HAZEL: Does it matter what type of story I write about?
TOM: No – national or international politics, the arts … Anything, as long as it’s covered in two or three newspaper. Though of course it’ll be easier and more fun if it’s something you’re interested in and know something about.
HAZEL: And on that basis a national news item would be worth analysing – I’m quite keen on politics, so I’ll try and find a suitable topic. What did you choose for your analysis, Tom?
TOM: I was interested in how newspapers express their opinions explicitly, so I wanted to compare editorials in different papers, but when I started looking. I couldn’t find two on the same topic that I felt like analysing.
HAZEL: In that case, I won’t even bother to look.
TOM: So in the end I chose a human interest story – a terribly emotional story about a young girl who was very ill, and lots of other people – mostly strangers – raised money so she could go abroad for treatment. Actually, I was surprised – some papers just wrote about how wonderful everyone was, but others considered the broader picture, like why treatment wasn’t available here.
HAZEL: Hmm, I usually find stories like that raise quite strong feelings in me! I’ll avoid that. Perhaps I’ll choose an arts topic, like different reviews of a film, or something about funding for the arts – I’ll think about that.
TOM: Yes, that might be interesting.
HAZEL: OK, well thanks a lot for your help, Tom. It’s been really useful.
TOM: You’re welcome. Good luck with the assignment, Hazel.
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