, you might then be turning it to a written piece, and you might be uploading it very quickly as well.

So, you need a lot of different skills within this role.

It's important to be able to distinguish professional journalism from other sources of news.

Now, professional journalism is that which is reported by trained journalists, and that uses verified facts and editorial standards.

In other words, instead of just using a fact, it's been checked in a number of different ways to make sure it's accurate.

Traditional journalists have to work to very strict standards to make sure what they're saying is tonally right and isn't going to be making implications that aren't true.

On the other hand, we have citizen journalism, which is where news can be shared directly by members of the public who witness an event themselves, but they may not be trained journalists.

We have influencers and opinion people, and they may use their platforms to share their individual news or promote their own branding.

And we can also have automated or AI generated news, which is produced by algorithms and hasn't been through a human reporting mechanism.

Let's look at an example now, and I wonder if you can tell which of them is an example of professional journalism?

"Here's why I think this new policy is a mistake and what they should have done instead.

" "I was walking past the station when the alarms went off, so I filmed what I saw.

" "Official figures released today show a rise in local rail delays, according to the transport authority.

" "Today's local bulletin: weather warnings, school notices and transport changes.

" You may want to pause the video here, reread these and see if you can work out which one they're from, and which one is the professional journalism.

So, the third one is the professional journalism.

You can see that the language is very formal.

It's trying to be neutral, and it's relating the facts to the source, the transport authority.

The first one is influencer content, because the person is saying why they think something is a problem and what should be done, so they're offering their opinion rather than necessarily using facts.

The second one is an example of citizen journalism, where a person has gone past, filmed something on their phone, and they're uploading it, and that means that there's some interesting information, but they don't necessarily have the contextualization or the standards to produce that information.

And finally, we could see an example of automated or AI generated news, which is looking through feeds, picking them off, and presenting them together.

I wonder which of those you got right.

Amanda has been asked whether all news sources should be treated equally.

She says, "Not all news sources can be treated the same.

" The fifth estate brings more voices into public debate, but it also spreads rumors and quick reactions that can look like facts.

Posts and clips often miss context, and people share things for reasons that don't always include accuracy.

With so much appearing so fast, it's hard to know what to trust, which is why professional journalism can give a more reliable picture.

" So, thinking about what Amanda says, why does the fifth estate make it harder for audiences to judge what is reliable?

You may have seen here, she talks about the idea that lots of clips and things miss context, and that there's so many things going on that they don't always include accuracy.

So, on one hand, it's really exciting that there's so much there available and people can freely upload content, but on the other hand, there are problems when information is shared that isn't accurate and doesn't fully give a context to any stories.

Amanda specializes in reporting on religion.

She says, "General reporting gives a quick outline, but specialist reporting helps audiences understand what is really going on.

" She's commenting on two different headlines about the same event.

"Faith groups launch new project to help local families.

" Or "Local churches, mosques and gurdwaras join forces to expand food bank and welfare support.

" She says, "The example of general reporting is accurate, but the specialist headline is much more informative.

You can see what she means, can't you?

It names the communities and the type of support, and it helps readers understand the real story.

So, someone who really understands what they're writing about, in this case, religion, can produce a much more accurate and useful piece of journalism.

True or false?

This is an example of professional journalism.

"Official figures released today show a rise in local rail delays, according to the transport authority.

" Think back to what we've looked at so far.

Is that true or false?

Excellent.

It's true, isn't it?

And it's true because it verifies the information from an official source, it's factual, it's neutral, and it doesn't include personal opinion or unverified claims.

Journalists in the fourth estate follow five core values that guide how they report the news responsibly.

That is impartiality, accuracy, independence, accountability, and humanity.

Impartiality means reporting fairly, for example, covering a political protest by showing perspectives from both the protestors and authorities.

Accuracy means checking facts carefully and correcting mistakes.

For example, verifying quotes and dates before publishing a story.

Independence means staying free from outside influences, such as not letting advertisers or politicians decide what's reported.

Accountability means owning mistakes and explaining decisions.

For example, publishing corrections when an error's been made.

Humanity means avoiding harm and respecting people's dignity, for example, not revealing private details about victims.

So, these values guide how a professional journalist should work and the sort of work they should produce.

Amanda explains how these values inform her work as a journalist.

