History, Current Issues With Proposed Changes

This assignment is the second in a series of 4 assignments on the same topic, due in Weeks 2, 5, 8, and 10. The assignments build upon each other.

Assume you are an investigative reporter for a major publication (magazine or newspaper) who has been assigned to research important issues (ethnic, racial, gender, or class) that are causing problems and affecting people in a local area, workplace, or specific part of the world. Your goal is to provide both an in-depth analysis of and put a human face on this issue by writing a series of articles that the editor plans to publish in two major parts. For this assignment, you will write Part 1 of your series of articles, which focuses on the history, current issues, problems caused by the issues, and proposed changes.

Part 2, due in Week 8, will focus on the benefits and challenges of the proposed change(s) as well as responses to the challenges. You will include the feedback you receive on both articles from your editor/professor in your presentation due in Week 10, in which you will be required to provide a summary of your articles in a PowerPoint or Google Slide presentation for a meeting of the National Association of Journalists.

Your professor will act as your editor and provide guidance as you refine your topic area and articles.  

Requirements:

Write a 5–6 pages (or approximately 1,300–1,400 words)  in which you:

1. In the first 1–2 paragraphs, introduce the topic area you chose in Week 2 with a quote, question, and/or statistic (from your credible sources), along with an overview and a thesis statement. (Grab the reader’s interest.)
2. Explain 3–5 major historical factors (social events/attitudes, wars, laws, economy, political environment, et cetera) in the past 50–100 years that have contributed to the current issue(s) and problems for this topic area. Explain how historical factors impact current issues.
3. Analyze 3–5 major current issues/problems (economic, social, political, legal, et cetera) for this topic area.
4. Describe 1–2 groups of people affected by the issue/problem, including 2–3 quotes and/or paraphrased comments from the people affected (from your reliable sources).
5. Propose 2–3 changes (economic, social, political, legal, et cetera) that could possibly improve the situation. (Changes can be proposed and extracted from examples from other countries, localities, or workplaces that you found in your reliable sources.) Explain the interventions attempted to rectify the issue.
6. Include 5 or more credible and reliable references in addition to the textbook