Primary sources are the original documents and objects that were created at a given time in history. Examples include recorded interviews or speeches, newspaper articles, photographs, and video or film recordings. Websites and social media posts fit within the definition as well.

Historians use a range of methods to analyze primary sources. As you're looking at news footage, it may be helpful to follow these three steps:

• Observe—Identify and note details apparent in the media.
• Interpret—Develop and test ideas about the source.
• Question—Ask questions that lead to more observations and interpretations that may help you make important connections.

In the screens that follow, you will watch footage from news reports carried on Boston television channels over the last five decades. The lesson will lead you through these three steps to gain a sense of how a camera crew covered a breaking news story. You will then select one video to analyze on your own in a detailed essay or blog post.

In your role as observer, think like a detective. Watch and listen closely so that you have solid evidence to support your analysis of the primary source.

In this archival news footage from 1991, Harvard Law student Barack Obama speaks in support of Professor Derrick Bell at a rally calling for more diversity on the Harvard Law School faculty. Click "View" on the left to watch the video. Pay special attention to the people and events captured in the footage.

After watching the video, write down your observations. Use the following questions as a guide:

• What is happening?
• Who is present, and what are they doing?
• What is said, and who says it?
• Do the speakers’ words and/or actions support a certain viewpoint? Do others in the video support this viewpoint? How can you tell?
• What clues in the footage indicate when it was taped?
• What else catches your attention, however small it may seem?

Your next step is to interpret what you’ve observed. You will try to discover what the footage can tell you about the historical event and the time it represents.

In this news footage from 1979, drivers wait in long lines at gas stations because of the second petroleum crisis of the decade. Click "View" on the left to watch the video. Pay attention to how statements made by people being interviewed are supported by what appears in the footage.

Based on your observations—and what you might already know about the subject—make some inferences that can be supported by the video. Here are several questions you might consider:

• What was the purpose of this video/news footage?
• Who was the intended audience?
• Does the footage explain why the events were happening?
• Was a solution being presented to the problem?
• What action, if any, was being taken?
• What historical questions can you answer about American society at the time using this source?
• What questions does this source not help you answer?

Now you are ready for the next step in the analysis process. It’s time to ask questions, like a good journalist would. Don’t just report what you see. Instead, dig deeper.

Asking questions and researching answers will help you understand an event, object, or figure in its proper historical context. In this archival news footage from April 1968, citizens at a public rally in Boston, MA, respond to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. As you watch the footage, observe and interpret what you see. Click "View" on the left to watch the video.

After watching the video, write down any new questions that you may have thought of. For example, you might still wonder:

• Who created the primary source, and why?
• What happened after the cameras were turned off?
• If reviewing the primary source again doesn’t answer your questions, where can you go to find more information?

Environmentalist Bill McKibben speaks about the possible effects of climate change at an Earth Day celebration in Cambridge, MA.

Citizens stage a protest against Senator Edward Kennedy in response to mandatory busing to desegregate the Boston Public Schools.

Now select the one story out of the five that interests you the most and analyze it further by focusing on your first role—as observer. If you have chosen a video that you watched earlier in this lesson, you can use your previous observations, but also be sure to look for something you might have missed. Write down your observations in the space below.

If you want to reuse any of your earlier observations, click on “review my work” above and copy and paste the text you need.

Here are some questions to guide your observations:

• What do you see and hear? What do you notice first?
• What is said, and who says it?
• Do the speakers’ words and/or actions support certain viewpoints?
• Are these viewpoints supported by other people in the footage? How can you tell?
• What clues in the footage indicate when it was taped?
• Is the footage continuous, or are there breaks?
• What other details catch your attention? Is there anything you can’t explain or didn’t expect?

Next, interpret your observations about this video. Be sure to cite evidence to support your ideas—for example, “I think _____ because _____.” Again, if you’ve already written some interpretations about this video, click on “review my work” and copy and paste any text you would like to reuse. However, be sure to add further interpretations based on the observations recorded on the last screen. Write down your interpretations in the space below.

Here are some questions to guide you as you interpret:

• What was the purpose of this video/news footage? To inform? To persuade?
• Does the footage present a particular point of view (or points of view)?
• Who was the intended audience?
• Does the footage explain the cause(s) of the situation?
• Was a solution being presented to the highlighted problem?
• What action, if any, was being taken? Do you know what effect it had?
• What do you know about the time in which the video was taped? In what ways did it differ from today? If this footage were taped today, how might it look?
• What can you learn from interpreting this footage?

Now complete your analysis. Tap your inner journalist and ask questions about the footage that haven’t yet been answered.

Here are some things to consider:

• What do you still wonder about with respect to the footage?
• Do you know who created the primary source, and why?
• When, where, and why did the event take place?
• What happened after the cameras were turned off?
• How did the event impact society, if at all?

Before going on, write down the questions you would want to investigate further about your chosen video.

You will now turn your analysis of the primary source video into an essay or a blog post. You can begin by reviewing your earlier notes and questions by clicking on "review my work" above.

Then follow the instructions below:

• Discuss your notes and questions with your teacher. Agree on a research plan that you will complete within a set time period.
• Conduct research to answer the questions you have identified for further investigation and take notes on your findings.
• After you have completed the research, and using your written notes from the lesson, write your analysis of the primary source as an essay or a blog post. Your teacher will indicate which format to use. Be sure that your essay or blog post cites evidence from the video news footage and addresses each phase in the analysis process—observe, interpret, question. It should also reflect your understanding of the content in its historical context.