Reviews

In this lesson we focused in writing reviews, starting by looking a some of Roger Ebert's reviews, in particular, his review of the film 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'. We studied this review in great detail, looking at the features, and his writing style.

For this weeks assignment we had to write a review on any media product. I chose to do a review on the TV show, 'The Inbetweeners'. However, we had to write the review for a specific publication so it suited the audience, views and writing styles of that publication. We looked at notes on how to write award winning articles from http://jonathandeamer.com/2007/06/12/how-to-write-great-reviews/ and http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/16/how-to-write-reviews/.

Before doing our review, we had to research the publication that we were writing in the style of; I chose to do my review in the style of 'The Independent' newspaper. When researching for the review I looked back over the past reviews produced by the paper, and studied the styles and vocabulary used.

My review was positively written about the show, giving the impression that the show is very funny. I started by writing an introduction to the review, which set the tone of the review, giving a brief description of the show. Next, I began to go into more detail of the particular episode I was reviewing, then the main body, which walked through the episode giving opinions and small quotes. The review was then concluded with a short piece of information about the show.

I found writing the review not to hard as I followed the notes from the links above and tried to use witty and complex vocabulary, however, it was hard to find the right publication for my review, as most TV reviews are often written in a 'Last Night's TV' style; the publication writes about a couple of programmes, with only a small section dedicated to each show. The brief for the assignment was that it had to be no smaller than 500 words, so I couldn't use these publications, as I was only reviewing one text. Furthermore, when studying review writing, we learnt that you should be ruthless when editing your review; however good a line is, it should only be put in if it helps the overall review. I found this difficult as there was a lot of lines and quotes that I thought were quite good and witty, however, some did not help the overall review, so I found it difficult knowing which lines to cut, and which ones to keep.


Next week we will be focusing on editorials.

Interviews

In the first lesson we focused on interviews, looking at some of the 'Great Interviews of the 20th Century' from http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/series/greatinterviews, including the interview with F. Scott Fitzgerald, by Michel Mok. We read and analysed the interview so we could write an interview in a similar style.

For our first assignment, we had to write an interview in the style of Michel Mok, but it could be with anyone, as long as it was conducted face-to-face or over the phone. I chose to do my interview with my brother, based on unemployment in the current UK recession.


The aim of my interview was to give a positive representation of unemployed; to get their point of view into the public eyes, as often they are shown as scroungers and slobs in the media. I did this by focusing on mainly the negative feature of his environment, this way people would find it easier to empathise.


For the interview I had set out a few pages of questions, which I asked, so I could guarantee I had all the information. However, most of the answers were not used. I started by giving some context to the interview, a brief introduction of his background up till present day, this was so the reader could understand the interview better, making it easier to empathise. Next, I described the environment in which the interview was taking place, trying to describe the negative features in as much detail as possible. The main body of the interview was structured as if my brother was telling the story, instead of a traditional 'Question and Answer' based interview. This is because this is how Michel Mok structured his 'great' interview with F. Scott Fitzgerald. I find it creates a more entertaining interview.


I found writing the interview quite challenging as I have never attempted writing an interview in this style, but now I have done it, I feel it is a more successful style.


Next week we will be focusing on reviews.

Introduction to the Course

The following information is an outline of the course; the content and the assessment.

ABC Level 3 Award in Writing Skills for Journalism

Unit Summary

This award focuses on developing writing skills for journalists. Candidates will explore a range of publications, their house styles and values. Candidates will develop skills in writing for differing readerships, types of publication and story.

Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

The candidates should be able to demonstrate they can:

1. Identify and evaluate a range of publications and their respective house styles

2. Write in a variety of styles appropriate to differing readerships

3. Select and use a style of journalism appropriate to a given story

4. Evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses in journalistic writing

Content

An indication of typical areas of learning includes:

· Newspapers and magazines: news and features, readerships, timelines, news values, advertisers

· House styles: identifying house styles and following that house style

· Writing for differing readerships: tabloids, broadsheets, consumer magazines, periodicals

· Styles and stories: news, features, tragedy, politics, entertainment

· Career opportunities: further training, professional development

Assessment Evidence

· A portfolio of stories written for a variety of readerships in a variety of styles

· Reflective diary evaluating personal progress