Learning to cook to reduce obesity—Write your five questions journalists can ask in dot point form.
The topics have been selected from news items, or research. That means they involve real issues so that you and the journalism students can research them in depth. Some details in the topics (such as dates and context) have been adapted for the purposes of our assignment. Information about each topic is readily available, most often on websites – organisational, parliamentary libraries, news sites – and in newspapers, and on radio and television programs. Most organisational names in the briefs are fictitious, as are the names of all people. The briefs indicate when an organisation is real or fictitious.
Thoroughly research your topic. The information about issues that are raised in your brief can be expanded by further research. Think more broadly than the specific issue raised in your brief; use more than one source for your research.
Topic 4: Learning to cook to reduce obesity
Obesity is a growing, major problem in Western society. The national doctors’ group, the Australian Medical Association, is urging people to learn to cook as a way of overcoming obesity (a real news report).
Your organisation, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC – a real organisation) has decided to support the AMA’s call for people, to learn to cook. It has policies related to healthy eating and believes that supporting the AMA will demonstrate the grocery industry’s commitment to the promotion of healthy lifestyles.
The (fictitious) CEO, Wendy Coles, wants you to write a media release announcing AFGC’s support for the AMA initiative and the introduction of an ‘Approved Healthy Alternative’ (fictitious) logo for display on supermarket and other grocery outlet shelves. Ms Coles wants you to stress the AFGC’s existing views on healthy food alternatives, obesity and diabetes prevention, and active lifestyles.
PART A
Issue: Identify the issue here in one, brief statement (eg: The impact of rain on football)
Background
This section should be a narrative. Remember, you are writing to the Boss to convince them to appear on television to talk about an important issue facing the organisation. Follow the assignment instructions by
• Summarising the issue (4-5 sentences)
• Explaining why the issue is important to the organisation (4-5 sentences)
• Outlining what the organisation’s approach to the issue should be (4-5 sentences). That is, what should its public stance be on this issue? Why?
• Justifying why the CEO should be the sole public spokesperson on this issue (2-3 sentences)
Use these headings:
1. Summary of the issue
2. Importance of the issue to (insert your organisation’s name)
3. Recommended public stance
4. The CEO’s role in addressing this issue
Recommended TV journalists to interview the CEO
List the 6 TV reporters you selected as people who should be invited to interview the CEO. Remember, the journalists need to be appropriate.
CEO’s talking points
List 10 talking points the CEO should use in the TV interview to address the issue (Dot points are fine: 1 sentence for each point)
FOR PART B – DUE IN WEEK 11:
Write your five questions in dot point form
Assignment briefs
The case briefs are hypothetical situations but they ARE based on real issues. They are designed to extend your research capacity, to understand the situation, and to test your ability to produce a meaningful media release/CEO brief. They are also set to enable the journalism students who will interview PR students to do some decent research and prepare an equally decent interview. If you delve deeply enough, your research will find clues to each of the situations in the briefs. The task is to make sure you know about every aspect of your topic so that you can get through a 5-minute interview without being caught out. For example, the thought that a second Sydney airport might mean a change to the curfew for Kingsford Smith is grounded in the aviation industry’s push to relax the curfew over many, many years, a move historically opposed, sometimes vehemently, by councils surrounding the airport. How would a decent journalist approach this issue? That’s what everyone with this topic needs to think through.
Part B of your assignment should have a cover sheet which:
• Is clearly marked ‘University assignment only’
• Includes your tutor’s name
• Includes your contact details on the front cover.
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