During the activity, I learnt the importance of preparation. Preparing the angle was a huge part of the activity since the questions generated would revolve around it. However, my partner and I only realised that our angle was not fully developed nor specific enough afterwards, which was why we had to change our angle. Thankfully, we were still able to use the interviews we had already done. I felt that the concepts I learnt were helpful as it made sure that I was at least able to identify my mistake and correctly formulate my questions.

Another lesson that I learnt from the activity would be communication. I realised that the questions I asked may not be particularly clear for those who were unaware of the incident. As a result, I often had to repeat the question or fill in the blanks for my interviewee who may have misunderstood me. I was surprised when my first interviewee had to clarify his doubt multiple times. Subsequently, I realised that I had not explained the situation well enough to him, which led to him having to constantly question me about the incident. I took note of this and made sure that for subsequent interviews, the background information I provided was short but specific and as clear as possible. I also did not face much troubles coming up with follow-up questions. In fact, I made use of follow-up questions to get more information or to clarify any doubts I found. This proved to be effective in coercing more developed answers from my interviewees.

Interviewee 1:

Interviewee 2:

Interviewee 3:

• Who?

Neo Gim Huah

• What?

Arrested and sentenced to three weeks in jail

• When?

Arrested on 12 April, 2017 and his court proceedings on May 23,2017

• Where?

State court

• How?

On April 11, 2017 , Neo Gim Huah slapped Amos Yee ,who had been walking towards the State Court for a hearing.

• Why?

He had decided to take matters into his own hands and teach Yee a lesson.

I feel that ‘why’ and ‘what’ is the most important as it provides the reason for Neo Gim Huah’s arrest and the consequences of trying to take justice into your own hands.

The story is newsworthy as it happened in Singapore and hence, fulfils the criteria of Proximity. Furthermore, Amos Yee is an infamous teen blogger who was despised by most of Singapore for his degrading and insensitive comments on the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. As such, the story also fulfils the criteria of Eminence and Prominence. Another news criteria that the story displays is Action. Neo Gim Huah had publicly and intentionally harmed Amos Yee so as to “teach him a lesson”.

Neo Gim Huah had intentionally slapped Amos Yee as the latter was making his way towards the State court for his hearing. He had done so in front of journalists and the public, so that “the incident would gain maximum publicity” as stated by District Judge Ronald Gwee. The clips and photos taken were then spread on social media and gained a lot of attention

The story is prominent as it informs the public that justice is best served by the court and that they should avoid taking justice into their own hands. Regardless of whether an infamous person like Amos Yee deserved it or not, harming someone intentionally would warrant a punishment. This information is important to act as it acts as a deterrence against people trying to serve their own brand of justice.

The management team in charge of the ITAS (School of Informatics & IT and School of Applied Science) canteen, Flavours, has changed on 31st May 2019. Because of this, staff and stalls under the previous management will be replaced.

The most important question would be “Why is this article important?” This brings forth the impact that the closing of the canteen would have on students in Temasek Polytechnic, especially those from the School of Informatics & IT (IIT) and Applied Science, as well as the staff that were working under the previous management.

The story is newsworthy as it fulfills the criteria of Proximity since it concerns one of the five canteens in Temasek Polytechnic. The story also shows Consequences and Impact, since the change of management would mean that the store owners and cleaners would lose their jobs. The changing of stalls there would also affect students who often frequent the canteen, such as those from the School of IIT, Applied science and Humanities and Social Studies. Muslim students in Temasek Polytechnic would also be affected since most of the stalls there were halal, as compared to the lack of halal certified stalls in the other school canteens. As such, the story is an important piece of information which students within Temasek Polytechnic need to be aware of.

The sources that my partner and I gathered are from several store owners and cleaners under the previous management, as well as students we found eating at the canteen and around the canteen vicinity.

We interviewed the stall owner of the Western Food Stall, Jeff Foo. He stated that the change in management “affected all stalls” and left “the staff all jobless”. When asked about how he felt regarding the change, he said that he “cannot do anything” and that his only future plan was to find a new job.

Next, we also asked the owner of Snacks and Pastries, who wanted to be known as Mr Ang. He gave us further insight into why the change in management was happening. He felt that there was “no issue with the change” and that “the tenancy expired and the management does not want to renew” because of declining sales that led to them having “no profit”.

We also asked a cleaner that was working at the canteen, who wished to remain anonymous. We conversed in Chinese and she stated that she had “no time to wait” and would “just work elsewhere”.

