Media Folio Timeline

Attached is the media folio timeline.
MediaFolio Timeline2011

Media Folio

In class we discussed the requirements of the media portfolio.  You can choose to make an interactive magazine or an interactive newspaper.  The folio can be of a subject of your choice but must contain the main article (feature article) and four hyperlinks. These links include a home page.

It is best to do the folio on something of interest to you. It could be a profile piece on music, sport, art, personalities, current issues in the news, fashion, reviews, photography or anything that you think is interesting. You must have a target audience to address, for example if it is for teenagers who play hockey or for people who are intersted in being in a band. It could be a promotional site about something that you do or have an interest in doing. You must have original text, graphics and photographs. You cannot copy and paste anything that you have read or seen.

Examples of top performing media works:
Media Magazine Covers
printlayout

Feature Article

The next installment in your folio is your feature article. Similar to a news article, a feature article takes an angle on a story.

For example if I was doing a feature article on the London riots I would give an overall update on what happened and then interview some of the rioters. The angle I might take is that the riots were caused by disadvantage. I would interview rioters, politicians, parents, educators and get some good quotes. Feature articles do not need to agree with any opinion. The politician might say that the rioters are thugs whilst the teachers might argue it is about entrenched disadvantage and the parents might just shrug and say the kids are only having fun. The feature covers an area of interest but does not have to present a right or wrong argument.  They are human interest stories.

A feature article gives you more scope to broaden your story. It allows the reader to understand the more human side of  a story.  Read the qualities of a feature article in the link provided.
QualititesFeatureStory

Task 1: You are to read a feature article from the link below:
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/1767/the-top-10-feature-articles-2007

Then answer the following questions:

1. Title of Article

2. Author

3. Source

4. Who does the author want to read the article: (audience)

5. List details from the article that help you understand the purpose.

6. Explain how the article tries to “hook” your interest (examining the lead).

7. Examine the text feature and list any text features the author uses to help make the article more interesting or informative. (Examples – headings, lists, charts, graphs, diagrams, captions)

8. Examining the conclusion and explain how the author brings the article to a conclusion.

Task 2:  When you have completed this task you are to take a magazine article from the pile provided and answer the same questions.

Writing your own Feature Article
The feature article is to be included into your portfolio. It will cover 4  A4 pages and contain annotated pictures. The feature article can be on any topic of your choice.

Due Date: 30th September, 2011

Evaluating News Stories

The two news articles that you have written (the practice news article) and the major news article will be submitted into your portfolio. To complete the task you must do an evaluation. This will accompany the written story. Please ask me for the handout.

For the remainder of the term and early into next term we will be working on our folios. We already have our news story and now we need to write the feature article. In your textbook please refer to chapter 17 pages 487 to to 493. These pages will help as a guide to writing a feature article. Your feature article will look something like the one on page 491 which is a double page spread.

The feature article will be 1500 words or 3 times the length of your news article. You may write more than this but you cannot write less.  The feature article can be anything of your choice and contain the following:

• original images – you must use a camera and take photographs
• original story
• interview with quotes
• Formatted in Indesign
• Be targetted to a particular audience

You must keep a log sheet whilst you complete this folio. Log sheets can be found in earlier entries of this blog. You should also use a visual diary to brainstorm your ideas.

You will also include:

• drafts of all your work
• signs of editing
• all interview material

The feature article, news article and a commercial will all be included in your folio. Also, all preparatory work, log sheets, evaluations and examples from your blog. This will form an interactive magazine.  The folio contributes to 50% of your overall mark.

Student Stories

Library Larrikans
brittany
School uniform news article
newsreportassignment
Crazy driving pdf
‘Disability’@2
News Story
srchypocrites
p Platers
ellastory

News Stories

All news stories should be completed by now and ready to be placed into Indesign. There are two tasks to complete.

Go to Sharepoint and navigate to the Media Studies Folder. There is a page called Templates. You will find three Indesign templates on this page. You can use this link  http://intranet.mrc.tas.edu.au/TOPICS/DIVISIONS/MEDIA/Pages/Templates.aspx

Task 1: The first template is for you to arrange your news story in the space provided. You will need to change the font to the assignment specifications distributed to you in class for the news story.  When you have completed this task you are to upload it to your blog. You must upload it as a pdf.

Task 2: Download either template 3 or 4. These templages contain a two page spread. You are to create a newspaper using the media class news stories that other students have written. You will need to go to each students blog and pick out the stories you want to use. Then using the template you will need to find ways to present these stories. This might mean some stories have to be edited to fit the space provided. You might only use 3 or 4 stories or you might use all the student stories.  Since everyone will have uploaded their Indesign pages already you will only have to cut and paste into the new template. How you arrange the stories is up to you.

You will need to complete these tasks by the conclusion of the media class on Friday. Failure to meet deadlines will result in a Z. This means if you haven’t finished your own news story which should have been completed last Friday then you will have to complete it tonight. There are no extensions for this task.

Aggregation

We have been looking at aggregation particlarly how that has affected tv, radio and print in Tasmania. Aggregation has similarities to convergence which has made the concept rather obsolete. However, it raises further issues of foreign ownership, cross media ownership and distribution of media licenses. Below is the link to the essay and media ownership task.
media ownership tasks

Writing for the News

News reporters must answer the who, what, when, where, why and how in an article. This needs to appear in the first couple of paragraphs of a story. The underlying reason for this is the way in which the journalists copy is cut by the sub-editor. Using the inverted pyramid approach means that sub-editors cut from the bottom of the story. Therefore, you do not want all your important information down the bottom. The main points of the story need to be communicated quickly and succinctly hence the attention grabbing headling with the accompanying article going to report the news.

In this next assignment we are going to write our own news article.  The assessment task requires you to choose a topic to write about within the school and to meet the deadline of Friday August 5th.
newsreport