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MDIA 1004 Assessment 2
Original Written News story or Audio Story Package
WEIGHTING: 30 %
LENGTH: 650-750 words or a three to five minute radio package with script
Journalists regularly write news stories across a range of topics, or specialise in one area,
e.g world, environment and climate, health, urban affairs / metro, politics, crime and
justice, business, culture, sport and lifestyle (food, real estate, fashion), entertainment,
education, technology, immigration. You can choose your preferred specialisation for your
story idea,
The emphasis is on news. You cannot do a review or opinion piece. It also can be a strong
‘hard’ news story even though it is a ‘soft’ topic, like fashion, and crossover into a different
topic area. For example, a high profile chef owing millions to his employees in unpaid
wages; a protest at a museum; a social media story that has gone viral for a newsworthy
reason.
When choosing your story consider
(a) the angle: what is new about your story? What is the lead? Otherwise it will be too
broad.
(b) news values. Why should your audience care about this story? Why should the story be
published now?
STEP 1: PITCH and Idea approval.
The ‘hurdle’ in this assessment is your pitch. You must present a pitch to your tutors, that
is then revised with feedback in class, and submitted to a separate Moodle pass / fail
assessment link. Tutors must approve your idea, and your interviews. This will either be in
a group setting – where your tutor sits with your group and hears your ideas; or to the
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class. It will be informal.
If you do not pitch to your tutor, and submit your pitch to the submission pitch link, your
assessment will not be marked. If you change your idea, you must ask your tutor to
approve the new idea and resubmit your pitch.
STEP TWO: RESEARCH: Interviews and Verification
You must do at least one interview and supplement this with at least two secondary
sources (media releases, audio statements from media conferences available on many
media organisation sites), social media, reports, and existing news stories attributed).
Do not leave the interviews until the last minute. You are dealing with people.
If you cannot obtain interviews despite best efforts, speak to your tutor in class for ideas.
You must ask permission to record your interview (s), and then submit your audio plus
transcript (otter is good for this), or your video with subtitles if in a language other than
English / translation. There will be links on Moodle to submit your verification files.
Note on courts: if you choose a court story, it must be approved, and please see your tutor
or convenor for court etiquette and attending the court will count as an interview. However
courts are restricted recording environment so please discuss with your tutor first. Ditto
police stories – you need to be aware of contempt (we cover that in the course).
Note on protests and live events: You can attend a protest with approval, and this will
count as an interview or another newsworthy live event. But it must be a news story – and
if an event, it is not a review !
Avoid vox pops / random interviews. This can be relevant as a supporting interview, but
your main interview must be a meaningful part of the story.
Step 3: Write the Story OR produce the audio.
Once you have gathered your research, it is time to write the story or produce your audio
story. Adhere to the inverted pyramid, taking particular care with the lead. See discussions
in class. Always keep the angle uppermost in your mind.
Choose a headline. You do not need a write off or sell (a summary of the story in bold).
Use news convention for quoting as discussed in class.
Rewrite, edit, fact check.
Dot point of highlights in the story are optional. If you do wish to include dot points,
please do it as a ‘breakout box’ – a separate part of the story, as discussed in class.
Draft Process Uploading
This year, we are requiring students to submit their drafts to show their process,
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including from translation apps. We are interested to see your process and reworking,
and how that reflects on your final submission. Only your final submission will be
marked. We will run draft writing in class. You can put your drafts in the same link as
the interview files on Moodle.
IMAGES
One image (embedded into your story so only one document).
original is preferred. An original portrait of your interview or relevant image or a
supplied pic by the interviewee.
You could also take /include a photo that is a strong visual representation of the story via
a creative commons picture site such as PEXELS, but attribution must be included.
NOTE: copyright is important. You must not take photos from photo agencies or news
media sites, even with attribution. If your image is found to have infringed copyright we will
deduct 25 %.
References
As this is a practical subject, you do not require academic referencing. Your story should
adhere to normal news attribution conventions as discussed in class.
When using secondary sources, we do ask that they are available as hyperlinks in your
story, or at URLS at the end of your story.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
• Length: 700 words or a three to five-minute radio news package
• Style: traditional news or audio news style.
• Interview: A minimum of one original interview preferably ‘live’ via video or audio
apps or mobile, or in person.
• 2 secondary sources preferably from a media release or publicly available report.
Existing news coverage is permitted but we recommend only one of your sources
should be from an previous news story, and this should be attributed.
• A transcript or video / audio recording of your interview for verification purposes,
uploaded to the share link.
• A photo. Photos must include a caption and a credit. Creative common such as
Pexels are allowed. Copyright infringements will deduct 25 % e.g taking from
Getty or a news organisation that are subject to copyright.
• Contact details of your interviews, including position, location, phone number or
email for verification.
• Audio and / or Video files of your interview to the supplied link on Moodle
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• Draft files (see above) to the supplied link on Moodle.
• 50 % will be deducted if verification files are not supplied. Therefore you can only
receive a mark of 50 max for your story.
SUBMISSION CHECKLIST
• Check you have included contact details for your interview.
• Upload a PDF or MS word version of your story including images to TURNITIN.
If you are doing audio, upload the script only and image.
• If you are doing audio, please send your tutor a link to your soundcloud or other
MP3 via email. This is optional and only recommended for those who are
confident with audio production.
• Upload your video or audio interview files and / or transcript, and drafts to
the supplementary OneDrive file on Moodle, clearly labelled with your
name and class time to your class folder.