City of Sydney Council Newsletter for Local Residents and Business Owners

1. Write a magazine, you can imagine some interviews by yourself.
2. You can choose what you think is easy to write.
3. Please read the requirements in the document carefully! !!

Tutorial Week 4    Media Writing Production

The Task

To research and write a magazine article with deadline pressure

Write a 500 to word article for either:

• UTS Alumni magazine OR


• City of Sydney Council newsletter for local residents and business owners

The Topic:

The redevelopment and growth of the southern Sydney CBD e.g. area around and including the UTS campus

Themes might include ideas around urban landscape, sustainability, people and places, or city revitalisation.

Recent developments include the Central Station redevelopment https://www.mce-aus.com/portfolio/central-station-redevelopment/

And the Sydney Fish Markets redevelopment

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/city-file/article/revitalisation-blackwattle-bay-and-sydney-fish-market-have-been-approved

UTS Alumni magazine

• Educated


• Know the area but may not have been here for a long time


• UTS is trying to maintain a connection with them and encourage them to have an ongoing interest (participation) in the uni


• Busy people – want them to read our article


• https://www.alumni.uts.edu.au/news/tower

City of Sydney Council newsletter

• Very diverse readership


• Probably have been in the area recently


• Want to know Council is spending money appropriately


• Your client – Council – wants them to feel positive about the changes


• Possibly more engaged readership as could be directly affected by change


• http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/subscribe/email-newsletters

Step 1.  In class discussion groups spend some time researching the subject – identify 2 or 3 possible story ideas and discuss. What additional research would you need to write an interesting and effective article?

• Research could include experiencing the area for yourself (difficult at the moment!) and online research to gather additional facts.


• You may conduct informal interviews


• You can choose any focus/lead for your article that you like – something you think will interest and engage your readers


• Think about your publics…. you might like to humanise the topic.

Step 2.  In your tutorial, write a 500 word article for your selected publication and upload this to your Blackboard Journal. You may also need to research your topic further during the tutorial.

If you missed the lecture, you will need to refer to the lecture slides to understand the task.

Remember don’t use academic referencing for newsletter articles. Where needed, attribute information and /or opinion to an individual.

Most newsletter/magazine articles are written in a fairly informal style but don’t be too colloquial or ‘chatty’.

Don’t forget:

• An engaging headline


• If you interviewed someone, use quotes to liven up your text


• You can make up quotes from your client eg. a manager from UTS or the General Manager of City of Sydney Council


• Think about your publics – what will interest them?


• Think about your client – what do they want to achieve from this article?


• Use your ‘in the field’ research to demonstrate a genuine understanding of the topic


• Use words to create a picture


• Wherever possible, use active language

The final version of this article may be submitted for Assignment 1.1 if you choose.