Assignment

Overview

For our first assignment this semester, you are going to do some detective work. You will need to uncover and analyze the most recent and current news related to your topic. This will help you establish some background knowledge on your topic, as well as help you determine why right nowis a crucial moment in history to discuss your chosen issue.

In short, you want to address the following question:

What is the latest news the mainstream media is reporting on your topic?

Using at least three newspaper articles or public radio stories, respond to the latest update on your topic (the source material should be less than a month or two old-the more recent the better). Spend part of your draft synthesizing and explaining what the current news is and the other part explaining what it means/why it matters.

For this assignment, you must choose a credible news source, either a major city's newspaper (e.g. The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times) and/or a major public radio station (e.g. KQED, NPR). Do not use a television news station as their reporting tends to be more sensational and less in-depth. Drafts that do not follow these requirements will not pass and will need to be rewritten. In the rare case that your topic is not covered in the U.S. mainstream media, you will need to research the relevant and current news source in the appropriate location.

Citations

You should use hyperlinks to cite any of your sources. You may also optionally include a reference list in APA or MLA format at the end of your draft.