PRACTICAL: Plan your stories for assessment 2

I have chosen a charity event and a public exhibition as the subject of the assessment 2 stories. Both events are being held in Cairns during August as inaugural events and spawning a great deal of public interest.

1. Vinnies corporate and community sleepout

The innaugaral Cairns Vinnies Coporate and Community Sleepout will raise vital funds in support of the 2000 homeless people in Cairns. St Vincent de Paul are behind the initiative that will see participants brave the elements and sleep rough for one night.

The event is held on the night of the 12^th August, and will be attended by a diverse group of corporate and community figures.  Cairns Mayor, Bob Manning is an advocate of the event and will be in attendance.

(The Cairns Post, 2016)

The Plan: The plan is to attend the event and select a high profile group of people or public figure,  like Mayor Bob Manning to interview.

I will report on the inspiration for this group / person attending the event in assisting to raise awareness of the plight of the estimated 100, 000 homeless in Australia.

2. Spirit of Anzac Centenary Exhibition

Cairns is one of only five Queensland towns to host the acclaimed Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience, part of the Australian Governments Anzac Centenary program.

The Virtual Immersive Experience is an exhibition of artefacts, still photos and videos of Australia’s involvement in the wars, conflicts and peace keeping operations from World War 1 to present.

The multi-million-dollar exhibition is a state of the art virtual tour of Australian’s at war, providing an immersive experience that reveals the courage and sacrifice of Australians soldiers through time.

(The Spirit of Anzac – Australian Government 2016)

The Plan:  This exhibition is run between the 14^th to 20^th August and is open to the public.  I will attend the event and identify a family with up to three generations present.  I will interview, quote and photograph the of each generation to understand and report their motive, perspective and experience from the exhibition.

Reference

The Cairns Post, 2016. The Cairns Post – News. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/cairns-mayor-bob-manning-challenges-his-colleagues-ahead-of-charity-sleepout-event/news-story/5046b169a3f85ddbf2867ef4723a88fd
[Accessed 29 July 2016].

Spirit of Anzac – Australian Government, 2016. Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience – What to Expect. [Online]
Available at: http://www.spiritofanzac.gov.au
[Accessed 29 July 2016].

Kate Ames’- Why You Need a Plan:

Kate Ames in for video ‘why you need a plan’, explains the importance of planning for the successful reporting of an event.  Kate explains the three key points to build into the plan

1 Time Flies –have a plan of what you need to do when you need to do it.

2 Source the Event Schedule – have a plan for the main programmed events that you wish to report on.

3 Ask for Accreditation – ensure you have permission or accreditation from the event organisers / appropriate person to attend and report.

INQUIRY: Find a Short Media Story …

‘AQUIS: CITY’S NEXT MOVE’ was the front page headline of today’s Cairns Weekend Post.

After three years, the multi-billion-dollar resort and casino development is in limbo and it’s now time for Cairns to move on. (Bateman, 2016)

The article written by Daniel Bateman, is challenging a paradigm of hopeful thinking that has surrounded the project since it’s announcement in 2013. Bateman (2016) suggests that “several civic leaders”  recommend that it time to focus and support other projects for the region.

The lead sentence reads;  This week marks the third anniversary since a proposal for the Aquis mega-resort and casino was formally submitted to the Queensland Government, and it is still unknown wether the multi-billion-dollar development is going ahead. 

• What: The Aquis mega resort and casino.

• Where: FNQ – Cairns and specifically Yorkey’s Knob (beach front suburb of Cairns).

• When: Three years ago this week

• Why: The project is in limbo “stuck in the pipeline’ of the Queensland Government’s approval processes

• Who: Cairns Mayor, Bob Manning.

• How:  Carin’s Mayor, Bob Manning is meeting with Aquis proponents this week to determine how to play their hand while still fighting for the casino.

This is a story of interest for the Cairn’s community. For years the hopes for economic development and progress have been pinned on the success of the project’s approval.

At 4pm today the ‘Aquis: City’s Next Move’ article could not be found on-line at http://www.cairnspost.com.au.  It seems News Limited online took journalist Daniel Bateman’s advice and have literally moved on.

Reference:

Bateman, D., 2016. AQUIS: CITY’S NEXT MOVE. Cairns Weekend Post, 30 July, p. 1 & 6.

TECHNICAL: Complete Quiz 3 – Grammar …

a) Chapter 4 of Hicks, English for Journalists is complete.

b) Quiz is complete and 100% achieved on the second attempt.  This was a challenging quiz and proved to be a lengthy process of text book review prior to answering.

I have not been asked to review and consider the elements of writing grammar since high school, which was a long time ago.  Challenging and enlightening.

Reflection:

This weeks blog provided the opportunity to discover how an article is created using the theories outlined in this weeks study guide.  The structural frame of who, what, when, where, who and how in writing is also the frame of questioning.

This will provide to be an important understanding was we plan and prepare for assignment 2.