You can choose to write a 5-7 page paper OR do a video report (3 – 5 minutes):
This is a profile of an ethnic or niche-demographic publication of your choosing. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate that you’ve mastered the primary goal of this course: understanding the role and purpose ethnic media serves for its readers and understanding the ways in which race, class, ethnicity, immigration status, gender or other identity points shape how a reporter sees the world and therefore tells a story.
To demonstrate that you’ve mastered these ideas, you will monitor a publication throughout October and November, reading is articles, following it on social media, comparing how it covers stories with how a “mainstream” publication covers the same stories.
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The information that you will be covering in either of those options includes:
Identify the publication you are writing about.
Explain who its readers/listeners/viewers are (what specific population does it serve).
Explain why this population needed media dedicated to it. How significant a portion of the NY
population is this community?
Tell the history of the publication: When was it founded? By whom? Did a particular incident prompt its
founding? Who is the editor? What do they see as their role in their community?
Why do they think the publication is important, what do they see as the publications value to the
community?
What is its circulation, budget and staff size? Is it read/listened to/watched only locally or also
nationally/internationally?
What distinct voice does this publication bring to its coverage?
Compare in detail this publications coverage of two or three stories that also appeared in “mainstream”
outlets. How did this publication cover them differently? What did that difference reveal? How did it
serve to exercise the function of the publication as a convener of community or identity?
Does it interact with other publications that serve a similar community?
Talk to readers/listeners/viewers of this publication. Why do they read it?
What role does it play for them in establishing a political/social/ethnic/racial/etc consciousness? Do
readers/listeners/viewers interact with the publication though call-ins or comments?
What are two or three topics this publication consistently follows? How has this publication adapted to
or benefited from (or been challenged by) digitization?
Does it have a robust social media presence? If not, why not?
The paper and/or video should be written in a narrative form, showing that you have digested and processed your research and can retell it in an integrated and smoothly-written style. Your goal here is to be the expert on this publication, a person who can speak authoritatively on the publication and its role in interpreting the world for its readers/listeners/viewers and its role in establishing a sense of communal identity.
Try to get in contact with the publication if you can. Tell them you are a student doing a project about their publication. Have a list of questions ready. Make sure you do this early, as they often take a while to return Messages
The full instructions will be attached below!
The publication Im choosing is Daily Sun New York
