Article 2: The Ultimate University Survival Guide
Critical Reflection
For my confessional interview I chose to do a "triumph over tragedy" story, on Jim William-who I went to school with. Although it was advised not to use somebody you know, once I had explained the story, I was told to use it for this module. I asked Jim if he was happy to be interviewed, and we agreed that he would have full copy approval of what was included in the article. The reason for this is because a lot of the interview contains confidential information. The story is that Jim suffered a traumatic childhood at the hands of his mother-who suffered from mental illness. He was eventually put into a foster home and later adopted. This story in itself would have worked for a magazine spread, but when Jim reached his teens, he began to suffer from mental illness-resulting in several suicide attempts, and eventually being admitted into a psychiatric unit. Now that he has recovered, he is training to become a mental health nurse, in order to help other people suffering from similar issues that he did. This is such a heart-warming story that I really wanted to use it for this project.
As mentioned above, I interviewed Jim, and we went through the transcript together, picking out things to include, and things that he wanted left out, until we had a basic outline for the article. I wrote up the interview and sent him the finished spread, to make sure he was happy with it, before uploading it.
I chose to use black and white pictures to make the article more emotive. The first picture, of Jim sat alone, to introduce the story, and the second picture, of him with his girlfriend, both looking happy, to show how he has overcome his problems. The pictures are copyright free and positioned in a way to break up the text. I used colour to try and attract attention. For example in the headline, the word "BEAT" is in red, to give it more emphasis. I also used coloured boxes for quotes and different sections of the story, such as being adopted. I feel this works really well, as it shows the flow of the interview, and separates the text.
The box at the bottom features helplines for readers who are affected by the article, or who know someone who is. I used a bright coloured background and font to make it stand out, because it contains vital information that can help people suffering from mental illness.
The article as a whole is based on magazines such as Pick Me Up, and Chat, full of real life stories, told by the victim. I wrote the article in Jim's words, so it sounded like him telling the story, rather than me reporting on it. It is also from these kinds of magazines that I have seen the advice box at the bottom, and chose to include it in the hope that it could potential help other people overcome mental illness.
My second article is a feature I wrote last year, which I have turned into a magazine spread. It is titled "The ULTIMATE University Survival Guide" and as the title suggests, is aimed at students about to start University. The article is written from a personal perspective, as when I first arrived in Winchester, I struggled to settle in. Now that I am about to graduate, I have learnt several things, which I wanted to pass on to other students.
I used creative commons photographs to break up the text and draw attention to the page, and colourful text to show that it is a light-hearted article. I broke up the text into different sections, so that it would be easier to read and not put people off because of big chunks of text.
I did not want the article to be boring, or for the tips included to be obvious, so I tried to add in my own personal experiences to lighten the tone. For example, a student packing for University is going to bring clothes, books, and a laptop...but probably not a pair of earplugs!
My favourite piece in this article is my food thieves deterrence techniques, as I think they are original and quirky, and not what would be expected.
I originally had several other tips I wanted to include, but did not want to overload the page with text and information, and so chose the most important ones. I felt I had to include all the information on safety. in the hope that readers would follow the advice and stay out of danger. An example of this is having the phone number of a licensed taxi company stored into your phone, and not walking alone late at night.
In terms of the overall look of the article, the big bold headline attracts the readers attention, but I wanted to make it look more interesting, and so tilted the word "Ultimate" so that it looks like it has been stamped into the headline to change "The University Survival Guide"-which sounds official and a bit dull and boring, to "The ULTIMATE University Survival Guide"-seems much more interesting and exciting.
I tried to be as responsible as possible whilst writing the article. I did not want to encourage typical student behaviour, such as binge drinking and one night stands. Instead I wanted to provide advice on how to deal with these situations, staying safe. and also saving money-as that is one of the biggest problems among students.
I am really pleased with both of my articles. They greatly contrast each other, and would be found in completely different types of magazines for different audiences. I think there are improvements that could be made with both spreads: In article 1: the interview could be more concise and to the point, with more quotes included. and article 2 could include more information about things that students wouldn't really know or think about, but on the whole, I think the articles work really well for their different audiences, because they are eye-catching and informative.
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