Prepare: For all of your publications, you will be writing for Ashford University students. That means that you will need to understand the makeup of the University. Review the Institutional Data for Student Enrollment. At the bottom of the chart, you can explore our audience by clicking the various categories under "Filter." This data will only tell you who the audience is. To find out more about the news habits of various groups, review the resources on the American Press Institute's website. After you have reviewed this information, read Chapter 3: Audience Power and Chapter 9: From Consumer to Producer in Managing Today's News Media: Audience First.

Reflect: After reviewing the characteristics of your audience and reading Chapters 3 and 9, reflect on the changing roles and responsibilities of media in society.

Consider the following questions:

How has the "two-way" conversation changed the roles and responsibilities of the news media?

How does the consumers' ability to generate news media content impact the roles and responsibilities of mainstream news media?

Write: After reading and reflecting on the roles and responsibilities of the media, write a 250-word post that addresses the questions you reflected on. In your post, be sure to relate your position back to the audience that you have the responsibility of serving in creating your news media publications for this course. In your initial post, you must include at least one in-text citation from the reading material and an additional in-text citation from a scholarly source that you locate in the Ashford University Library or from another credible source. At the end of your post, include your name and a full reference for all sources cited in the body of your post. All citations and references must adhere to APA style guidelines as outlined.

Respond to Peers: After you have written your initial post, read the posts of your peers and respond to at least three of them. Be sure to identify at least one point in each argument with which you agree and at least one point with which you disagree. Your responses should address them by name, be between 100 and 150 words in length, and include your name at the end.