UNIT 7: Journalism and the News Industry : June 2019

LO4: IPSO AND W3C regulation

In writing my article I was very mindful of IPSO and W3C regulatory bodies, alike many other medias, journalism has to be mediated by regulatory bodies to ensure that all content is suitable for readers.
IPSO is the main regulatory body for journalism, they have an editors code that I took into account whilst writing my article, this means that no information written can be harmful or offensive, this I didn't find a major problem whilst writing my article due to the subject not being very controversial in terms of people involved and its a problem that affects everyone no matter what race, colour or ethnicity.

Alongside making sure that the content of the article wasn't offensive or harmful I also had to look at making sure that all secondary sources that were used were cross reference and were checked to make sure that the information was valid, this was incredibly important to make sure that I want misleading in my article.
This is especially important when speaking about major companies, in my article I touched on supermarkets, this meant that I had to have very secure data to ensure that I wasn't causing libel against any of these companies.

Due to technical convergence, many major news outlets now have online websites where the majority of their articles are posted this means that my article would probably be posted on an online source rather than printed therefore I would also have to look at W3C as a regulatory board due to them regulating online content.
To follow W3C's guidelines I would have to ensure that it was accessible for a range of audiences e.g I had translations available for people of different nationalities and that I had a range of formats for it to reviewed in to enable people who perhaps had impaired sight or difficulty reading could access the article.

LO4: Mode of adress and structure

The article that I have written has the purpose to inform, the article is very descriptive and gives lots of facts and statistics that allow the article to be informative to the reader. Along with having the purpose to inform its also educational due to the ending paragraph I have included techniques for the reader to help reduce plastic consumption and what they can do to stop fuelling the global problem and make them aware of the full problem.

I have created the article to have the mode of address of peer to peer, this I thought would be the best way to convey the information without seeming condescending as if I had perhaps written it in a teacher to student or parent to child mode, this is also due to my older target audience who are used to reading pieces in a peer to peer mode due to this being the most common mode used by news outlets such as The Telegraph and The Independent.

My target audience is male and female aged 12-45, this is a very mass audience, I have targeted the younger spectrum of the ages by touching on the younger generation striking and protesting for the environment this allowed me to engage that target audience due to the relevancy to their age and the current headline story. This will enable the younger proportion to relate to the article even if they didn't personally strike they will have heard of the movement, this target audience is also very targeted due to them being very effected by the problem in later life therefore its important that they know the statistics and are very involved in looking for solutions.

I have discussed heavily the damage supermarkets are causing and how they are one of the major providers for single use plastic, this I think will be extremely relevant and will relate with the majority of the target audience due to it being a task done if you live independently or are the paternal roles in your household, this will allow a mass proportion of the target audience to be related to the content and understand how they can improve and evolve around the problem.

I am also aiming for an ABC1 audience this I am doing by encoding the article with specific language and ensuring that the syntax and grammar is more complex to connote the higher social grade.
The ABC1 audience is targeted specifically due to buying sustainable and environmentally friendly food and products is slightly more expensive this meaning that by aiming for an audience with more disposable income more of the audience will see the change as positive because the slight raise in price isn't as impactful for them.
I have included several direct address questions and statements this is important to include as it engages the reader and allows them to feel as if the article is written speaking to them face to face this is especially important to include in an article informing on such a problem as global warming as it allows the reader to really process that they are part of the problem and the problems that they are causing for generations to come.

Alongside direct address I have also frequently placed rhetorical questions, this technique produces a very similar call to action like the direct address due to the reader thinking about their actions and thinking what they can do to help this problem.

The tone of the article is slightly acerbic and biting, this tone comes from the harsh topic of single use plastic, the problem of the overuse of plastic is human fault this means that to break through to the reader and to show them the damage that is being caused the harsh tone is needed to demonstrate the change that needs to be made to ensure that this problem can be resolved if change is implemented immediately.

The tone of the article does change however as closer to the end the article turns reflective as we see and acknowledge the problem and this is where the article gives ideas on how to improve and change to not fuel the problem.

LO4: Write and edit an article

Draft 1

The world is drowning in plastic, marine life getting maimed and suffocated by the day, landfills overspilling into the ocean, plastic reaching 450 years before starting to decompose.

How many items of single use plastic are in your home? That is the question posed and measured on the ‘War against Plastic” a BBC documentary presented by Hugh Fernly- Whittingstall. By asking homeowners to remove all the single use plastic from their homes and lay it out to be counted - they estimated the amount of single use plastic to total 19.5 billion in UK homes currently.

So, what is single use plastic? Single use plastic is designed to only be used for one time before being disposed e.g food packaging, cotton buds, plastic straws.

After eye-opening studies and ground breaking documentaries such as Blue Planet and The War on Plastic the population of the UK are finally starting to wake up from the unrealistic dreams of single use products and realise the real-life nightmare of plastic pollution that has created long lasting impacts for hundreds of future generations to come. But what is actually happening to stop the masses of single use plastic that is accumulating at an unnerving rate?

Looking at Sheffield as an example of plastic reduction and the revolution of sustainable products and way of living, you can see change is coming.

Unwrapped is a zero-waste shop in Crookes that allows customers to buy produce without the unnecessary mass of single use plastic, shops like this demonstrate the inessential flurry of cellophane and vacuumed plastic that seems to cover food as if it wouldn’t survive human touch.