She says, "Recently, I covered a local interfaith festival, reporting impartially by giving equal voice to the mosque, synagogue and local church.

I ensured accuracy by fact checking rituals and dates, maintained independence by not favoring any group, showed accountability by correcting minor errors quickly, and upheld humanity by highlighting the festival's positive impact on the community.

" So you can see how she uses those values to create a piece of writing and journalism that is accurate and fair to everyone.

"While reporting, I noticed many people filming and sharing clips of the festival online.

It made me wonder whether they consider the same values that I do as a professional journalist.

" The fifth estate isn't regulated by traditional journalistic values.

This is because: anyone can publish, there are usually no formal editors or corrections processes, and its purpose is often to entertain, mobilize, or spark conversation.

So, you can see, in lots of ways, the fifth estate is very different from the fourth estate.

Andeep is talking to Amanda about changing media.

He says, "How has journalism changed during your time in the profession?

" Amanda says, "In a way, everyone is a journalist nowadays, whether they're posting on social media or writing blogs, they're reporting information to an audience.

" "I've never thought of myself as a journalist.

It sounds quite a responsibility.

" "You're right, it is a responsibility, although I'm not sure everyone realizes this.

That's why it's important to learn to be the best journalist you can.

" Andeep says, "How can I learn to be a journalist?

" Amanda says, "I would recommend you follow a few key steps.

Research the story so you understand the context, verify facts with reliable sources, interview people for different perspectives, check for accuracy and fairness, edit carefully and publish responsibly.

Doing all that helps make sure what you share is trustworthy and useful.

" I wonder what challenges someone like Andeep, or you, might face in trying to follow these steps?

Again, you may want to pause the video and speak to the person next to you.

I wonder what you said?

You may have said that puts a high bar on what you do, doesn't it?

It's gonna take more time, and there's much more of a presumption that you work hard to make sure you're being accurate.

Which of the following actions best demonstrates the journalistic value of accountability?

A: including quotes from multiple sources to show different perspectives?

B: correcting a mistake in a published story and explaining what went wrong?

C: reporting quickly to be the first to share a story online?

D: choosing to report on events that interest the audience most?

You may want to look back at our earlier slide to work this out better.

Excellent.

It's B.

Correcting a mistake in a published story is about being accountable and explaining why there was a mistake.

We're gonna have a task now, thinking about everything we've learned about the rise of the fifth estate and how that is changing journalism.

I've got a statement for you here.

"The rise of the fifth estate makes traditional journalistic values less relevant today.

" I'd like you to think about this argument and see if you can make some arguments to agree with that and to disagree with that.

So, we may say on one hand, that news spreads faster, that that means that lots of different voices can share information and that anyone can report on events as they happen.

On the other hand, we might say that stories still need to be accurate, reporting should be fair to everyone and sources should be checked.

I'd like you to discuss the statement first, and then I'd like you to use these points to write a paragraph of arguments to agree with that statement, and a paragraph of arguments to disagree with it.

And you may want to add any more ideas of your own that you've seen in this lesson or that you thought of yourself.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Well, thank you very much for all of your hard work.

So you may have said: "The fifth estate shows that strict journalistic values can hold news back.

Stories spread faster online because people don't have to follow all the rules about accuracy or fairness.

Eyewitnesses and everyday voices can share important events immediately, which might be delayed if everyone followed traditional standards.

" I wonder what else you may have come up with to argue for this argument?

On the other hand, you might have said: "Even with the rise of the fifth estate, traditional journalistic values remain crucial.

Reporting should be fair to everyone, presenting multiple perspectives rather than just one viewpoint.

Sources should be checked before publishing to avoid spreading false information.

" I wonder if you thought of any other arguments as well.

Brilliant work, whatever you've done.

Okay, let's summarize our learning today then.

We've learned that journalists act as the fourth estate, and their role could be to hold powerful groups to account on behalf of the public.

We've learned that the fifth estate includes online voices, creating speed and variety, but also more misinformation.

We've learned that young people get most news from social media, a clear example of the fifth estate.

We've learned that journalism now requires faster verification, digital skills, and clear separation from unregulated content.

And finally, we've learned that professional journalism relies on fairness, accuracy, independence, accountability, and humanity.

Thank you ever so much for being with me in this lesson today.

I hope you've enjoyed it, and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson soon.

Thank you.