MECM10006 Introduction to Media Writing

Write an opinion piece on a current news issue of your choice.

• Current means that the issue or event you comment on must be relevant to the period from September 1, 2020 until your submission. This includes not only isolated events that might have occurred since September 1, but, for example, a series of events (trends) or issues that began long ago and have special newsworthiness at the moment, e.g. risingmental health problems among school students since the start of COVID.

• Topic: any current news issue is allowed. You may want to write an op-ed in response toa recently published news article or comment on an observation that you made, e.g. younotice a lot of litter on your daily walks in the park and you address the issue of waste intoday’s society (see for example Coward 2018 ). Remember: The op-ed derives its namefrom originally having appeared opposite the editorial page in a newspaper. Today, it ismore widely seen as a column that shares the strong, informed, and focused opinion ofthe writer on an issue of relevance to a targeted audience. NO soft (celebrity) news!

• Target publication: Please aim your op-ed at an online publication or website andindicate which publication you have chosen, e.g. Target publication: XYZ. Thisinformation is not part of the word count. No tabloids – no soft news!Do your research. Find out which publications include similar pieces of writing and matchyour piece to their target readership.If you have any queries about potential publications, please speak with your tutor.• Pitch: You also need to write a pitch for your op-ed (see Pitches & Tweets assignment)