Future of journalism assignment 1

Future of journalism assignment 1

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  MA CLASS: FIRSTASSIGNMENT Due March 6 At this point you have been given a pretty substantial critique of the media, as well as some solid grounding on its current economic situation. So, now that you know the systemic problems, particularly about covering politics, what can be done? Pretend you are an organization's ombudsman or a top editor (pick an organization) - someone who can set policy. Using the reading, identify the five biggest issues facing the organization – these can be economic or structural issues with news—and propose solutions for how these might be fixed/ameliorated. If you are referring to specific situations where an organization erred or goofed etc., be sure to tie it back to the larger concepts talked about in the classes up to and inclusive of Feb. 13’s readings. Think a simple memo – one you might imagine a newsroom having to read during this time of crazy 24/7 breaking news—formatted and appropriately written to meet these conditions. That might mean bullet points, that might mean numbers, might mean outline form. This should not be a paper. I wouldn’t expect to see this go more than 1500 words (roughly 6 pages double-spaced, but you’re not going to double space an essay because you are writing a memo). You might be wondering how you reference readings in something formatted as a memo to a newsroom. I recommend using footnotes to acknowledge taking a particular idea or quote from an article, and if you reference a thinker directly, you probably can use him/her by name because they are prominent enough to do so and a newsroom would recognize them (but footnote to the article you’ve mentioned). I don’t really care if the footnotes are much more than a link and paragraph # with the article title. Or you can make them fancy and Chicago style. But not required. There is no official requirement for readings mentioned, but I would advise some reference to about 5 of the 16 or so links. The greatest among us (like David Foster Wallace) can figure out how to footnote for public consumption (or in a more news-about-the-news context, see Tom Rosenstiel’s piece). You will be graded on the following: 1) Understanding of issues facing contemporary newsrooms (in a post-truth era) 2) Ability to seamlessly integrate key readings as part of ordinary, approachable writing 3) Novel solutions/ideas for solving the key issues you identify—ideally with a strategy to implement them.
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  4) Adherence tothe spirit of the assignment (eg memo written as a key news executive/policy-maker for the rest of the newsroom) 5) Clear writing/thinking/formatting Please hand this in by March 6 at class time via email and please bring with you a printed copy (STAPLED) to class. I can be reached by appointment for office hours.