Pitching a Media Text: Purpose, Audience Research, Challenges and Choosing a Form

Remember from Grade 10

In Grade 10 you wrote a planning brief (topic, purpose, audience, challenges), used a decision matrix to choose a form, and made a web page. In Grade 11 you'll plan a more complex text with a production proposal: real audience research, a persona, a fuller list of challenges (including ethical ones), and a weighted decision matrix.

The running example for the rest of this unit is an audio documentary (a podcast episode) of about four minutes: The Last Rink on Elm Street (invented). You'll see why that form was chosen.

Hook: the elevator pitch

You step into an elevator with the producer of a local podcast network. You have 30 seconds before the doors open. Can you say what your media text is about, why it matters, who it's for and what form it takes?

If not, your idea isn't ready yet. A production proposal is the long version of that pitch.

Part 1: Topic, purpose and audience

Narrow the topic. Winter is a subject. Outdoor rinks is a topic. Why our volunteer-run rink on Elm Street might close, and what it would take to save it is a focused topic that can be covered in four minutes.

Write a purpose statement with a verb, an audience, a message and a desired result: To inform neighbours aged 14 to 40 about the threat to the Elm Street rink and persuade them to sign up for one volunteer flooding shift before January 15.

Research the audience. Don't guess. Use:

• a short survey (five questions or fewer) of people in your target group;
• two or three informal interviews;
• existing information (for example, the city's posted budget documents).

Turn your findings into a persona: a realistic portrait of one typical audience member. Plan everything for that person.

Part 2: Identify significant challenges

The curriculum asks you to identify significant challenges you may face. Strong proposals name each challenge and a plan:

• Technical: wind noise outdoors → use a foam windscreen or a sheltered spot; record a test first.
• Access: the city budget officer may not agree to an interview → request early by email; use public documents as a backup.
• Time: editing takes far longer than recording → plan about 3 hours of editing for every finished 4 minutes, and set deadlines.
• Audience attention: listeners may skip → open with a strong cold open (sound of skates, a vivid line).
• Ethics and consent: interviewees must agree to be recorded and published → use a simple consent form; let people know how the piece will be shared.
• Fairness: the story could become one-sided → include the city's perspective accurately.
• Accessibility: audio excludes people who are Deaf or hard of hearing → publish a transcript.

Part 3: Select a form, and justify it

List realistic options, choose criteria from your purpose and audience, give each criterion a weight (how much it matters), score each option, and multiply. Then justify the choice in words. A matrix supports your judgment; it doesn't replace it.