What was the biggest news story of 2024?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
What news event from 2024 was the most salient (most known) to Republicans?
Which of the news events from 2024 listed above was the most salient to you?
Which of the most salient news events from 2024 were political?
What most surprised you about the list above and which of the items on the list above will most quickly be forgotten by the American public?
Based on the data from the visual above, what were some news items that had a large difference in salience (how known it was) between Democrats and Republicans?
Selective exposure is the phenomenon whereby people choose to focus on information in their environment that is congruent with and confirms their current attitudes in order to avoid or reduce cognitive dissonance. How much does selective exposure explain this partisan difference in salience?
In what way are you guilty of selective exposure?
Our polarized media means that while many Republicans watch Fox News and many Democrats watch MSNBC, there is less and less partisan crossover viewership of these outlets. How do you think this selective exposure impacts governmental policy making?
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison wrote about the mischief (danger) of factions: “By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” Explain how selective exposure and the data from the visual below* connects to Madison’s statement above?
According to Morning Consult, Hurricane Milton was one of the three biggest stories to Americans of all political party affiliations. Why do you think this story had equal salience across party lines?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Share your list of the top ten most salient news events of 2024 along with your party preference (Democrat, Republican, Independent) and then make a class chart listing the most salient news stories by party. Check out the Council on
Get Creative
List the most overrated news event of the year that we probably won’t even remember in a couple of years.
Learning Extension
Read the Most Significant World Events from the Council on Foreign Relations and compare it to the Morning Consult list above.
