Assignment:
Query Letter, Pitch Letter, and Potential Sources
You will write a query letter to a print publication and a pitch letter to a broadcast station with your specific ideas for the Final Enterprise News Story, which is due at the end of Week Five. You will also generate a list of potential sources that you plan to draw from for the Final Enterprise News Story. You must use the Query-Pitch Letter Template for the completion of this assignment. You should also review the instructions for Final Enterprise News Story for more specific information related to the Final Project.
Topics and Issues
To spark your process of critically thinking about what to write about, you should access print publications as well as broadcast programs about the topic genre of specialized journalism that interests you most throughout the course. In addition to your local media outlets, you should also read and view national publications and broadcasts to broaden your scope of knowledge about what is trending in the genre you chose to write in. The Ashford University Library contains the following newspaper databases that may also be helpful: Newspaper Source Plus, ProQuest Newsstand, and Canadian Newsstand.
Sources of Information
Gathering information from credible sources is a very important aspect of the journalism field. For this reason, you must provide a variety of credible sources that can be verified. For this assignment, you must use the following sources of information:
? At least one face-to-face interview with a person who can lend credible information to your story
? Two statistical or factual pieces of information about the topic or issue
? These sources should come directly from the Ashford University Library. They may be scholarly publications or trade journals that focus specifically on the area.
? Two opposing opinions about the topic or issue derived from CQ Researcher (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
? CQ Researcher is a database that houses a collection of opinion articles from experienced journalists on a variety of topics. Your use of this database is strictly for finding and presenting opposing views on the topics. The views may come from the authors themselves or a report on the viewpoints of others.
The list of potential sources must include the following five sources of information:
? Interview of a source with similar point of view on the topic or issue
? Interview of a source with an opposing point of view on the topic or issue
? One source from a scholarly publication or trade journal from in the Ashford University Library that focuses on the specialized area (sports, business, environment, culture, etc.)
? Two sources from CQ Researcher on the topic or issue
The query and pitch letters must include
? Contact information and a proper greeting.
? A strong lead-in paragraph that is informative and compelling.
? A supporting paragraph.
? An explanation of the unique selling points and how the story fits into a particular portion of the print publication or the broadcast program.
? Previous work or areas of interest on the topic to demonstrate your expertise and credibility.
? A concluding paragraph that summarizes the topic of the letter.