Assignment details:
Following our lectures and discussions in class, write an editorial on any one of the following topics. Please note that you mustn't refer to these articles per se, but rather to the facts they describe.
You must conduct your own additional research.
1) Amazon to open newful4llment centre in Ottawa
2) Californian courts replace cash bail with algorithm
Your article will be aimed at being published in a newspaper.
See the following examples of editorials on topics related to the media:
1. This one relies on several pieces of research: "Internet should be a?ordable for everyone: Editorial"
2. "Settle Toronto's Uber-mess before someone gets hurt: Editorial"
3. "The Guardian view on Wikipedia: evolving truth"
The aim of this assignment is to test your ability to develop a clear argument and convey that argument effectively to a general audience. You should use the news that you choose to build a clear argument about the political or social signi4cance of a media-related phenomenon. Imagine to be a pundit (political commentator) or an expert (media studies scholar) who has been asked by a newspaper to comment on something that is happening in the 4eld of digital technologies. You are thus free to develop any kind of argument as long as you do it in the style of an op-ed. You should focus on media- and tech-related ideas rather than, for example, just broader political issues.
You can but do not need to explicitly refer to the literature or theories discussed in class or other media and technology studies research (see below). Yet this must be in the background, informing your ability to address the issue at stake within a meaningful and coherent framework. For example, you may address the news from the viewpoint of the evolution of the digital public sphere, or the political relevance of algorithms, etc.
Requirements:
- 1,000 words (+/- 10%)
- Include a headline (title) and your name
- Must be written in the tone and style of an op-ed
- Must clearly refer to the chosen news and explain its core elements in order to guide the reader.
- Must make a clear and concise argument, or make a recommendation or suggestion of how to address the issue you're writing about, or hint at its possible evolution, etc.
- Acknowledge di?erent perspectives in the debate
- Must be aimed at a general public of and therefore shaped as if to be published by a newspaper
- Following the style of an op-ed, you are not required to cite research within the text of your op- ed. This means that you must write the op-ed entirely in your own words, with no citations. If you are drawing on research, reports, events, etc., you must explain that research, report, event, etc. in your own words and describe the reference within your main text. No formal references.