Response Writing for Traditional Media

HIgh Stakes Content

Directions: Choose one of the pre-existing texts below to respond to in a text drafted for traditional media. You can respond to the same text that you responded to in the New Media Response assignment, but you must draft a response from scratch. This week, draft a Letter to the Editor of the publication that originally printed your chosen article in which you respond. In other words, if your chosen text originally appeared in the LA Times, then you are writing a letter to the Editor of the LA Times.

Review "Writing Letters to the Editor" in this week's Module Readings and Resources.

Texts for Response (choose one)

• "Editorial: How Can Kids Learn Without Homework and Rigid Deadlines? Quite Well, It Turns Out" by Los Angeles Times Editorial Board for the Los Angeles Times (opens in new window): Frame your response around whether or not you agree with the editorial board's stance on homework and deadlines. Would it be better if we relaxed homework expectations for kids? Should this be implemented across all levels of education? Or is this dangerous?

• "The Case for Lowering the Drinking Age to 18" by Shayna Herszage for The Yeshiva University Observer (opens in new window): Frame your response around whether you agree with the points made by Herszage. Why do you agree? Why do you disagree? What do you think the drinking age should be?

• "I'm an Influencer and I think Social Media is Toxic," by Lydia Keating for Slate (opens in new window): Frame your response around whether or not you agree with Keating's take. Can you understand why she feels the way she feels? Can you understand why she continues to do the work even while feeling this way? How do you feel about the toxicity of social media in general?

• "How Rap's SoundCloud Generation Changed the Music Business Forever," by Alphonse Pierre for Pitchfork (opens in new window): Frame your response around whether it is a good thing that artists are able to distribute their own music without record labels or do you think that the music industry was better when it was harder for people to be heard?

Submission Guidelines:

• Traditional Media Responses should be submitted here as a PDF or Word file and follow specific genre guidelines posted below.
• You must refer to your chosen text in your response. You're responding to it. Choose a handful of specific points made in the original text you wish to respond to. Quote the original and offer your take.
• Think about how texts written for traditional media acknowledge sources. You must acknowledge any sources you use in your writing according to expectations for traditional media. This includes your chosen text and any other source material you incorporate.
• Submissions should be around 700 words and in the format appropriate to your chosen genre.