Critical Reflection on Gabon Eco-Tourism News Story Assignment

This critical reflective essay details the process of constructing an international news story on Gabon's eco-tourism, highlighting the challenges and learnings encountered by the student. The essay discusses the research process, the difficulties faced in gathering information, and the development of writing and analytical skills. It explores the student's initial lack of confidence, the strategies employed to overcome challenges, and the improvements in research and analytical abilities. The essay reflects on both positive and negative experiences, including the discovery of Gabon's potential as a tourist destination and the role of NASA. The student also identifies areas for improvement, such as incorporating more facts and statistics, and plans to seek input from industry professionals for future news articles. The overall experience enhanced the student's knowledge of global events and media writing skills, which are valuable for future employment in the media field.

CRITICAL REFLECTIVE
ESSAY

Constructing an international news story is not an easier task as given thing requires lots
of research and analysis. In order to do the same, an individual should have good writing and
analytical skills. However, the same thing I have experienced while preparing a news package
upon the selected international news story. The international news story which I have selected is
on Gabon and its eco-tourism. I found this story more fascinating and it is the reason due to
which I have decided to conduct further research upon the given topic.
However, there are several things happened while preparing the news package upon the
selected news story (Davis and Moon, 2013). Here, I have faced many difficulties while starting
my work upon the selected article. This is because of my lack of experience with regard to
prepare any kind of news package. But, in order to resolve the respective problem, I have
segregated my whole work into different stages. Here, I have allotted time frame to each stage so
that I can complete my assigned work within the given specified time frame. Here, at first, I have
carried out thorough research upon an African country which is named as Gabon. Through this, I
have explored new facts and figures with regard to the specific country. Here, I have identified
that it is the untouched tourist destination which is known for the sandy beaches, casino and
night life (Asselin and Schwartz-Barcott, 2015). In addition to this, I have also identified that this
country has many green forests which can play an effective role in terms of attracting the large
number of tourists.
In the next phase, I have taken decision with regard to carry out in-depth analysis upon
the selected news story. For doing this, I have gathered varied information about the NASA
agency and its association with the country. Finally, at the end, I have made decision about the
way to structure the whole newspaper. With an aim to do the same, I have taken help from the
standard newspaper article story. Thus, through this way only, I was able to direct my efforts in
terms of preparing the respective news story in a particular flow. For example, at first, I have
provided some interesting facts about Gabon. This is done with an aim to arise the interest of
reader upon the article (Cake and et.al., 2015). Finally, I have given some concrete information
about NASA and its connection with the given country. Hence, through this way only, I have
carried out my assigned work in an effective manner.
In addition to this, there are many feelings arisen while preparing the essay upon the
selected international news story. At first, I was very less confident as I did not know anything
about the way of preparing the news story upon any topic or subject. Hence, when the respective

project was given to me so at that time, I was very conscious and nervous. But, gradually when I
have started my work upon the respective essay, I started to fell confidence. At first, I have not
found any data or information about Gabon and its eco-tourism activities. This has hampered my
confidence level. But, gradually when I started my research so at that time, I have gathered many
material with regard to the selected topic. For example, prior to write the given international
news story, I was completely unknown about the fact that Gabon is the second largest forest area
after Amazon (Howlett, Ferreira and Blomfield, 2016). Hence, because of given news article
only, I was able to direct my efforts in terms of learning the way of preparing the news story
upon any topic in an effective manner.
Besides this, it is the well-known fact that learning any kind of thing is not a simple task
because it comes up with both the bad and good experience. Hence, the process of constructing
the international news story has given me both the bad and good experience. Bad experience
which I have gained is of not getting the enough information about my selected article. Gabon is
an untouched tourist destination. Hence, I felt many difficulties while gathering the research
material upon the given topic. The only thing which I have found at first about Gabon is that it is
an African country that is surrounded with the forest. In addition to this, lots of time has been
taken by me to gather the information about NASA and its activities in Gabon (Brisbois and
Asselin, 2016).
Furthermore, another bad experience which has happened with me is of not getting
enough support from my tutor because of his busy schedule. Here, I have faced many difficulties
while making the decision with regard to prepare a new article upon the chosen topic. Due to
this, I visited at my tutor office two to three times, but I did not get succeed as he engaged in his
work. But, this does not mean that my tutor did not support me. He has given me enough support
in the task of gathering information about the topic such as Gabon and its eco-tourism.
Furthermore, he has also suggested me the way to structure and present the news article.
Moreover, I have some good experiences also which are associated with the task of
preparing the given article. With an aim to write the international story, I have carried out
thorough research. Hence, because of given news story only, I have found out significant
improvement in my researching skill. Prior to writing the respective article, I used to believe that
I am very bad in research (McKernan and McKernan, 2013). This is because, I always failed
whenever my friends told me to perform research at any topic. In this context, I always put my

100 percent but I was not able to carry out research effectively with respect to give specific
information to my friends which they were searching for. However, my research skill has been
improved to a lot after preparing the respective article. Moreover, this news story has enhanced
my knowledge regarding the things which are happening in the global world. In accordance with
the given context, it can be said that prior to writing the given article, I did not have any
knowledge regarding NASA as it has done some partnership projects with Gabon space agency.
But, it is because of given article only, I have improved my knowledge for the same.
In addition to this, I have also found out improvement in my analytical skill. Here, I have
gathered more information about the Gabon and its eco-tourism activities. But, there are some
information which are very useful and some are not (Taylor and Cranton, 2012). Hence, in this
situation, I have made the use of some exact information with the help of which I prepared my
news story upon the selected article in an effectual way. Thus, through this way only, I have
carried out improvements in my analytical skill. Furthermore, I have also gained good
experience in the form of improvement in my way of presenting and constructing any kind of
international news story. In earlier, I did not have any idea about the way to prepare the news
story. But, my knowledge regarding the same has improved gradually because of this work.
Further, with an aim to prepare the given article, I have taken help from different
secondary sources such as books, journals and online articles. But, with an aim to prepare the
report upon such type of article in future, I will include the views and opinions of other members
who are related with eco-tourism field. Hence, through this way only, I will improve the
effectiveness of my second news article (Bulman and Schutz, 2013). In addition to this, I
included very less number of facts and statistics in the respective article. Therefore, I will
consider the given thing while writing my next news story. Hence, by complying with the given
type of activity only, I will improve the effectiveness of my second news story.
Overall, the process of constructing the news story has given me a mixture of both the
good and bad experience. However, there are many things which I have learned and improved
because of the respective article. In addition to this, I have also experienced improvements in my
number of skills. Knowledge and things which I have learned through this article can be used by
me in my future area of employment as I can get opportunity with regard to work in the media
field as a news story writer (Howlett, Ferreira and Blomfield, 2016). At the time of working as a
writer in future, I will be able to carry out my efforts with regard to perform my given work in an

effective manner. This is because, I have already gained the experience with regard to the same.
Thus, experience which I have gained will be used by me for the purpose to give support to my
assigned job in an efficient manner.

REFERENCES
Book and journal
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Experienced Nurses Using Critical Reflective Inquiry: Implications for Nursing
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qualitative study. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice. 6(8). pp.84.
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