Human trafficking

 You will be asked to state a topic area and pitch in Week 2. Your post should look something like this:  Note: You can change your journalism project after you submit your issue overview, as plans might change after you conduct your research. Issue Overview (Due July 8) In 1000-1500 words, assess the current state of a social issue. To select an issue, try this: 1. Choose a broad topic area: ○ Civil rights ○ Diversity, equity and inclusion ○ Education ○ Environment, sustainability, climate change ○ Gay rights & gender identity ○ Gun violence ○ Health care ○ Human trafficking/sex trafficking ○ Immigration ○ Legal and criminal justice ○ Mental health ○ News/media literacy 2. Find a recent, specific case or cases within that topic that make the issue easier to tackle. In other words, find the “tips of the iceberg.” Use these to help introduce the social issue. 3. Dig deeper, explore connected issues and demonstrate how the problem is complex, related to other issues and whether solutions have been attempted, succeeded or not pursued. In your report, examine many sides of the issue (there are almost always more than two), identify men and women who have contributed solutions, and show how the problem has been framed by previous coverage in the media. Sources should be authoritative research on the topic and media coverage from multiple vantage points. An example overview and project approach: Let’s say your broad topic area is diversity, equity and inclusion. In your overview, you would focus on the “tip of the iceberg” as how U.S. news organizations’ employee diversity does not reflect the communities they cover. Your overview paper would show how national statistics prove this problem exists, examine the underlying factors that might contribute to it, explore the effects of this situation and look at attempts to remedy the problem. As a journalism project, you would do a Q&A with a news manager or executive about the industry’s practices and their own company’s attempts to become more diverse and why it is important. And no, you cannot use my example for your own project. Here’s an outline you can use to set up your overview, though: I. Intro/thesis II. Origins/layers of the issue (extent of the problem, where it came from) III. How the issue is portrayed (media coverage) IV. Stakeholders and leaders (who is involved, who is affected) V. Solutions & conclusions (what’s being done to address it, what questions need to be answered, what takeaways )