Laney College, English 1A, Fall 2015, Weidenbach
Essay Tw: Information Media Outlet Rx
Formal Essay #2: Information Media Outlet Rx
* Essay draft due (three print copies, substantial) Monday, Nov. 23rd.
* Essay due Wed, Nov. 25 or Mon, Nov. 30
The mission: Recommend a journalistic information-media outlet to people looking for
quality journalism that offers engaging, relevant content and an informative, empowering
return on their time investment.
Design your essay as you think best, but be sure to cover the following ground, which will be
used for grading rubric:
1—Describe/summarize the outlet, mentioning
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which medium/media the outlet employs
what content it selects, and what content it emphasizes
how to find it—using in-text citations as well as a Works Cited entry
2—Evaluate the outlet using the SPJ Code of Ethics as your standard for journalistic quality.
Describe any bias(es) you detect, and how professionally ethical the outlet seems to you. Feel
free to use comparison with other well-known outlets.
3—Also evaluate the outlet in terms of its content, its relevance, and its overall value; is it
worth people’s time to check it out? Why? (They Say/I Say might be useful here, and/or in parts
2 and 4.)
4—Include at least one clearly described example of this outlet’s content: one article, one
segment, or one passage (using time-stamps for audio or video texts) to point to specific
content; and evaluate that specific content example. –This example text will require its own
separate citation, so be sure to include it.
5—Optional: Say anything else you care to say about the info-media sphere and your
relationship with it. And if your opening descriptive paragraph doesn’t introduce the outlet
or your essay well enough, revise it so it does, or write a separate introduction paragraph.
Suggested length: 3 - 4 pages – but QUALITY trumps quantity every time!
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* Please see notes about CITATIONS on the reverse side of this page! 
Laney College, English 1A, Fall 2015, Weidenbach
Essay Tw: Information Media Outlet Rx
In-text Citations and list of Works Cited
* Be sure to name all texts with appropriate in-text citations. (Minimum: Your outlet and the
SPJ.)
* Be sure to build a list of Works Cited at the end of the essay. –If you can fit the whole list on
the last page, go ahead; if not, please start with a fresh page. (Reminder: This list completes the
in-text citations.)
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Start with this heading, centered on the page: Works Cited
Entries should be alphabetized according to the first letter of the entry.
Each entry should include what the MLA asks for. The SPJ Code’s citation should look
like this:
Society of Professional Journalists. Code of Ethics. Spj.org. September 6, 2014. March 10, 2015.
Web.
Reminder: Citations should include information of the following nature, separated by periods:
Who. What. Where. When. When for you. What form/medium.
Who is responsible for the content? What title(s) identify the text? Where did/does it appear?
When was it published, or when did it happen? When did you access it? What 2: What’s the
form/medium?