Topic: Media Commentary Portfolio of Immigration Controls, Asylum seekers, Refugees
Order Description
topic: (Immigration Controls, Asylum seekers, Refugees);
You are required to research quality news and opinion sources (Australian and international) and compile a portfolio of reporting and opinion commentary on the topic. The portfolio must include at least three (and no more than five) pieces. You are asked to provide a 500 word reflection on these materials. The aim of the exercise is to learn where to seek out informed news reporting and opinion commentary on important social issues. Sources should include quality news sources and QUALITY opinion pieces published in newspapers, blogs, or magazines covering social issues.
Your reflection should include things like:
What did you learn about the issue? What was compelling in the article? Perhaps something new or a new take on it? Or reinforced what you already knew.
What made the piece a particularly good or bad piece of journalism? What made it informative?
General reflection from you having read a spectrum of Opinion and reporting on this topic?
Your submission should include a mix of reporting and opinion.
Following your reflection you must include a full reference with title, source, and link to the source. If you have print edition, please provide an online version, or a scan of the story.
A list potential sources is provided below as a guide to get you started. Please do your own research though.

HINTS & TIPS
Find a topic that both interests you and that you can find interesting and informed media commentary about. Be careful to distinguish between low quality tabloid style rants against well informed and carefully argued Opinion pieces and journalism. For example, the ‘DailyMail.co.uk’ is not what I would call a ‘quality news source’. If the web page has bikini girls and celebrity stories you are probably looking in the wrong place! Try well regarded sources such as:
You may include one ‘bad’ piece of reporting to highlight issues of misrepresentation, misinformation or just terrible reporting. In your reflection you should point this out, and talk about what the issues were and how other reports or OpEds better informed you.
Types of News & Opinion:
OpEd: An op-ed is an opinion piece on a newsworthy topic. OpEd is short for ‘Opinion-Editorial’. Op-eds (so-called because they typically appear opposite the editorial page of newspapers) provide an opportunity for experts to inform and stimulate public debate – and sometimes help shape policy. An OpEd is different to a news report in that it is a reflection and commentary rather than reportage.
News story: A news report about a current issue informing the reader of essential facts about the situation.
Investigative Journalism: Here is a nice website setting out the difference between daily news and Investigative Journalism: https://journalismfund.eu/what-investigative-journalism
Some sources:
The Huffington Post
The Guardian (Australian edition; international edition, UK edition etc – each has different content)
New York Times
Washington Post
The Conversation (www.conversation.com – you can click different editions at the top left – Australia, UK, France, US)
Le Monde
Der Speigl
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Australian
The Monthly (www.themonthly.com.au)
New Matilda (www.newmatilda.com)
The London Times
The Independent