Unwrapped is just an example of a zero-waste shop in Sheffield in reality there is a huge growing market for zero waste shops and sustainable products.

Supermarket giants such as Sainsburys and the Co-op are the lowest ranking when looking at the reduction of plastic but the growing scrutiny from customers is building, from what’s been called ‘plastic attacks’ shoppers have been protesting outside supermarkets along with customers unwrapping items that are placed in unnecessary single use plastic this lighting the fire and increasing the pressure to change.

The UK however needs to change its ways and quickly, plastic waste is swamping UK rivers, it has been recently found that the river Mersey is more polluted than the Great Pacific garbage patch, with 875 pieces of plastic being found in the river in just 30 minutes.

more than this demonstrating that problems are closer to home than many think.

This should be seen as a government wake-up call as it’s not clear that any major political parties in power take the topic of global warming or the use of plastic seriously, recently school children have been striking and protesting against global warming and speaking up on their views on the subject, this demonstrating that the younger generations of the country understand the importance of the problem and understand the repercussions they will face.

One of the main environmental factors which is demonstrating the selfishness of our actions is the backlash on the marine life, currently we are not completely sure on the amount of plastic in the ocean however we do know that over 700 marine species are being impacted.

New research has been uncovered which highlights the most alarming repercussions for marine life being that microplastic is being found in the bloodstreams of the animals, this plastic being 5mm in size, this meaning that even plankton, the basis of the marine food chain can mistake this pollution for food, once the plastic is digested it starts to leak hazardous chemicals, this being devastating for long term impacts.

One of the biggest culprits for the major environmental crisis we are currently facing is the rapid consumption and disposable of single use plastic bottles, with 1 million bottles bought every minute world-wide this depicts the amount of plastic that is being consumed at an unimaginable rate.

So why can’t we shake the addiction to plastic? And what can we do to change and adapt to improve the current situation.

Changing the current problem can be helped by doing everyday tasks with plastic reduction in mind e.g bring your own bottled drinks and bringing your own shopping bag.

By showing support for companies that are making positive changes can really make a difference, when looking at the situation it is about making lifestyle changes to accommodate the problem and look at it from a sustainable perspective, this lifestyle can save you money and save tonnes of plastic being added to growing problem.

Sub-Edit feedback

Draft 2

Plastic isn't fantastic

The world is drowning in plastic. Marine life are born maimed or being and suffocated by the day, landfills over spilling into the ocean, and even recycled plastics failing to decompose until reaching at least 450 years old.

Have you ever thought about how many items of single use plastics are in your home? That is the question posed and measured on the ‘War against Plastic” a BBC documentary presented by Hugh Fernly- Whittingstall. By asking homeowners to remove all the single use plastic from their homes and lay it out to be counted - they estimated the amount of single use plastic to total 19.5 billion in UK homes currently.

So, what is single use plastic? Single use plastic is designed to only be used for one time before being disposed e.g food packaging, cotton buds, plastic straws.

After eye-opening studies and ground breaking documentaries such as ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘The War on Plastic’ the population of the UK are finally starting to wake up from the unrealistic dreams of single use products and realise the real-life nightmare of plastic pollution that has created long lasting impacts for hundreds of future generations to come. But what is actually happening to stop the mass of single use plastic that is accumulating at an unnerving rate?

Looking at Sheffield as an example of plastic reduction and the revolution of sustainable products and way of living, you can see change is coming.

‘Unwrapped’ is a zero-waste shop in Crookes that allows customers to buy produce without the unnecessary mass of single use plastic, shops like this demonstrate the inessential flurry of cellophane and vacuumed plastic that seems to cover food as if it wouldn’t survive human touch.

‘Unwrapped’ is just an example of a zero-waste shop in Sheffield in reality there is a huge growing market for zero waste shops and sustainable products.

Supermarket giants such as Sainsbury’s and the Co-Op are the lowest ranking when looking at the reduction of plastic but the growing scrutiny from customers is building, from what’s been called ‘plastic attacks’ shoppers have been protesting outside supermarkets along with customers unwrapping items that are placed in unnecessary single use plastic this lighting the fire and increasing the pressure to change.

The UK however needs to change its ways and quickly, plastic waste is swamping UK rivers, and it has been found recently that the river Mersey is more polluted than the Great Pacific garbage patch, with 875 pieces of plastic being found in the river in just 30 minutes.

This should be seen as a government wake-up call as it’s not clear that any major political parties in power take the topic of global warming or the use of plastic seriously. Recently school children have been striking and protesting against global warming and speaking up on their views on the subject, this demonstrating that the younger generations of the country understand the importance of the problem and understand the repercussions they will face.

So why can’t we shake the addiction to plastic? And what can we do to change and adapt to improve the current situation.

Changing the current problem can be helped by doing everyday tasks with plastic reduction in mind e.g bring your own bottled drinks and bringing your own shopping bag.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed. ― Mahatma Gandhi

LO3: Research techniques

LO3: Primary research

Contacting Sheffield zero waste shops

In my article I want to include quotes from zero waste shops, therefore I have emailed them a set of questions for them to answer, I have included questions such as 'what are the main benefits of zero waste shopping' these questions will allow qualitative and open ended answers and will make great quotes'.

Contacting Sheffield City Council

Here you can see that I have contacted Sheffield City Council to try and gain some more information on how Sheffield is changing to adapt to the current problems we are facing in terms of pollution, I thought that Sheffield city council will be the best people to receive valid data.