EXERCISE W15-1

 

Study the photo in Box 15-1.  Then, write a 250- to 400-word response to the following prompts.

 

a.  As an audience member, what is your response to the story’s content?

b.  What opinions, attitudes or beliefs of yours influenced your reading of the text?

c.  As a journalist, what is your response?

d.  What professional standards came into play?

e.  Did your personal response differ from your professional response?  Describe why or why not.

 

EXERCISE W15-2

 

Suppose your friend says that people are like sheep, that they just do whatever the media tell them to.  What does this imply about an audience?  What would you say back to your friend?  Write a 250- to 400-word response to your friend, using the concepts in this chapter to explain.

 

EXERCISE W15-3

 

Which, if any, of the following scenarios do you find newsworthy? Think about how your opinions, attitudes and beliefs led you to conclude which is, or isn’t, worth following up.  Then, write a response that describes what you’ve discovered.

 

a.  Part of the compensation package for the new athletic director at your school is a generous housing allowance. This means that the school will pick up the tab for a nice house as long as the athletic director is employed.

 

b.  Community members are upset that a hookah bar has set up shop near their homes and schools.

 

c.  Candidates for student body president are holding a debate.

 

d.  The chemistry department at your school just got a huge grant.

 

e.  Students are going to pitch tents and spend the night on campus to protest poor housing for students in town.

 

EXERCISE W15-4

 

Select a board member from a media company such as CBS.  Then find out all you can about that person, such as job history, expertise, other boards the person sits or has sat on.  Write a 250- to 400-word description of who this person is and suggest an idea of what this person might offer the company by sitting on the board.