Practical: This week, it’s time to reflect on your assessment and make adjustments to it as required based on some of the information you have learned.
a. Review your items for Assessment 1 which is due at the end of this week and correct any spelling, style, and punctuation errors.
Assessment one felt a little daunting to begin with, however I quickly became intrigued by the content. I personally know several people within the journalism industry; so I began reading their articles and following them on Twitter. I then applied this learning with my newly found knowledge obtained from the textbook, weekly readings and the quizzes into assessment one to bring out my inner journalist.
b. Now review Assessment 1 items against the Marking Key checklist linked to the Resources section on this website. On your blog, reflect on this experience – Did you pick up all issues on your first proofread? Were there many? Do you think you corrected them all? Was it helpful having a checklist? Do you think it will make a difference to your overall result?
I constantly ‘polish’ my work, therefore, there were little issues in the initial proof read. Once I felt I had completed the assignment, which was a few days prior to the submission date, I took that time to focus my attention on other assignments so I could return with a fresh mind for the final proof read.
The checklist was very helpful as it’s good to be aware of what the marker is looking for and what is required if you want to get that higher mark. The mark I graded myself was somewhat high, however I feel it was a deserving grade for the quality of work provided. I look forward to receiving the result from my lecturer; hopefully it will be a similar grade.
Inquiry: Visit the website of the IUCN-SSC Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) at http://www.iucncsg.org/ and review a newsletter.
Figure 1: Crocodile Source: Tom Dacey, Facebook, viewed 2 September 2015, https://www.facebook.com/220994674660797/photos/a.258002590960005.59678.220994674660797/502608646499397/?type=1&theater
Locating the newsletter publications link within this website was a challenge in itself. Regardless of the improper layout, I selected what appeared to be the most recent newsletter, volume 34 No.2 April-June 2015. It is evident that these newsletters are released every three months.
i. What kinds of stories are in the newsletter?
This newsletter consisted of 44 pages in total and covered an abundance of stories that appeared to flow from one to the other. The information was difficult to navigate and the content was overwhelming to read. The use of images were definitely needed, however, I found the captions written underneath the photographs to be a sufficient amount of information to grasp the content being presented. Furthermore several stories such as activities promoting education to children, partnerships and sponsors, workshops, group meetings were scattered throughout the document. There didn’t appear to be categorisation, therefore, became very overwhelming to the reader.
ii. How do these target the organisation’s audience?
The organisation has targeted the content towards an audience that are passionate or interested in crocodiles. The mistake is that the specific content relates to a variety of audiences within this particular topic. Parents may find educational activities to be a great opportunity to engage their children with awareness of crocodiles; however, the content is buried within piles of information. The two men who had recently passed is important to a variety of audiences within the organisation, it is even more important to know they passed of non-related crocodile incidents to members of the general public. This company is not adhering to a particular audience with their lack of direction; therefore, this is not an effective newsletter.
iii. If you were a science journalist, is there anything you may be interested in following up as a story, and why?
The majority of stories presented in this newsletter are well-written and present factual information that could be of interest to a science journalist following up a story, as the information presented is engaged around crocodiles, which is the main focus of this organisation. The information is referenced, which would enable the journalist to contact further resources.
iv. What do you think is effective or otherwise about this newsletter?
There is very little about the content of this newsletter that makes it effective. The company should consider re-evaluating the appearance of its newsletter. These may be simple changes, such as increasing the number of images and therefore minimising the quantity of text. They may also like to consider publishing a newsletter monthly instead to balance the volume of content.
References
Crocodile Specialist Group 2015, Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter, viewed 2 September 2015, http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/34(2-a5b9578f.pdf
COMM11007 - Media writing 