last updated 11/11/2010

Media Action Planning Team Project Assignment
 

Your final team project involves developing a strategy for a Media Action Plan. 

Assignment Concept:

The result of this project will be a media strategy plan that defines how you imagine citizens could work together using both traditional media (newspapers and magazines, direct mail, radio and television, face-to-face meetings) and "new media" (i.e. internet and interactive media) to accomplish a socially desirable, civic purpose.  Your team will present to the class (and perhaps others) the strategy in the form of a visual aid supported oral presentation and a written and detailed outline of the key elements of the plan.  The plan should be targeted toward a local community.  You may use Monmouth/Warren County, or some other real or imagined location. But if you use a locale other than Monmouth/Warren County, discuss your choice with the instructor.

The written portion of this assignment can be in the form of a detailed outline.  The oral presentation should be 15-20 minutes in length, followed by questions.  It will be important to narrow and specify limited goals for your topic/project in order to make completion of the parts of this assignment manageable.

Elements of the Strategic Media Action Plan:

I.  Introduction to the Problem and Target Audiences.

The first step in your team's planning process and the first section of your written plan (with TWO labeled subsections) involves:
 

  A)  Identifying and narrowing the topic area you have selected into specific problems to be solved and

  B) Describing, in detail, the characteristics of the specfic audience(s) to whom you will direct messages and for whom you will provide information and services.  (You will need to identify all characteristics of the audience that will have an affect on how you design your messages and what media you will be able to use, e.g., educational and literacy levels, access to types of media, attitudes toward the topic, toward media use, toward action on your goals, demographics, etc..)

II.  Plan Goals.

The second step in your strategic plan should be to specify the outcomes (goals) your plan will achieve (e.g., "Decrease the number of H.S. dropouts by 30%).  The goals should include both your overall goal(s) and the smaller goals necessary to accomplish the overall goal (e.g., "Decrease absences for at risk students to fewer than 1 per month.") .

III.  Essential "Messages," Information, and Actions.

The third section of your plan will outline/list:
 

   A)  the "messages" you will send that you want your program to have the target audience receive.  These messages may include announcements, useful information, and calls for action (attend a meetup, take a survey, etc.).

   B)  the types of resources and information you will want to make available to the target audience through media.

   C)  the kinds of actions you want your target audience to take in response to your media action strategy (e.g. "interact with a tutor on-line, print out healthy recipes from a data-base weekly," etc.)

IV.  Design of Media Strategies.  [ The heart of your plan ]  The fourth section of your plan will describe the manner in which you will use media to accomplish your goals, transmit your messages and gain the actions you have described above.  In other words, showing how you have selected the right medium for the right message targeting the right audience and goal.  This section of the plan will contain TWO sub-sections.

A.  Traditional Media: A description of the plan you develop to use the traditional media (newspapers and magazines, direct mail, radio and television, face-to-face meetings) to convey your messages to the target audience (or segments of the target audience)

 

B.  New/ Interactive Media.  A description of interactive/web-based media that you will create to carry messages, provide information and resources, and gain participation, commitment and action from your target audience(s).  These media include:  blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, file-sharing, data-bases, social networking sites, video/photo sharing sites, podcasting.

V.  Problems and Limits.

The last section of your plan will describe any problems you anticipate will interfere with accomplishing your goals through the use of media and any limits on your effectiveness that result from the nature of the media you use.

  Bibliography and Appendices (as needed).

A listing of sources that contributed to your development of the plan.

2010 Action Plan Project Teams - Topics and Rosters

A Few Potential Topics: 

• Reducing the High School Dropout Rate

• Improving Effective Parenting - Support for Mothers

• Improving Effective Parenting - Support for Non-custodial Dads

• Using County Public Health Services

• Support for Good Nutrition (e.g., families, young singles, elderly, children)

• Aid to the Unemployed (e.g., job seeking skills, personal finance, educational and other opportunities, networking)

• Illness support and resources (e.g., cancer, heart disease, immobility)

• Juvenile Justice Resources and Alternatives. 

 Grading:  Project Outlines and presentations will be graded on the following:  Clarity of the problem and goals, development of realistic expectations and activities, thoughtful definition and analysis of the target audience, appropriate and realistic use of the right medium for the right message, the clarity and effectiveness of the connections between goals, audiences, messages and media.  How well organized and well delivered the presentation is (including the quality of support materials and visual aids, oral fluency, and team participation) will also be considered.

DUE DATE:  Thursday, Dec. 3 and Tuesday, Dec. 8 - in class team reports  PLUS written project description (due at the time of the presentation)