2.4.2 Local event story
Weight: 40%
Type of Collaboration: Individual
Due: Week 11: Thursday, May 9, 4pm
Submission: Submission via Turnitin
Format: The work has to be a word document with photos and captions. There is a link on vUWS for additional materials such as video narratives. The work will be marked for its news values and quality of writing. Speed of delivery with accuracy and target audiences will also be evaluated.
Length: 600 words, including photos, video, voice with at least two secondary sources for publishing in a relevant chosen media
Curriculum Mode: Professional Task
Aims/Objectives
Students will learn to find stories in their local area - including by attending a public meeting. Listen to the guest lecture pods to understand what happens at public events/meetings. This assessment is designed to promote and enhance listening skills in students so that they are able to report accurately and conduct ethical research for their stories.
Assessment Description
Attending meetings to filter and file information has been part of journalism practice for decades. The assessment will help hone in listening, note taking/recording, asking questions as well as photography skills. It will also help hone skills in developing stories with speed and accuracy while 'looking outside the box' for publishing and/or developing ideas for other follow-up stories. Students may cover a local story/event of their own. The journalism event on campus will provide an opportunity to write a story. Please discuss your ideas/events with your tutor.
Assessment Requirements
The assessment will be marked for:
News values
News writing style
Original interview(s)
Ethically sound copy without any breaches such as lifting ideas, quotes and information from others' works without
attributing these to the news sources.
Two primary and two secondary sources.
Include details on sources of information: name, contact phone/email and website details/links if used for secondary
research, at the end of the story.
Any published outcomes: media engagements such as tweets/blogs.
Assessment Criteria
This story will be marked for all the criteria set for the first story as well as for the students' ability to listen carefully and identify news values in the presentation and articulate these into a compelling piece of journalism. It will be marked for its publishable standards, grammar, and sentence structure, consolidation of ideas, story-telling, and level of secondary research, accuracy and use of sources/information.
Resources:
The guest lecture/journalism event flyer will be available on vUWS. Students have the option to write a story on this event for assessment 2. All other resources and examples are available on vUWS. Watch the lecture pod on covering events for journalism writing.
Marking Criteria:
Marking Criteria
Pass (50-64): Work showing satisfactory achievement. You show initiative in note taking, asking questions and researching the issues/ideas using secondary sources. Your story indicates a sound grasp of the assessment requirements, is well researched, structured and competently written. Your selection of information is appropriate for the story and the publication you have targeted.
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Credit (65-74): Work of good quality showing more than satisfactory achievement. You have shown some initiative in the selection of the story idea/s. You have met all the above criteria plus you have shown greater than average initiative in your selection of the information and the written story you've produced.
Distinction (75-84): Work of superior quality. You have met all the above criteria plus shown considerable initiative in your choice of ideas/information, the research you've done and the way you've presented your written work requires little corrections or revisions and is of publishable standard.
High Distinction (85 and above): Work of exceptional superior quality. You have met all the above criteria plus shown more than considerable initiative in your choice of ideas/information, the research you've done and the way you've presented your written work requires no corrections or revisions and is of publishable standard in the metropolitan and national media.
Not passable: You did not follow the instructions/requirements for this assessment. Your research is inadequate. Your story is not structured the way it should have been and lacks clarity and expression. It does not satisfy the standards expected in this unit or by the target publication/media.