WRIT 6034 Objective Reporting Assignment -

READ AND ANALYSE THE SCENARIO.

SCENARIO & TASK

This assignment offers you a scenario based on the same articles you had to read to complete Reading Comprehension Test 2 (RCT2).

You are a student activist writing for a student publication at Harvard University. You are currently enrolled in a Master's program, you usually cover economic and social justice issues, and you are known to your fellow students on campus for your strong critique of the US government's failure to address the increasing income inequality gap in recent years.

It is 2013, and the HAP (Herndon, Ash, and Pollin) study has just been published. Top journalists working for major publications across the U.S. are writing about the fact that two Harvard professors (Reinhart and Rogoff) have authored an influential but astoundingly inaccurate study in 2010 - a study that had a dramatic impact on global policy matters, being used by international financial institutions and by governments everywhere as evidence in favour of austerity measures.

You are upset about this situation for several reasons. You feel that Reinhart and Rogoff have behaved irresponsibly in releasing their study without providing solid explanations for their weighting methods and without, at the very least, making sure that there are no errors in the way their spreadsheet calculations were set up. You think that this behavior is disqualifying for any academic, let alone for academics who work for one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. You are worried that the scandal surrounding the RR paper will damage the reputation of your university. What compounds your disappointment and anger is the thought that the RR study provided erroneous evidence for global policies that have cost thousands of people their jobs and have made life more difficult for many more (through cuts in public services, etc.).

You want to write something for the student publication you are working for, explaining the seriousness of the situation to your fellow students and asking them to sign a petition requesting

• that the university issue an appropriate public statement on the matter
• that Reinhart and Rogoff publish something that might mitigate the situation (for example, a reasonable explanation for their weighting methods and an apology for the spreadsheet errors).
• Use up to 6 references, with APA CITATION.

You are aware that both the university administration and professors Reinhart and Rogoff will read your article, since you would be writing on a highly sensitive issue of immediate concern for the institution.

Considering all these factors, two main concerns should guide you as you are writing your article:

• That you need to maintain an appropriate level of formality.

[In explaining the situation to your fellow students, you will have to account for the fact that many of them might not have the knowledge you have concerning economic issues - so you'll have to either avoid economic jargon or briefly explain any jargon terms you use. In short, you will have to maintain your diction somewhere in between the standard and the formal level of English. This is all the more so since your article might be read by the administration, as well as by faculty members, including Reinhart and Rogoff. Maintaining a certain level of formality will increase your credibility and ensure that you are taken seriously by all readers.]

• That you need to express any concerns you might have in objective language and a neutral or somewhat positive tone.

[You generally use objective language in all of your articles as you present data and analyze it for your fellow students, but since you are a student activist, your previous articles probably involved some use of subjective language - perhaps some overt expressions of empathy for lower-income Americans and the problems they are facing, perhaps some sarcasm concerning some government measures and the power corporate lobbyists have in Washington, etc. However, this time, you have to be particularly careful to avoid using overtly subjective language, including sarcasm or anything that might give some of your claims an offensive tone, since the people who are responsible for the situation are professors who are teaching at your university. You will have to introduce the idea of a petition and briefly explain what it would contain in a tone that is neutral or slightly positive rather than accusatory. Example: "We urge professors Reinhart and Rogoff to..." sounds a lot more positive and polite than "We demand that professors Reinhart and Rogoff..." You might want to work with a dictionary as you compose your message, to make sure that you are fully aware of the nuances of the words you use and avoid words that are too demanding, reflect a miscalculation of the power dynamic, or carry offensive implications.]

topic and sets up the importance of a problem the article will address. In your case, the lead paragraph would have to mention the HAP study and the media response, as well as suggest the fact that the situation is of great concern for all Harvard students, who should sign your petition - without using words that might be seen as too harsh, demanding, etc.

Use up to 6 references.