The requirements for each major writing assignment will be posted here at least a week before the due date.
COMM 336 — WRITING FOR THE MASS MEDIA
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #7
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ‘MEDIA REVIEW’ ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in developing your skills in as an entertainment writer.
Choose a movie, album, television show, concert, play, or book to review and write a 350-500 word critical review. Your entertainment choice can be from any style or genre. To keep the review timely, the subject under review must have been released (or re-released) in 2008.
Media reviews require you to think critically about the artists’ intentions and choices. Don’t just summarize the material, but evaluate it as an audience member. Be careful that you don’t fall into a pure description or synopsis. Also, remember to be both honest and specific in your analysis; the reader expects your opinion.
Some suggestions:
o Begin by stating your opinion. Be specific; where do you stand?
o Don’t give away the important elements. For example, don’t give away the ending.
o Give the basic factual information to your readers. For example, what is the film about, what genre is it, who is the director, what is the film rated, who does the film star, when was it released, etc.
o Be specific in your analysis. What did you think of the acting, the plot, the dialogue, the cinematography, the music, etc.
o Explain your views. For example, if the dialogue was boring, tell the reader why.
o Share both the good and the bad aspects.
o Think about the intended audience. Who is likely to see this movie? Why?
o Finish strong. End in a creative, persuasive, and/or memorable way.
o Use the standard four-star rating system. “This film receives 2.5 out of four stars.”
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and AP style.
This is due Wednesday, April 23 at 1 p.m.
Late work will not be accepted.
Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
Double-space
Include word count
COMM 336 — WRITING FOR THE MASS MEDIA
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #6
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ‘PRESS RELEASE’ ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in developing your skills in as a public relations writer.
Using textbook and our discussions of public relations as your guide, compose a press release. Choose one part of exercise 9.1 of your textbook and write a press release using the information provided.
You should only prepare one news release. For example, compose a press release about the “tuition decrease” or about the “YMCA.” Do not complete each section of exercise 9.1.
- Remember everything you learned about writing news stories, including AP style.
- Use your understanding of news values to create a press release that an editor might consider running.
- Use the inverted pyramid format to structure your writing.
- Work hard to write an engaging lead. Readers will lose interest if the first few sentences are uninteresting.
- Remember that a news release should be free of jargon and wordiness.
- In addition to the story, for your press release remember to include: a headline, contact information for the organization and a release time.
- Be brief. However, your news release should be a minimum of 200 words.
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and AP style.
This is due Monday, April 14 at 1 p.m.
Late work will not be accepted.
Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
Double-space
Include word count
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #5
REQUIREMENTS FOR “THE RADIO AD/PSA” ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in writing advertising copy for a radio commercial.
Write a script for a thirty second radio commercial.
You must choose from one of the two “products” announced in class.
Review our discussions of Chapter 8. Remember, your copy should be designed to achieve the maximum impact in a short amount of time. The information should be organized in an efficient, interesting and entertaining manner. Keep in mind that advertising requires you to be both persuasive and informative. Make sure that your script flows together in a way that will make sense to listeners.
You must decide on a target market for the product and the corresponding commercial. Commercials are rarely intended for everyone. You must consider a specific audience for the product. An effective advertisement begins with deciding what part of the population is likely to buy your product.
Remember the A-I-D-A formula. Your ad should get the listener’s attention, hold his/her interest, create a desire for the product, and urge the consumer to some action.
You are responsible for gathering correct information about the product and/or organization. Accuracy should still be a high priority. You should do some research before you begin writing your script. For example, you should know what the product does and who makes the product. You may want to complete a copy platform sheet to organize your ideas about the advertisement.
Use a conversational style in this assignment because you’re writing for the ear, not the eye.
In addition to the scripted dialogue, your script should likely include appropriate sound effects and music.
- A rough draft of the script must be sent to jmasseng@ucumberlands.edu by 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 2nd.
- We will do a peer critique of these ads in class on Friday, April 4th.
- The final draft of the script is due by 1:00 p.m. on Monday, April 7th.
Prepare your radio script sheet according to the guidelines discussed in class.
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and AP style.
Be creative and have fun with this assignment!
Additional Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #4
REQUIREMENTS FOR “THE RADIO NEWSCAST” ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in writing news stories for a radio broadcast.
Using your textbook, select either exercise 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, or 7.8. Write broadcast copy for a two-minute newscast based on the information presented in the text.
Review our discussions of the broadcast writing style. Remember, your copy should be written so that someone can easily read it out loud. The information should be organized in an efficient, but interesting manner. Use the “dramatic unity” structure to write each story. In particular, pay attention to the first words of your story. You should capture the listener’s attention in your broadcast news lead.
Broadcast writers should also emphasize clarity by using simple sentences, familiar words, and by using active voice. Use a more conversational style in this news writing exercise because you’re writing for the ear, not the eye.
