Posted: March 9th, 2017

What are the potential roadblocks to gaining the confidence of those who are in a different part of the world?

Final Research Paper

The purpose of the Final Research Paper is to
provide an opportunity to integrate your understanding of how you, as an
international journalist, would choose to analyze and report the news,
particularly as it relates to war coverage. This assignment requires you to
research and evaluate the report of a single incident related to an
international military conflict or war in any part of the world. The wars in
Afghanistan or Iraq are obvious choices, but you may address other existing
global conflicts, including those in Africa, Asia, Central America, or
elsewhere.

This assignment should be written as a personal
narrative in which you describe, in detail, how you would address the various
social, cultural, and governmental challenges of being an “outsider” attempting
to gain information from sources in your selected area of the world. Consider
each area—social, cultural, and governmental—separately. Spend time analyzing
the setting and discussing the obstacles you would encounter as you met with a
person, group of people, or organization within each of the areas mentioned
above.

Focus
of the Final Research Paper

In eight to
ten pages, discuss how you would present the facts and who your contacts would
be. Ask yourself these questions as you complete the research project:

•What are the
potential roadblocks to gaining the confidence of those who are in a different
part of the world?

•Which sources would you trust, and why?  How would you know you could trust them?

•Would you relinquish your ideas of democracy and
freedom, and report the story from the political, societal, or cultural
perspective of the place from which you are reporting?

•What steps would you take to protect yourself from
harm?

Additional
issues to consider include:

•Potential conflicts
that will surface due to your understanding and practice of Western journalism
theory compared to the theory and practice of journalism as it is conducted
elsewhere in the world.

•How freedom of the press is interpreted in select
countries and regions worldwide.

•Philosophical differences among national media
systems that exist globally.  Be sure to
describe in detail what it would be like to be embedded with the military. What
special challenges would this bring? Would you consider winning the confidence
of opposing military forces in order to “get the story”?

Although the Final should be written as a personal
narrative, you should also include sources in your text. Incorporate at least
one idea or concept from your textbook, International News Reporting, on each
page.

•Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length
and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style
guide.

•Must use at least five to eight scholarly sources
in addition to the text, at least two of which are found in Ashford Online
Library. Wikipedia is an example of a source that is NOT acceptable.

•Must include an introductory paragraph with a
succinct thesis statement.

•Must conclude with a restatement of the thesis and
a conclusion paragraph.

•Must include a Reference Page that is completed
according to APA (6th edition) style as outlined in the approved APA style
guide.