We found Lim Yin Xuan and Desiree eating at the canteen. They are both year one students taking Diploma of Hospitality and Tourism in the School Of Business. When asked about the change, Yin Xuan told us that she was “aware of it but wanted to know why the canteen would suddenly go through such a change. However, they do not frequent the canteen often and felt that this change would “only affect students within [the] block”.

We also interviewed some students who were from the School of Applied Science. Firstly, we spoke to Lixin, a year one student. She told us that she “[went] to Flavours everyday” and expressed her confusion and shock toward the change. She said that she particularly “[enjoyed] the food from the ‘Snacks and Pastries’ store and would miss it.”

Afterwards, we interviewed Sabrina, another year one Muslim student who is studying for her Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science. She stated that “if [Temasek Polytechnic] thinks it is for the better than it is okay”. Despite this, she still found the change “upsetting”. She also cited her worries regarding the change as Flavours was “One of [the canteens with] more halal stores”. Much like Lixin, she visited Flavours everyday.

The multimedia used in the online story is to provide information and details of the shooting and the shooter. The use of other multimedia elements also makes the online article more interesting compared to simple blocks of text. It allows the reader to feel more connected to the story as they can visualise the incident through the photos and videos, and not just imagine it in their head. One of the videos used in the article shows the perspective of the shooter’s brothers and gives the reader an insight into the shooter’s character. It also provides some background information on the shooter, such as his father being a convicted bank robber.

The pictures used also provide visuals to the article. A gallery in the article consists of pictures shot during and after the shooting. It shows scenes of injured victims being tended to, police taking cover from the gunshots and many concert-goers attempting to get to safety. The gallery is able to detail a vague summary of the incident with limited words, and is also very effective in conveying the distress, terror and panic that many of those present must have experienced during the incident.

The videos used is what caught my attention the most, especially the footage captured from a police officer’s body camera. It is not just a recount or recreation of what happened but an actual real life experience captured on tape. It shows the harrowing experience that those present had to go through as the police worked to help concert-goers escape. They were shot at and some even had to shield civilians to protect them and calm them down. These videos help me to further empathise with the victims and understand how terrifying it must have been to be in such a dangerous situation. It also draws my attention as I can feel how tense and serious the situation was. It makes me feel thankful and lucky to be living in a country that bans the use of guns and is much safer than USA.

Partner:Marsha

I would classify the news as spot news as it happened suddenly and unexpectedly. This story is important to readers due to its Impacts and Consequences. For me, as a Singaporean, this incident occurs on the other side of the world, in the USA. Furthermore, with Singapore’s ban on guns, this occurrence is less likely to occur here and as such, is less impactful for me. However, it does convey a message of ensuring safety and that anything can happen at any time. The shooting would be more serious for American readers as it occurs within their country with numerous deaths and casualties. The victims of the shooting could also be their loved ones. Hence, the article also fulfils the criteria of proximity as CNN is an American news outlet reporting on a shooting that occurred in Las Vegas, a city in USA. Eminence and Prominence is another news criteria that this story fulfils. This is because the shooting occurred during a country music festival that starred many well known country singers, such as Jason Aldean.

The first paragraph is a short but not very in depth summary of the incident to attract the reader’s attention. It also consists of essential information about the shooting. For example, it reveals the shooters name and the location of the shooting. There is also a vague mention of “thousands” of concert-goers attending the concert during the shooting. The second paragraph details the “arsenal” that was mentioned in the first paragraph and shows how prepared the shooter was. The third paragraph further elaborates on the specific number of deaths and casualties in the aftermath of the shooting, showing the severity of the incident.

The reporter relies on more than one source of information. The news article contains reports from the police and authorities, eyewitness accounts from concert goers and an evaluation from a CNN law enforcement analyst. There is also an interview with the shooter’s brother to show his perspective and provide an insight into the shooter’s character.
The reporter does so to ensure that accounts of the incident is accurate and credible so as to be as factual as possible.

The report shows specific data such as the death toll and number of casualties at the time of the incident. It brings forth the severity of the situation. Perhaps CNN could have added a comparison between this incident and other similar incidents to further emphasise on the impact of the shooting. It would also allow readers to see why this shooting was considered “the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history”.

Other story ideas that CNN could come up with would be if there were any changes in American gun laws after the incident and the backlash ( if there were any) on the security of the hotel. An analysis on the shooter’s mental state would also be helpful as the article states that the shooter did not appear to have a clear motive or any criminal background. A follow up on the aftermath of the shooting and how the families of the victims are dealing with grief could also be another story idea.