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Discussion QuestionsExercises and AssignmentsOnline Media Writing ExamplesInstructor ResourcesWriting With Responsibility
 Writing Across the MediaCh1. Writing with Clarity and CoherenceCh2. Writing with ResponsibilityCh3. Writing for AudiencesCh4. Writing and Gathering InformationCh5. Writing the OpeningCh6. Writing Basic StoriesCh7. Writing with Visual and Audio ImagesCh8. Writing Complex Stories

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ASSIGNMENT 1

Your agency handles public relations for MedTech Corporation, which manufactures, among other products, silicone breast implants. In two days, MedTech's chief executive officer, Alfred Smith, is scheduled to appear on your city's all-talk radio station to discuss the company's responsibilities for health problems that some of the recipients of the implants contend were caused by the implants. Smith is understandably nervous about talk radio, where all manner of argumentative listeners may call in and berate him. He's come up with a strategy to get him through the program: He wants you, the MedTech account supervisor at the agency, to recruit at least five agency employees to call the station during the program and ask "canned" questions that he'll be prepared to answer. "The employees who call in should not say they're with the agency," Smith's memorandum to you states. "Just have them give their names. They should say, 'I'm Kate Jones from St. Louis and I'd like to ask Mr. Smith ...'"

1. You must respond to Smith's request with a memorandum of about 200 words. Do you agree to the request? If so, in the memo, tell Smith why and list at least five "canned" questions you'll be prepared to have your employees ask on the show. If not, explain to Smith why you won't have your employees call the radio show with "canned" questions and offer him another strategy for handling the show.

2. Write a short essay of about 200 words in which you justify your decision under the three ethical principles outlined in the chapter: telling the truth, doing no harm and promoting social justice.

Note to instructors: The suggestions below further connect this assignment to concepts from other "Writing Across the Media" chapters.

1. Chapter 3: "Writing for Audiences" introduces the concept of audience involvement in a media message (see p. 51). Read the section on "Writing for Radio Audiences" (pp. 60-61). Discuss the ways you might have to write differently for a radio talk show audience.

2. Chapter 4: "Writing and Gathering Information" discusses several types of interviews conducted by media writers: informational, situational, confrontational, personal and professional (see pp. 85-91). Assume you are the host of the talk radio program on which Smith appears. Discuss which type of interview you might conduct and why. You can also prepare a list of a half-dozen or more questions you'd want to ask Smith in that on-air interview.

3. Chapter 4: "Writing and Gathering Information" encourages media writers to employ a variety of information sources when researching their topics: commercial databases, Internet resources, online newsgroups or bulletin boards, and government documents (see 79-83). If you're a public relations writer assigned to draft a news release about MedTech's manufacture of silicone breast implants, which of these information sources might you use to find information about the risks of implants? Why?

4. Chapter 8: "Writing Complex Stories" discusses the four-part structure of complex media writing, which includes an extended lead, a transition, development and an ending (see p. 191). Assume you're a writer for a health magazine preparing a story on the silicone breast implant controversy, using MedTech's product as one example. You've got materials gathered from government studies, comments from breast implant recipients who believe their health has been harmed, as well as statements from MedTech's research scientists and executives. Outline the complex story you'd write.

ASSIGNMENT 2

A nationally prominent author, who lived in your city, is found dead in a motel room a couple of states away. Your newspaper's editor assigns you to the story; as you report it, you learn that the police have found a suicide note. It says, "I'm sorry for the pain I've caused my family. I apologize for any hurt I've inflicted." You also learn that the author, who made his literary reputation writing about children's issues, was being investigated by local police on allegations of child molestation. Your police sources tell you that the molestation complaint was filed by the author's estranged wife, from whom he was being divorced, and your sources tell you that it's not uncommon for a divorcing parent to report child abuse allegations against the other parent when a custody battle becomes ugly. But, your sources say, it's not clear that the author actually abused any child and a clear answer to that question won't be produced because the investigation is being canceled. The police don't investigate dead people.

1. You're working in the press room of the police station while your deadline approaches. Your editor, who's across town at the newspaper's offices, sends you an e-mail message asking for the story's opening so he can see what your focus will be. Write a 30- to 35-word opening for your story.

2. Your editor wants to know what you're going to include in the remainder of your story. Prepare an outline of the six paragraphs of your story that will follow the opening.

3. Write a short e-mail message to your editor, explaining how your decisions about what to include in the story serve competing loyalties and address any or all of these three ethical principles: telling the truth, doing no harm and promoting social justice.

Note to instructors: The suggestions below further connect this assignment to concepts from other "Writing Across the Media" chapters.

1. Chapter 5: "Writing the Opening" (see the "Writing Tips" box at page 104) discusses six traditional news values. Discuss the values that are most important in the students' decisions about covering the story. Explore the ethical limits of prominence as a guiding value.

2. Chapter 6: "Writing Basic Stories" encourages writers to pay careful attention to the organization of their stories. (See the "Organizing the Story" section at pp. 135-139, which demonstrates how a news event is covered differently by print and television reporters. Discuss whether and how the story outline assigned at point 2 above would be different if it were prepared for television.

3. Chapter 7: "Writing with Visual and Audio Images" discusses the broadcast writer's need for "striking pictures" (pp. 164-165). If this story were being written for television, how might it be illustrated? For example, file videotape of celebrities, including this nationally prominent author, would usually be available. How should the reporter and producer decide what kinds of pictures are fair game for illustrating the suicide story?

4. Chapter 8: "Writing Complex Stories" discusses how writers may use the story of an individual person to "put a face" on a larger issue (see pp. 192-195). Consider whether it would be ethical for a reporter to use this author's story to address a larger issue: false child abuse allegations made in divorce cases.

  
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