Writing Beyond the Academy: Public Audience Essay Analysis, Journalism

This assignment presents a student's analysis of five articles from The Conversation, focusing on public audience writing and knowledge translation. The student evaluates each article based on narrative type, effectiveness of the title and subheadings, clarity, and overall quality. The analysis includes reflective questions, exploring the student's learning and insights into journalistic writing, particularly in the lifestyle genre. The student highlights the importance of clarity, brevity, and the use of non-technical language for engaging a broad audience. The assignment concludes with a 400-word reflection, emphasizing the value of public audience writing for effective communication and the student's aspirations for a career in journalism, particularly in lifestyle, sports, and culture.

Running head: PUBLIC AUDIENCE ESSAY
PUBLIC AUDIENCE ESSAY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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TEMPLATE FOR PUBLIC AUDIENCE ARTICLES ANALYSIS
Data Entry
Questions
Name of the story: “Snacks after youth sports add more calories than kids
burn while playing”
URL of the story: https://theconversation.com/snacks-after-youth-sports-
add-more-calories-than-kids-burn-while-playing-study-says-129404
Date of Publication: The Conversation, January 23, 2020
Personal Evaluation
Questions
d) What type of narrative is the story?
The narrative of the respective article is in a “news” which means
that narration of information and current events which is presented
by the print, broadcast, internet or word of mouth to a third party or
mass audience. The respective article narrates the study of
adolescence obesity where the authors have studied how snacking
after youth sports adds more calories than the adolescents’ burn
during the play.
Effectiveness of title (hook): The title is effective because it directly
and straight forwardly states the main question of the article, which
is a trend in adolescent obesity.
Opening paragraphs (hook: problem/significance/context) The
opening paragraphs first talks about why staying active for both
children and young adults are necessary. In the second paragraph,
the authors jump into the main central theme of the article. Here,
the author starts discussing directly about what adolescence obesity
is like and chances of getting it through facts and figures.
Effectiveness of subheadings (structure/substance/flow): The
subheadings of the article breaks the article into halves giving

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particular information in it and it is well understood by the name of
the subheadings they have used, for instance, “Snack and Youth
sports”
Final paragraph (structure): The structure of the article is
(Introduction- body- conclusion) with problem statement,
observations, findings and arguments.
Overall clarity of take-home message: The clarity of take home
message is very clear with lucid understanding and easy language.
Overall quality of knowledge translation: Knowledge translation in
this assignment is above average and it has helped to give important
information to the audience.
Reflective question 120-word Reflection
The article “Snacks after youth sports add more calories than kids burn
while playing” is important for me as a student of mass media because
the way by which the article has been written is significant and teaches
me a lot about what journalism is actually. The article has provided the
readers with lots of information and facts in a way that the audience or
the reader gets and remains engaged in the contents. The content of the
article seems to be effective in giving insights and knowledge to the
audience. I have learnt how to write informative piece through the article.
I have learnt how to write an article with clarity and without much

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digression from the topic.
Data Entry
Questions
Name of the story: Concerned about concussions and brain injuries? 4
essential reads
URL of the story: https://theconversation.com/concerned-about-
concussions-and-brain-injuries-4-essential-reads-81656
Date of Publication: July 27, 2017
Personal Evaluation
Questions
d) What type of narrative is the story? The narrative of the
respective article is in a “news” where the author provides a
narration of information and current events which is presented by
the print, broadcast, internet or word of mouth to a third party or
mass audience. The article is in a questioning tone.
Effectiveness of title (hook) The title is effective because it directly
and straight forwardly states the main question of the article, which
is a trend in adolescent obesity.
Opening paragraphs (hook: problem/significance/context) The
opening paragraphs are engaging as it directly mentions the issue of
the article.
Effectiveness of subheadings (structure/substance/flow): The title is
effective because it directly and straight forwardly states the main

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question of the article, which is adolescent neurological health.
Final paragraph (structure): The structure of the article is
(Introduction- body- conclusion) with problem statement,
observations, findings and arguments.
Overall clarity of take-home message: the overall clarity of take
home message is clear and brisk.
Overall quality of knowledge translation: The article is informative
with interesting facts and figures.
Reflective question 120-word Reflection
The article named “Concerned about concussions and brain injuries? 4
essential reads” is an informative article. It is important for me as the
article is quintessentially a “Public Audience Essay” that provides
information to the desired or targeted audience in an engaging manner.
While going through the article intensely, the style by which the article
has been written has made me understand what to write and in what way
to make an article look commendable. The content of the article seems to
be effective in giving insights and knowledge to the audience. I have
learnt how to write informative piece through the article. I have learnt
how to write an article with clarity and without much digression from the

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topic.
Data Entry
Questions
Name of the story: Many kids still don’t report concussion symptoms.
How can we change that?
URL of the story: https://theconversation.com/many-kids-still-dont-
report-concussion-symptoms-how-can-we-change-that-72312
Date of Publication: February 3, 2017
Personal Evaluation
Questions
d) What type of narrative is the story? It is an informative health
article in a “news” format giving contemporary and current
information.
Effectiveness of title (hook): The title directly talks about the health
issue faced by the adolescents without much digression
Opening paragraphs (hook: problem/significance/context) Opening
paragraphs grapples the problem the article has narrated.

