To listen and to love: the dream planted during coronavirus

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I am interested in writing a feature about a journalism student from China who consumes news from both Western and Chinese media outlets. With the coronavirus influencing her life since the outburst of it in her hometown Wuhan, Crystal has a better sense of her dream career.

The Story: what and why?

Photo provided by interviewee: Crystal. She was doing internship in Beijing when her hometown Wuhan was locked down.

Crystal was doing internship in Beijing when her hometown Wuhan was locked down and kept her away from her family, her home. The travel ban from Australia forced her to travel to Thailand for another 14 days before she came back to Sydney to study. Throughout her quarantine life in three countries, Crystal sees the significant role of media playing in the crisis. It has the power to unite people but also the ability to generate hatred. Holding the dream of becoming a journalist, she has a deeper feeling about the responsibility of media in providing information and leading the society. Her dream is no longer limited to have her country being less misunderstood. Ambitiously but genuinely, she wants the globalized world to cooperate and fight together in the age of new media.

Facing the global health crisis, people are heavily relying on the government and the media. I choose to tell this timely topic from a media angle because this pandemic also creates the challenge of an infodemic. It is important to examine the role and influence of the media and think about some of the issues in news reporting now. The story is a diary of an international student whose life is impacted by COVID 19, but also a thought-provoking reminder for the media industry. I want the readers to hear the story from a relatively new perspective and probably think more deeply about their behaviour in media production and consumption.

Publication and Audience:

It is imagined for the junction, a publication showcases university student journalism from Australia and the Pacific. Since most of its audience is interested in the news industry, it is more likely for them to listen to the story of a journalist dream and consider the role of media. As a culturally diverse country, Australia has a connection to both the west and the east. With the significant number of Chinese students here, people are more likely to hear the story from a Chinese perspective without formed bias.

Source of Information:

I will interview Crystal for a deep and objective understanding of her thoughts and feeling. Meanwhile, I will collect a wide variety of sources including media coverage from both western and China, academic articles about social media and online journalism, statistics about media consumption etc.

These include: Pew Research Center; Chartbeat; Time; Twitter and Weibo.

Online features:

  • The timeline of the news
  • Multimedia including photos, videos, and audio to present Crystal’s life and observation
  • Subheadings to chunk the article for better viewing
  • Hyperlinks to the original news report
About Jessy Zhang 5 Articles
Hi, I'm an international student from China who is currently doing master of digital communication and culture at The University of Sydney. Obsessed with different culture, I am striving to be a good storyteller!

2 Comments

  1. Good feature, Jessy! This is a very novel and interesting feature that focuses on a person’s real experience. Your angle for this feature is deep and thoughtful, media is a strong approach for propaganda and modeling people’s minds. So, it is essential to lead a thought-provoking reminder for the media industry. Your topic is timely and newsworthy, in this special time, international students in China receive more attention, so it is appropriate to lead your structure from the perspective of an international student in China. In terms of the desired publication, you have made a clear explanation that why the junction is the publication you are looking forward to. Multimedia and hyperlinks for the feature are also good and comprehensive. I wish you could make more images and videos for your interview in your final work! I would like to make a little suggestion, your title for this proposal is not that clear for your story. The first time I read it, I feel like it is a feature about the mental health in this special time. But overall, it is a very good proposal! I’m really looking forward to your final news feature!

    • Hi Saiji, thank you for finding my post haha! That’s a great suggestion! I will think more about the title! (I was a little bit unsure as well)

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