Advance Writing Class: Assignment write up 400-500 words.. need it in 2 hours max

Assignment 4: "Bad News" Message DUE February 13, 2014 by midnight EST.

Write a release using the direct approach to deliver bad news to a community of stakeholders who care, and care quite a bit, about the bad news. You may design the situation yourself; examples include—

         informing shareholders of a drop in profits;

         informing employees of mandatory furlough days;

         informing members that a community organization is slated for shut down;

         informing employees of imminent layoffs.

You need to accomplish two items in the main with this assignment: (1) deliver truly bad news in a professional and ethical manner, and (2) make sure it is truly bad news. Delivering lukewarm bad news will not push your skills as much as a writer. An example of lukewarm bad news is informing employees that due to budget cuts there will be no travel this year. An example of genuinely bad news is that due to budget cuts no contracts of temporary employees will be renewed.

Tight match of your approach to situation and audience	20
Provide reasons and additional information; be comprehensive (without legally compromising organization)	20
Use emphatic, concise, fluent sentences	10
Paragraphs are tightly focused, well developed, and logically sequenced	10
Contains no proofreading errors	10
Open with polite but clear statement of the bad news	10
Show polite "you" attitude; maintain confident tone	10
Tight match of form (e.g., memo, letter, news release) to audience and purpose	10
TOTAL	100

 

 

 

Project Description:

 

Using the direct approach, deliver bad news to a community of stakeholders who care, and care quite a bit, about the bad news. You may design the situation yourself; examples include—

informing shareholders of a drop in profits;

informing employees of mandatory furlough days;

informing members that a community organization is slated for shut down;

informing employees of imminent layoffs.

 

You may also choose the format yourself (e.g., memo, letter, news release).

 

You need to accomplish two items in the main with this assignment: (1) deliver bad news in a professional and ethical manner, and (2) make sure your announcement anticipates and addresses the wealth of questions that the distressed audience needs answered.

 

Delivering lukewarm bad news will not push your skills that much as a writer. An example of lukewarm bad news is informing employees that due to budget cuts there will be no travel this year. An example of genuinely bad news is that due to budget cuts no contracts of temporary employees will be renewed.

Length Requirement: (~500 words)