Req 2a — Print, Magazine & Online Reporting
This option asks you to do two connected things:
- Compare how several written and online news sources cover the same event.
- Visit a newspaper, magazine, or internet news site to see how the business and editorial sides work together.
Option A is a great choice if you want to see how one story changes depending on audience, format, deadlines, and available space. A local paper may emphasize community impact. A national paper may emphasize politics or scale. A magazine may add more background. An online outlet may update the story throughout the day.
What You Will Practice
Close reading
You will compare how each source handles the same event. That means noticing what each story leads with, which facts appear early, which quotes are included, and whether the article feels balanced.
Story judgment
Editors make choices constantly. Which detail belongs in the headline? Which quote is most revealing? What should be shortened? When you compare coverage, you are really studying editorial judgment.
Newsroom structure
A publication is not only reporters. It also includes editors, audience teams, business staff, advertising or sponsorship teams, production staff, and leadership. Your visit helps you see how all those parts connect.
In Req 1, you learned to separate fact from opinion. That skill matters even more here, because you are looking at how real outlets present the same facts in different ways.
The next two pages walk you through each part of Option A.