Keep in mind that the style of broadcast writing is somewhat different than writing for print and the Web. Review chapter 7 for assistance with these broadcast style rules.
The information for the news story you selected has already been gathered for you.
Do not add or make up additional information that is not presented in the exercise.
Instead focus on writing a clear, efficient, engaging newscast.
Arrange the order of the news stories to best fit your newscast. Typically, you would arrange the newscast with the most important stories running first and end with a closing story that has a light, humorous, or “feel good” quality about it. However you decide to arrange the stories, make sure that they flow together in a way that will make sense to listeners.
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and style.
Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
Double-space
COMM 336 — WRITING FOR THE MASS MEDIA —- MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ‘FEATURE STORY’ ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in developing your skills in feature story writing.
Using the readings and our discussions of feature story writing as your guide, compose a feature story. You will compose a profile feature story about one of your classmates. Your feature story should be engaging, entertaining and interesting. It should be noted that when compared to news stories, feature stories emphasize a greater sense of human interest and emotional connection. The feature story must be a minimum of 600 words.
- Work hard to write an engaging lead. Your readers will lose interest if the first few sentences are uninteresting.
- Decide on a focus for this profile. You need to zero in on the elements that will make the person most interesting to readers. This may include the person’s hobbies, campus activities, career, beliefs, goals, etc. You can include general biographical and background information, but you need stay focused on this chosen subject.
- Use interviews and many direct quotes to make your story come alive. It should be obvious to the reader that you conducted a lengthy interview.
- Include specific details and vivid descriptions in your feature story. Include descriptions of the person’s life, past and present. Feature writers should include compelling descriptions of events and the people in their stories.
- Pay special attention to the ending of your feature. Unlike the inverted pyramid, feature stories follow a narrative structure with a beginning, middle, and an end, and they are all of roughly equal value to the reader. Your ending may use an entertaining quote, answer any lingering questions, or make a thought-provoking point.
- Remember, with feature writing you have more freedom to interject your voice or personality or opinion into the story.
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and AP style.
This is due Wednesday, February 27th at 1 p.m.
Late work will not be accepted.
Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
Double-space
Include word count
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ‘ONLINE NEWS PACKAGE’ ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in developing your skills as a news writer while using the inverted pyramid news style.
Using the facts and quotes given to you by the instructor, compose an inverted pyramid news story of 400-500 words. In addition, after writing the story you must also include a sentence headline and a provocative summary. You must also include at least five hyperlinks that could lead readers to additional information online.
o Be sure to answer the six basic journalistic questions and write an original inverted pyramid style news story for the Web.
o Write the sentence headline of a maximum of eight words. Don’t use articles, but your headline must have a subject and a verb. The headline must be accurate and give specific information about the story.
o Write a concise summary of the story. This should be what your textbook calls a provocative summary. It should be no more than 25 words and two sentences long. It should give an accurate overview of the story, but it must also be persuasive to draw readers into the story. This should NOT be the same as your lead paragraph.
o In your story you must include at least five hyperlinks to accurate, relevant information. Write your sentences where you have chosen to put links so they include the HTML tags. For example, “One artist, Chris Tomlin wasn’t able to make it to the event.” Refer to the section of chapter 6 that discusses this if necessary.
Review our discussions of the inverted pyramid news style. Also, pay special attention to the lead. Your lead should also be written so that the reader will be interested in going further into the story. Your news story should contain several direct quotes.
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and AP style.
This assignment is due at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, February 18
Late work will not be accepted.
Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
Double-space
Include word count
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT #1
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ‘PRINT NEWS STORY’ ASSIGNMENT
The goal of this assignment is to give you practice in developing your skills as a reporter while using the inverted pyramid news style. You will write a news story to be published for The Patriot, the official student newspaper of the University of the Cumberlands.
Using the news values discussed in class, compose a news story of 300-400 words.
Your news story must be based on local events. Therefore, limit your news story to events happening on campus or in Williamsburg. Your story may be published in The Patriot newspaper.
Gather information to answer the basic journalistic questions and write an original inverted pyramid style news story.
Review our discussions of the inverted pyramid news style. Also, pay special attention to the lead. Your lead should also be written so that the reader will be interested in going further into the story.
Use interviews to gather accurate information appropriate for your story. Your news story should contain at least one direct quote from a relevant attributed source. You should likely interview more than one source for this assignment.
Remember, your chief goal as a journalist is accuracy.
As always, you are responsible for correct grammar, spelling, and AP style.
This assignment must be printed out and handed to the instructor.
It cannot be sent electronically through email to the instructor.
You must also send a copy of your final draft to thepatriot@ucumberlands.edu to earn a passing grade.
DEADLINE: Monday, February 4 at 1 p.m.
Late work will not be accepted. Your news story must be completed by this date in order to receive credit for the assignment.
Technical Requirements:
Use a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred)
Use a one-inch margin on all sides of the paper
Double-space
Include word count
