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For this first part of the assignment, you are required to select an issue, event or incident that occurs during the semester and analyse how it is reported by different media organisations. Please follow the below steps in order to complete your assignment.

Step 1: Selecting an issue, event or incident that is covered in the news during the teaching period.Ideally, you should have some topics in mind before your complete session 2 of the unit. You must decide on a topic for this assignment by the end of session 2. Your tutor will ask you to complete a form outlining your topic and approach and then offer guidance on your topic.

Some topic ideas: media coverage of a community issue or court case, a developing story in relation to the pandemic (a local outbreak or vaccine study). These are just brief examples; the actual topic you choose must be covered reasonably well in the media so that you can collect at least twenty examples of news stories or bulletins (whether print, radio, television) or other news texts. Try to also choose a topic that interests you so that you can
maintain attention and focus for a good part of the semester. It will be useful to undertake some initial journal database searches on your topic before finalising what you are going to focus on: find out if previous research has been undertaken on the topic (or a similar topic) generally and the research methods used.

Step 2: Introduction and Literature Review. The introduction establishes the real-world context and relevance of the topic. It also indicates the scope or limits of your topic. The introduction should also state your main research question (what is it you want to find out about the news coverage of the issue or incident?). Ideally, the introduction should consist of 2-3 paragraphs: the first paragraph would provide the context to the topic/issue/incident
and the second paragraph would provide an overview of your chosen focus including your research question and the methods you have used (content analysis and textual analysis).
The literature review section is where you provide background information about your topic.

This section shouldsummarize key information already known about your topic drawing on peer reviewed journal articles and other relevant reference sources. You should summarise academic study findings and theoretical concepts that will help you and your reader understand how this topic is covered in the media and previous research where this has been
investigated. You should undertake journal database research on your chosen topic; especially look for previous studies on your chosen topic or topics very close to your topic.
You must include at least FOUR peer-reviewed journal articles and reference relevant unit readings in this section.

You may also use relevant industry reports.

Step 3: Original research methods. You will be conducting two small research exercises (a content analysis and a textual analysis) to examine media coverage of your chosen topic. These research exercises will give you practice
asking questions about media coverage of a particular issue and provide a framework to analyse qualitative and quantitative aspects of news coverage. Moreover, this kind of research will give you insights into how media
organisations cover the same topic but in different ways and how media coverage can change quickly.

You will be using two research methods for the assignment:
1. Textual analysis
2. Content Analysis
Please see the back of this unit guide for more information about these two methods and the requirements for each.
It is also worth consulting research methods textbooks such as Nina Weerakkody’s Research Methods for Media and Communication. You should draw upon the Weerakkody textbook to support your explanation of how you will use each method. You may draw upon other research methods texts in addition to Weerakkody as needed.

Your research proposal will need to explain each method you will use and how you wish to use each method. Please also explain the sample of texts (the kinds of news texts, sources and what you will be analysing).

At this stage you should have begun to analyse the articles or news media texts, however we are interested in the
types of news texts you would like to use and how you will be analysing them.

In your research proposal please also include a reference lists and relevant appendices (your tutor will explain the kinds
of appendices that might be included in your proposal).

See below for the exact structure for your research proposal:
Methodology

Method 1 Content Analysis

– Rationale: Which angle is this method exploring? Why use this method? What is your intended sample? How do you intend to use this method?
Method 2 Textual Analysis

– Rationale: Which angle is this method exploring? Why use this method? What is your intended sample? How do you intend to use this method?
References: Chicago Style

– See library’s Citation Guide http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/guides/cite.html
Appendices (For supplementary/non-vital material)

– List of news texts used for the content analysis

– Content analysis coding sheet

– The two news texts (or links to them) used for the textual analysis

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