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Effectiveness of subheadings (structure/substance/flow)
Subheadings are exact and accurately precise, without much
digression.
Final paragraph (structure) The article is in a conventional essay
format with introduction-body- conclusion
Overall clarity of take-home message: the take home message is
completely clear and brisk.
Overall quality of knowledge translation: It is an informative and
knowledgeable piece.
Reflective question 120-word Reflection
The article named “Many kids still don’t report concussion symptoms.
How can we change that?” is an insightful and observational article. It is
also a questioning and argumentative article that poses a challenge and a
solution referring to the case of adolescent neurological health. The
article is indeed engaging with a straight forward approach to the
audience which gives me insight about how to write journals and articles
effectively for the cosmopolitan people who have less time to read. The
lucidity and clarity of the article has taught me how to deal with writing
small or big issues in a better way. While going through the article
intensely, the style by which the article has been written has made me
understand what to write and in what way to make an article look
commendable.

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Data Entry
Questions
Personal Evaluation
Questions
d) What type of narrative is the story? It is an argumentative news
narration.
Effectiveness of title (hook)
The title is effective because it directly and straight forwardly states
the main question of the article with questions that readers with
curious mind will find interesting.
Opening paragraphs (hook: problem/significance/context): Opening
paragraphs grapples the problem the article has narrated with
examples.
Effectiveness of subheadings (structure/substance/flow): The title is
effective because it directly and straight forwardly states the main
question of the article
Final paragraph (structure): The article is in a conventional essay
format with introduction-body- conclusion
Overall clarity of take-home message: Overall clarity of take home
message is above average with brisk information
Overall quality of knowledge translation: it is an informative essay
that teaches to question the readers.

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Reflective question 120-word Reflection
The respective article named “Are parents morally obligated to forbid
their kids from playing football?” is an argumentative news article which
is full of insights and observations out of research. The article is lucid
and engaging. The article is intended for a particular audience. By going
through the article I have understood what powerful journalism looks
like. The main lesson that I have learnt through the article is that there is
a special tone for the argumentative pieces that makes the writing more
interesting and commendable. The contents of the article are written in a
proper algorithm without much digression. Through the article I have
learnt that to be a good journalist, I need to focus on brevity and clarity.
Data Entry
Questions
Name of the story: Can youth sports foster creativity? It depends
URL of the story: https://theconversation.com/can-youth-sports-foster-
creativity-it-depends-35074
Date of Publication: Dec 19, 2014
Personal Evaluation
Questions
d) What type of narrative is the story?
It is an argumentative news narration that questions the issues it
deals with.

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Effectiveness of title (hook)
The title is effective because it directly and straight forwardly states
the main question of the article with questions that readers with
curious mind will find interesting.
Opening paragraphs (hook: problem/significance/context): Opening
paragraphs grapples the problem the article has narrated with
examples from researches.
Effectiveness of subheadings (structure/substance/flow):
Subheadings clearly grapples the central idea of the article with
brief explanations.
Final paragraph (structure): The article is in a conventional essay
format with introduction-body- conclusion
Overall clarity of take-home message: Above average with lucid and
important information
Overall quality of knowledge translation: It is an informative sports
health and management article.
Reflective question 120-word Reflection
The article “Can youth sports foster creativity? It depends” is also an
argumentative piece of an article. The article has also given specific
information out of authentic research outcomes and findings which
makes it an important article for the health and fitness enthusiasts. The

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article has given me idea how to write lifestyle journalism for a particular
public. The tone and style of writing of the article is interesting and it has
helped me develop different ideas in journalistic writing. As an aspiring
journalist, I have learnt how to give more information in less word
through the article. The contents of the article are written in a proper
algorithm without much digression or deviation from the topic. Through
the article I have learnt that to be a good journalist, I need to focus on
brevity and clarity.
REFLECTION (400 words)
The survey of the five articles has proved beneficial for me as an aspiring journalist because
these articles have given me insight about what journalism is and how effectively that can be
practiced. All the above articles that have been given for the survey belong to the lifestyle genre
of journalism. By going through the articles thoroughly, I have observed that in public audience
writing, intellectual jargons must not be used because it might distract the common people. The
articles have been made for the ordinary people so that they receive the help on behalf of the
articles or gain information about a particular thought or issue. Being a student of journalism, I
believe that I have to be the representative of the society as well as the common masses. I want
to write about different issues for more people to read experimenting with the tones and styles.

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My target audience would be the common people who have the enthusiasm to know about the
world. For that reason, I want to write articles and blogs in such a lucid way so that everybody
else can read them. What my experience says is that academic journaling is done for certain
specific audience. However, since I want to send maximum information to the masses through
various media portals in the form of good blogs, articles and listicles, I believe that a rigorous
training of proper public audience essay would be good for my profession. The survey carried
out through the above posted articles has given me deep insight and introspection about how a
journalist can give maximum information with brevity and clarity. The contents of the given five
articles are written in a proper algorithm without much digression or deviation from the topic.
Through the article I have learnt that to be a good journalist, I need to focus on brevity and
clarity. As an ardent writer, I have more interests in blogs and digital articles and my field of
interest is diverse. I like to write about lifestyle, sports and culture. I believe that jargon laden
words would not do of any help in such genres of journalism. Brevity and clarity are considered
to be the soul of wit. My blogs would be straight forward and brisk, just like the above five
articles. If I use sub- headings for my own convenience, it should align with the subject matter so
that the article becomes clearer and lucid by its disposition.