P4 - Article plan

Is Deyes ready for the cheat watch?

I will be writing my newspaper regarding whether Deyes high are ready for the new cheat watches that have recently surfaced on websites such as eBay and Amazon. I will be using key news values in my article to ensure that the article covers every angle needed to get the best story.

I will be using a few of Galtang and Ruge’s nine bullet points in the story;

-              Ordinary people (human interest)

-              Continuity

-              Rarity

-              Closeness to home (proximity)

The human interest point will be used in my article as it is an interesting topic which could cause controversy and could cause disapproval. Secondly continuity will be used in my article as the story could be an ongoing saga that could go into the ways (if any) that Deyes high are preventing the use of cheat watches. Thirdly, I will use rarity in the article to convey the unlikeliness of this happening and how it has vastly entered the market and what the school are doing about this to prevent this. Lastly, proximity. This value will be used in my article as it relates to local people whether that is students, teachers, invigilator or even parents. I will use images of the cheat watches and ask question to the head of sixth form, invigilator and students to get their angle on the situation.

 

In my article I will use specific language techniques to ensure that the school is not seen to be stereotyping the pupils as cheats and not labelling the school as incompetent and not prepared. I will balance out my article and show different angles of the discussion from a variety of people that are involved with the school. Every time I consider a point favouring whether or not Deyes high are ready, I will balance it out with an argument to ensure the article is not biased towards a specific argument.

Research methods

In my article I will use a variety of primary research methods to collect information regarding the overall topic of cheat watches. I am planning on conducting a questionnaire which I will distribute to teachers and students with questions regarding the cheat watch, whether people are aware of this product and if so have they ever used one or witnessed someone using one. I will also conduct interviews with three students, the head of sixth form and a couple of invigilators.