portfolio of media writing

Develop a portfolio of media writing. Total word count 2,500 words (+/-10%). The portfolio must consist of four pieces of varying lengths and must comprise a range of commercial and alternative media forms Portfolio • How do I submit the draft writing portfolio? Submit all four writing pieces within 1 word document using the VITAL link provided. Start a new page for each piece. At the top of each piece, clearly state the client/brief. Then state your headline followed by the writing itself and any images/photos. At the end of each piece state the word count for that piece. At the end of the four pieces, state the total word count. This should be 2,500 words +/- 10%, so no less than 2,250 and no more than 2,750 words. Academic references are not at all expected within this assessment, but if you do happen to include any, these are excluded from the word count. • Does presentation matter? Presentation is always important. In terms of design features such as layout, columns, typeface/font, size of headline etc. you may present your work however you wish. You may wish to replicate the design features of the publication you are targeting. This would help you demonstrate learning regarding portfolio criteria 3, produce media writing pieces which are highly appropriate to the sector (commercial/ alternative/community) and platform in both topic and style. Include images/photos if you can because this can help engage readers and bring your writing to life. Always credit the photographer – include a text box saying “Photo credit: [name]” under a photo or “Image credit: [name]” under an image eg. illustration, drawing. If you took the photo or created the illustration yourself, credit yourself! If you don’t, both the university and any potential client/publisher won’t understand who owns the copyright of the image and thus won’t be able to publish it. This is essential for all pieces, even if you have no intention of submitting it for publication, since this demonstrates basic legal compliance. For draft submissions please submit in word document format. You will not be getting marked on these so if the formatting/arrangements of photos/spacing etc. changes slightly during the submission process it will not affect any mark. For the final portfolio submission you may upload your portfolio in pdf format to ensure that the formatting you put in place remains ‘fixed’ and does not change across different word versions or through the VITAL submission process. Switch on to Business • Does the article for Switch on to Business have to be about a business, or can it be about business in general? Like a change in business practice, technology etc. This article may be about a specific business or about business in general. • Switch on to Business – what does it mean by engaging content? By ‘engaging content’ we mean writing which engages the reader. So make your writing interesting, lively, conversational, easy and enjoyable to read. All of your writing for all of your pieces should be aiming to be engaging. What we do NOT want for any media writing pieces is dry, overly formal, technical, academic writing. You should be able to read your writing aloud easily, as if you were talking to a friend. Avoid long sentences which lose the reader, and unnecessarily long words which exclude some readers. Check the week 1 slides, especially the ABCs – accuracy, brevity, clarity. You should be aiming for a reading age of a young person around 14-17 years old. Paste a sample of your draft into a reading age calculator such as SMOG http://www.learningandwork.org.uk/SMOG-calculator/smogcalc.php to check how accessible your writing is. There is further guidance on making your writing clear and interpreting your MSOG score here http://www.learningandwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Readability.pdf • Could I approach a local restaurant owner (eg. Bold St) for Switch onto Business? Yes, absolutely. This is a regional magazine, so businesses, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs or sports/arts/lifestyle stories from across the wider Liverpool City Region, Merseyside and Cheshire would all be relevant. Also any individuals from the area who have now moved outside the region and are doing interesting things elsewhere in the country/world would also be relevant to this publication/readership. • Would a local Liverpool band be eligible for the type of writing for the future talent magazine? Yes, absolutely – see above. Liverpool World Centre • In terms of counter-narrative, do I need to put any links at the very ends of the article if I cite some data? Yes. If you are producing a blog post for the LWC website then you can include hyperlinks within the text. If you are producing a piece of writing to be used as a printed learning resource you can include references using the Harvard format at the end of the piece, these do not necessarily have to be academic references, you can use the Harvard format to reference websites, TV programmes, newspaper articles etc. These would be outside the word count. • Should the blog be written for online content, can I use hyperlinks? Yes, if you are producing blog posts for any client you should be including hyperlinks to encourage interactivity as well as demonstrating personality and brevity. • Does counter-argument essay need to be a political/religious topic? Firstly, this is a counter-narrative blog post or learning resource, not an academic essay. It should be focused on challenging or undermining an extremist ideology, so it does not necessarily need to be political or religious, but most probably will be. If you are unclear on whether your topic idea is suitable for this task, please contact the client Karen Wynne who is a specialist in this area. Scottie Press brief • Can I write about a business in South Liverpool for the hyperlocal brief? No. A business in South Liverpool would work for the Switch on to Business/Future Talent brief, but Scottie Press pieces need to be focused on North Liverpool. • Where is North Liverpool? Good question. There is no clear, formal boundary, but as a rough guide, North Liverpool includes the areas of Vauxhall, Kirkdale, Everton and Anfield. It is roughly bordered by Liverpool city centre in the south (the A5053 and Islington) and Queen’s Drive (the A5058) to the north and east. • What does ‘making links’ mean? This means that good pieces here will make connections between the story topic and the lives of your readers, the North Liverpool community. So for example, if you choose to do an interview, you should explain to the reader within the piece how this person is relevant and interesting to read about. So for example, in the introduction to the Jimmy McGovern interview, the author explains who Jimmy McGovern is (a TV writer), and explains some of his most well-known or locally-relevant TV shows (Brookside, Hillsborough etc.) so readers understand why this might be an interesting article to read. If you are writing a heritage story, you could choose a particular place, person or organisation that was important in the area in the past, and explore what has happened to them, where are they now, what is in that place now. Or take somebody/organisation/place in the community that is important or interesting now, and look back into history to see how it came to be important/interesting now. Ellipsis brief • The link to the style guide link doesn’t work Ok I will ask the client/editor about this.