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Online Writing Examples
LINK 1: www.seattle-pi.com/awards/witnesstowar/index.html
In "Witness to War," a series of stories published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in September 1998, reporter Carol Smith tells the story of her grandmother, Laura Frost Smith, a 105-year-old who is one of the oldest living veterans of World War I. To show the horrors and heroism her grandmother witnessed as a casualty nurse on the Western Front in 1918, Carol Smith relies heavily on letters her grandmother wrote home from Europe. The stories in the series are compelling and descriptive. They provide an engaging glimpse at the struggles faced by women in the military at the time. Beyond their value as good writing, however, consider how the stories fulfill the three ethical duties of media writers discussed in Chapter 2: telling the truth, doing no harm and promoting social justice.
In addition, consider what ethical limits on the use of personal stories exist, if any. For instance, Laura Frost Smith's letters describe in detail her romance with a lieutenant also serving in Europe. Their romance, as well as his injury and recovery, are presented entirely from Smith's point of view, as expressed in her letters. Is this an ethically acceptable choice made by the writer? Why or why not?
LINK 2: www.saturn.com
Pages 30-32 of Chapter 2 use a Saturn automobile ad to explore the values choices embedded in a magazine advertisement. The chapter contends that the Saturn ad strategy emphasizes respect for the audience and eschews the glitzy, sex-based ads favored by many other automobile manufacturers. Go to www.saturn.com, the company's Web site, to see how the company extends the folksy, "real people," no-nonsense strategy discussed in Chapter 2. For instance, consider the Web site's introduction to the company at
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