Throughout the course so far, we have examined how media uses a variety of strategies to construct an impression of a product and target its audience. What we often don’t realize is that the news, though it has the appearance of being unbiased, is also a product and therefore also involves construction and choices designed to appeal to a specific target audience.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of how our core media concepts function in the news media, apply your understanding of those concepts to your own news article, and then explain your thinking behind your choices in writing that article.
PART A: Polished journal response
Choose any single news journal entry or combination of entries from your blog that you think best represent two media concepts from the following list:
· All media messages are constructed.
· The messages are constructed according to the rules (codes and conventions) of the particular medium used.
· Audiences negotiate the meanings of media messages: different people read/experience the same messages differently.
· Media messages contain values and points of view.
· Media messages have social, political, and commercial origins, effects, and implications.
Indicate clearly which two concepts you have chosen, either by creating headings or by providing an introduction to your writing.
Then, revise your journal material carefully to include specific examples, clear explanation, and a clear demonstration of your understanding of the media concepts as they relate to news media. You can combine content from your different blog entries in your revision.
PART B: News article and reflection (in class)
In the next few classes we will review the structure of a news article and examine some of the choices that news “gatekeepers” make when spinning the news.
On December 12 you will get a small portfolio of five photographs to take home. You should examine the photographs and try to determine what is happening in them. You may make notes on the photographs, but you will not be using your copies of these photographs or your notes in class.
On December 15 in class you will be given a choice of three of the photographs and two different target audiences to choose from. Based on your choice, you will write a news article about one of the photographs. The news article should contain the components of a good news story and should be organized according to the principles of news writing as reviewed in class. In addition, you should use language and details that create a focus and style appropriate to your selected target audience.
You will also write a brief reflection about your news article, in which you clearly explain the strategies you have used to “spin” your news story to target your chosen audience:
point of view
selection of detail
language choices
aspects of “newsworthiness” (timeliness, proximity, prominence, consequence, and human interest)
This assignment addresses the following Ontario Ministry of Education overall expectations of EMS3O:
A. Understanding and interpreting media texts:
1. Understanding and responding to media texts: demonstrate understanding of a variety of media texts
2. Deconstructing media texts: deconstruct a variety of media texts, identifying the codes, conventions, and techniques used and explaining how they create meaning
B. Media and society:
1. Understanding media perspectives: analyse and critique media representations of people, issues, values, and behaviours
C. The media industry:
1. Industry and audience: demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which the creators of media texts target and attract audiences
D. Producing and reflecting on media texts
1. Producing media texts: create a variety of media texts for different audiences and purposes, using effective forms, codes, conventions and techniques
3. Metacognition: demonstrate an understanding of their growth as media consumers, media analysts, and media producers