8PR 2017: Maggie

Friday, 4 August 2017

Maggie's Passion Project

The Ins and Outs of Being a Journalist

Hi it’s Maggie here and and at Selwyn House we do a Passion Project. Passion Project is a year long project for year 8. You have to choose what you are passionate about and you have to take action and do something about it. For this years Passion Project I am doing journalism. I want to write an article and get it published in a newspaper or magazine.

The experts I have contacted so far are:

Anna Dalzell
Michael De Hamel
Sarla Donovan

All three people have replied but I also sent an email to One News but they didn’t reply, and Russell Brown is still to be confirmed. Michael De Hamel was really helpful though and sent me an e-book. So far I have learnt how to ask the right questions about what you are wanting to know and to who you are asking. This is because you would ask a different question to a 5 year old than you would to a 35 year old. When I asked the kids questions for my article about the printmaking course I asked different questions to Anna the teacher. The Bay Harbour News said they would be happy to print my article on printmaking and wanted to know more information about passion project. But the Akaroa Mail didn’t need the printmaking article and Michael De Hamel asked me to write an article about the tennis courts in Little Akaloa.

It has been quite hard to come up with ideas to write about because you need to think if I write about this where is the best place for it to go. (e.g newspaper, magazine, which newspaper?) So you have to brainstorm ideas for what you want to talk about and what questions you want to ask to get the right information. It was helpful when Michael de Hamel told me what he wanted me to write because then I know that it’s helpful.

The newspaper I have had an article published in so far: