News Report Requirements:
The subjects we cover in WMST 200 appear in the news daily. Part 1 of the Current Topic Project is a report on a news article which will connect our course work to the most current developments of interest to the field, especially those that impact people’s day-to-day lives.
Select a news article published in the last 12 months that focuses on a topic of interest to Women’s Studies [choose from the list below, or choose your own based on the criteria described in the next section of this assignment].
After you have read your chosen news article, respond to the questions below in a 700-1,000 word (3-4 page) report about the article and what you have learned, focusing on the aspects of interest to Women’s Studies:
Title, author, publication, date, and url for your news article.
Brief (1-2 sentence) summary of the main topic of the article.
Why would this article be of particular interest to a Women’s Studies student or scholar? If you’re not sure, one place to start is to review the information about Women’s Studies found in Module 1: What Is Women’s Studies?.
What did you learn that you didn’t already know by reading this article?
Which topic, person, example, or idea in the article would you like to know more about? What questions would you suggest the reporter ask in a follow-up article?
What social, political, personal, historical, economic, artistic, or other impact might the information in this article have? Why?
Is there anything you read or thought about while reading the article that has relevance to your life outside of this class or outside of the article itself?
Include quotes and examples to support your discussion as part of your responses to questions 3-7. Remember to include in-text citations and a References list for all references to the article or class learning resources, whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
Please note that this assignment is a report, not an essay. You must write in complete sentences, but you do not have to write it as an essay with a thesis, body paragraphs, etc.. Instead, it is recommended that you number each response as you answer the questions. To meet the word count requirement, be sure to answer questions 3-7 in detail, and give specific examples or quotes (cited!) for each answer.
There is a sample News Report Essay attached to this assignment.
Choosing a news article:
An acceptable news article for this assignment meets all four of the following criteria:
is found on one of the publications/sites listed in this Forbes report of 10 Journalism Brands Where You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts: [there are many more than ten reliable news sources to choose from if you scroll to the bottom of the article]
was published in the last 12 months.
has a byline (a named author), and is not marked “op-ed,” “opinion,” or “editorial”
has as its main focus a topic of interest to Women’s Studies
If you are uncertain if the article you have found is acceptable for this assignment, ask your instructor before proceeding, or choose one of the approved articles in the list below:
Brazilian butt lift: behind the world’s most dangerous cosmetic surgery (The Guardian) [February 2021]
Does allowing transgender women to compete spell the end to women’s sports? (Deseret News [February 2021]
Marine calls out Corps for sexual misconduct in ‘deeply disturbing’ video (Task & Purpose) [February 2021]
A woman gave birth alone in a Kentucky jail. It’s a harrowing example of a bigger problem, experts say. (The Lily) [March 2021]
The Pandemic Has Made Women Angry (The Atlantic) [March 2021]
Trump Judge: Professor Has a First Amendment Right to Misgender a Trans Student in the Classroom (Slate) [March 2021]
Leaving Xinjiang has not meant Uyghur women are free of Beijing’s grasp (The Atlantic) [April 2021]
How Becky Lynch Became ‘The Man:’ On the eve of another WrestleMania, go inside the WWE Superstar’s brutal, bloody fight to shape the world to her will. (Elle) [April 2021]
Living Nonbinary in a Binary Sports World (Sports Illustrated) [April 2021]
“It’s All About What Makes You Feel Good”: Billie Eilish On New Music, Power Dynamics, And Her Internet-Breaking Transformation (Vogue) [May 2021]
Out Major General Tammy Smith retires after 35 years of service (LGBTQNation] [May 2021]
Hall of Fame-bound Tamika Catchings and our conversation that affirmed everything (ESPN) [May 2021]
Colorado bill aims to protect pregnant women’s rights (APA News) [May 2021]
Trans Identity Is Not a Social Media Fad (Slate) [June 2021]
These innovative designs are tackling taboo health issues for women (CNN) [June 2021]
Malala Yousafzai’s Interview In ‘British Vogue’ Sparks Anger In Her Native Pakistan (NPR) [June 2021]
Tampa teens reported a teacher’s sexual comments. Then a student’s life was upended. (Tampa Bay Times) [June 2021]
Is there an inherent catch 22 in women’s issues? (CEO World) [June 2021]
UN Women Hopes $40 Billion Will Accelerate Gender Equality (US News and World Report) [Aug 2021]
Why sexism is still a problem at the most ‘gender-equal’ Olympics (Aljazeera) [Aug 2021]
Women in STEM: 3 Challenges we face ̶ and how to overcome them (CNBC) [Aug 2021]
Time to Bring Clinical Light to Shadowed Women’s Health Issues (Managed Healthcare Executive) [Aug 2021]
As Texas ban on abortion goes into effect, a religion scholar explains that pre-modern Christian attitudes on marriage and reproductive rights were quite different (The Conversation) [Sept 2021]
Women’s Group Supermajority Aims To Push Women’s Issues And More Women Into Office In Pennsylvania (CBS Pittsburgh) [Oct 2021]
The Gabby Petito case shows the limits of America’s domestic violence laws, experts say (Deseret News) [Oct 2021]
Women are still being blamed for society’s problems with fertility (The Guardian) [Oct 2021]
COP26: Why are women still missing at the top climate table (Forbes) [Oct 2021]
Women of Color and the Wage Gap (CAP) [Nov 2021]
How States Are Addressing Violence Against Indigenous Women (US News and World Report) [Nov 2021]
The problem with PPE: women reveal why construction kit is not fit for purpose (Construction News) [January 2022]
Some gender disparities widened in the U.S. workforce during the pandemic (Pew Research Center) [January 2022]
Stop Telling Working Women They Just Need an Equal Partnership at Home (Harvard Business Review) [January 2022]
Was the women’s cycling boom of Covid lockdown about more than quiet roads? (Cycling Weekly) [January 2022]
Writing Guidelines:
This report should demonstrate that you
read the article closely.
are considering the article from the perspective of Women’s Studies.
can write an organized, clear, detailed, and properly cited report .
Use APA Style to format the report and all citations (in-text and in the references list).
Here are some links to resources which cover the APA format:
Citation Guides for APA styles at the UMGC Library
While I am happy to answer questions about the assignment, I encourage you to make use of UMGC’s Effective Writing Center if you’d like detailed writing help or another set of eyes to look at your paper before you turn it in. The EWC will require a few days to review a draft, so you will need to finish the paper early if you want to submit it to them.
There is a sample News Report attached to this assignment. It is not a perfect paper, and yours does not need to look exactly like it, but it demonstrates a good understanding of the assignment and formatting requirements. The sample assignment is for informational purposes only. Your News Report should contain entirely original work, even if you choose a similar topic.
