I don’t have anything in mind, I would like to know your thoughts around the topic you are choosing before you write about it.

This assignment is an academic essay in which you will choose either one media outlet, one journalistic beat or one specific journalist or group of journalists. Your piece will chronicle the challenges and opportunities of your chosen object of study in the context of the digital age. As we have seen this term, the effect the internet has had on journalism cannot be overstated, be it in the business of journalism; the different forms it takes; the breakdown in traditional hierarchies of knowledge; the democratization of production due to new technologies; the platforms upon which information is disseminated. This essay will focus on how that digital revolution has affected that one outlet/journalist/beat – or not, if you want to showcase an anomaly.

This exercise should go beyond the descriptive: you are expected to propose an argument about your object of study in the context of the digital age. This will require you to map your object of study onto a wider context of discussion on the media in the digital age. You will also need to show that you have engaged with the debates and theories we have covered in class about journalism in the digital age and use theories to back up your arguments.
You will have already had one exercise in class to introduce you to this assignment in which you would have chosen a subject, briefly researched it and given a presentation. This was meant as a taster to get you thinking about approaching media in a critical way.

Evaluating assignment
The essay should not merely describe but propose an argument about your study.
The essay should be well structured in order to present your points clearly.
You should write in a clear style.
You should show a clear line of argument backed up by case studies and scholarship.
You should show that you have researched your work with a solid bibliography.
Argument, structure, writing, critical engagement, reference to practice (case studies and scholarship)