Laney College, English 201A&B, fall 2012, Weidenbach
Formal Essay One: “News Media and Me”
Typed draft due: Mon, Sept. 10
Essay due: Wed, Sept. 12
Here is the overall mission:
Write an essay about your relationship with U.S. news media as it pertains to your real interests.
Please construct your essay in the four parts explained below. The questions are questions to
CONSIDER, and possibly respond to, if they pertain to you:
Part 1: Describe/Explain your current relationship with information media.
--What value do you place on news information?
--What medium/media (forms) do you prefer?
--How much news do you take in?
--What topics/subjects/sections do you pay attention to, and why?
--What media outlets (brands, networks, specific voices) do you prefer?
--Has your relationship changed over time? If so, explain how or why.
Part 2: Write about your understanding of published standards of journalism, such as the Society
for Professional Journalism’s Code of Ethics.
--Do the standards of journalism make sense to you?
--How well do you think the U.S. news media are living up to the standards?
--Give specific examples of media outlets meeting the standards, and/or not meeting them.
Part 3: Observe and then critique two or three of the outlets listed on the “Media Links”
webpage—being sure to name the outlets and examples you are critiquing.
--Consider how the information at this/these link(s) challenges or changes your view of news media.
--If these outlets are new to you, do you think you will engage more with them in the future?
Part 4: Conclusion: Write about your new current relationship with news media.
--What has come up in our reading, observing, lectures and discussion that might change the way you
think of news media?
--What else influences the way you choose and receive information in the U.S. media sphere?
--What can you do, personally, in order to get the best information possible?
--What recommendation(s) would you make to people involved in reporting, discussing, and/or
taking in news media information?
Suggested length: 2 pages, typed, 1.5-spaced, using 11- or 12-point font. (For formatting, please see
the Document “Essay Format/Template” in the Documents page of the course website.)
In the drafting process, consider building one strong paragraph for each of the four parts, even if the
paragraphs are very different in length—but be willing to break them into more than one paragraph
as needed, like maybe a separate paragraph about each specific media outlet you critique for Part 3.
(That would build an essay of 5-6 paragraphs.)
Last piece of advice: Be YOU. Be REAL. Be GENUINE. This approach will generate a finished product
that is genuine, meaningful, and relatively easy to build!
www.laney.edu/wp/chris-weidenbach/english-201-a-b/
cweidenbach@peralta.edu