Description
Your assignment this week is to write a News Compare/Contrast Paper. You will need to compare and contrast the same news story from at least three types of media (i.e Television Broadcast, Radio spot, Online News Article, Newspaper Article). Social media platforms do not count as a source. News outlets may post a story on social media but direct you back to their site for you to read the full story. You need to access sources from news outlets (stories written by journalists). For example, you might look at an Internet news page, watch a televised news package (that you can also find online), listen to a podcast news program, and/or read a local paper. If you are using a newspaper, you need to actually pick up a hard copy of the newspaper. When you find an article on a newspaper outlet’s website, that is considered an online article. The way a story is written, specifically the limitations, is significant for an actual newspaper article compared to an online article.
You will need to document when, where, and how you viewed the news story
Share what was included in the presentation of the story (information, sources, links, details, images, etc.).
You need to include how that information was presented- from the reporter, an image, a video/interview, etc.
You also need to discuss how the different news media mediums were similar and different in how they told the news story. Some questions you can consider are:
What facts were included in each story?
What sources did they use to tell the story?
How did the presentation of the information differ?
Did each story include some of the same information?
How was the information organized?
Was the information presented objectively?
This paper should be two full pages (with no heading on your paper)
Also, within the document you need to provide links to the sources you used (when you use them) and a works cited page.
You will also want to submit the Evaluating News sheet attached. Next week you will start using the News Planning Strategy sheet for your assignments. This week you will be using the Evaluating News Writing document to evaluate the sources you use for this assignment.
You will submit your Evaluating News Writing and your Compare and Contrast paper as one document. Place the Evaluating News first and then your Compare and Contrast paper.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Evaluating News Writing
Session 2: Compare and Contrast Paper
Last week I mentioned the News Writing Planning Strategy that you will be using for your
assignments this semester. This week since you are evaluating three different mediums of the
same story I want you to look for evidence of the worldview they have, the situation behind the
story and their intended audience and how they executed reaching them.
Their worldview:
The One True Story
What do they believe is our purpose? Who is in control? What gives us meaning and purpose?
How is right and wrong determined?
God
Is there any evidence of a belief about God? (Who is in ultimate control, in power?)
Others/Ourselves
How do they portray humans in the story? What would you gather they believe about humans
based on the way they write about them?
Our World
What do you gather they view is a problem in our world and why it is the way it is, and what the
answer/solution is to the problem?
Our Hope
What, if anything, is the source of help? Who will rescue, solve, answer the questions of why
our world is the way it is.
The Professional Strategy Triangle
Kuehn and Lingwall, The Basics of Media Writing: A Strategic Approach. SAGE Publications, 2018.
Here are questions they should be thinking through about the situation:
• What type of story is this? A hard news story or a soft news story? Hard news need to be
written quickly- the results of a game, a storm coming into an area, recent election
results. Soft news is when the journalist can take some time to interview and find
sources- the anniversary of a disaster (Hurricane Katrina), a player retiring, etc.
• What are the facts of the story? Which ones are most relevant to my audience?
• Who are the key players in the story?
• Where will I go to get the information I need?
Here are questions they should be asking themselves about their audience:
• Who are my readers, listeners, viewers?
• What are their likely predispositions toward the issue?
• Which of their demographic factors are relevant (race/ethnicity, age, sex, occupation,
income, education level)?
• Which psychographic factors (attitudes, dispositions, life stages, hobbies) are relevant?
• How is my audience likely to interpret my message? Where could they misinterpret my
message?
• How credible is the organization I work for (i.e. ABC, CBS, Fox, etc.) in their minds?
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