Objective: In this essay assignment, you will reflect on the state of local journalism and its impact on democracy. After listening to a podcast segment, you will assume a specific political communication role and write a 850 – 950 word open editorial article, or opinion column, responding to the issues discussed.
General Instructions:
Listen to the Podcast: Start by listening to the “Interview” segment of the podcast episode How to Save JournalismLinks to an external site. (from 14:26 to 51:38), where Prof. Victor Pickard discusses the challenges being faced currently by local journalism in the US. This podcast episode is available on popular podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple podcasts as well.
Select Your Role: Based on the three key players in political communication as discussed in lectures, choose ONE of the following roles to assume for this assignment:
Leader: You are a newly elected representative in your state’s legislative body, known for your campaign promise to privatize local journalism to invigorate the industry.
Media: You are the chief investigative reporter at a local newspaper that has recently faced a significant decline in subscriptions, leading to budget cuts and staff layoffs.
Citizen: You are a working class citizen who primarily consumes news through social media and app notifications, without any subscriptions to newspapers.
Write Your Op-Ed: In your chosen role, write an open editorial article that reflects on the key points discussed in the podcast and outlines your response to the issues raised. Think widely and creatively about your chosen role and their perspective on the arguments made in the podcast.
Citation style: To cite supporting evidence, you are required to use the APA citation styleLinks to an external site..
Furthermore, you are required to cite AT LEAST one reading from Weeks 1 and 2.
Word Count: The op-ed should strictly be within 850 – 950 words long. Points will be deducted for shorter or longer essays. Titles, subtitles, author details, and references are not counted towards this word count.
Suggestions on Op-ed Structure:
The following structure provides a flexible blue-print for your op-ed. You are not required to adhere to this structure, however it is highly recommended that you follow these guidelines to structure your op-ed.
Title: Choose a compelling title that captures your key arguments. (5 words or less)
Subtitle: Provide a subtitle that further elaborates on the themes of the article. (3-9 words)
Opening section: Introduce the topic and your role’s perspective on the issue of local journalism. Present your thesis statement or key arguments.
Body sections:
I am suggesting three sections for this op-ed, however please free to adjust according to your writing styles and needs of your arguments.
Section 1: summarizing arguments made by Prof. Pickard. Be selective about the arguments summarized here, highlighting the ones most relevant to the perspective of your chosen role.
Tip: Think about how these arguments connect with the readings from Week 1 and Week 2.
Section 2: Present your key arguments responding to the arguments made by Prof. Pickard, incorporating evidence and examples to support your stance.
Section 3: Build on your key arguments and develop a more nuanced take related to the state of local journalism, further exploring the challenges and implications of the issue from your role’s perspective.
Conclusion: Summarize your main arguments.
If suitable, propose potential solutions or actions that could be taken by your role, the readers, or a third entity.
Author details (reveal your chosen role): After the last paragraph, provide a short description of your role.
For Leader: The author of this article is an elected representative in state legislative body.
For Media: The author of this article is the chief investigative reporter at a local newspaper.
For Citizens: The author of this article is a private citizen and local resident.
Tips on developing op-ed thesis:
To develop the thesis or key arguments for your op-ed, here are some questions to think about from the perspective of your chosen role:
What are your political motivations behind writing this op-ed?
What is your assumed audience for this article? What is your expected reaction or behavior from them?
What are your political positions which drive your response to the points made in the podcast?
On what points do you agree or disagree with Prof. Pickard? Why?
How do the readings from Week 1 and Week 2 inform your opinion?
Would you like to propose solutions or actions that could be taken within your role to address these challenges? Would you like the readers or a third entity to take actions?
This is not an exhaustive set of questions, and you do not need to address all of them in your op-ed. However, I suggest using these questions as a starting point to build your thesis.
Evaluation:
Your op-ed will be evaluated on the following:
Comprehension of arguments made in the assigned podcast segment
You are required to explain the parts of the podcast interview that you are responding to. Clearly explain the arguments made by Prof. Pickard that your arguments are in response to.
Clarity, coherence, and originality of arguments
Evidence and citations (APA style)
At least ONE citation from the readings for Weeks 1 and 2 are required to be included in the essay.
Beyond that, please feel free to cite any articles, papers, books, etc. as necessary.
You are required to use the APA citation style. Any other citation style, or incorrect usage of APA style, will be penalized.
Organization and structure (overall and body paragraphs).
While the structure outline above is a suggestion, the essay must include:
an opening section, which makes your thesis/core arguments clear
a middle section, with summary of points made in podcast and your response arguments with evidence, and
a conclusion section, which explains the significance of your thesis.
Each section can have multiple paragraphs, as necessary. Each paragraph must have good organization as well (as discussed in Lecture 1), making sure that they connect what comes before and after.
Word count, grammar, and spelling
