Critical Research Paper

• Critical research paper (150 points, ~25 percent of final grade)

: Students will write a 1,500-word research paper analyzing and criticizing a specific media start-up (keep in mind, it doesn’t have to be a startup that succeeded) or media entrepreneur. Again, this is a media class; the company must exist in that space.

Some of the basic information your paper must include is the founders' name, when the

the company was founded, where it was founded, what its original purpose was, and what

funding the company had initially. This section needs to be titled “The story of _____ (name

of the company or entrepreneur you’re researching” and be no more than 600 words.

The majority of the paper must be titled “A critical analysis of _____ (name of the company or

entrepreneur” and be 900 words. You must critically analyze the trajectory of the

business/entrepreneur and the specific media industry (journalism, advertising, social media, marketing, etc.) it exists in. In terms of the specific media industry this company exists in, I need to know whether this industry is crowded or fledgling. It is also in this portion of the paper where I need to see a lot of supported insight (use footnotes + use reputable sources) to support why the company has succeeded, failed, or is on the brink of succeeding/failing.

Other points that need to be addressed in this portion:

● Has the industry been quick to adapt to new technology or slow?

● In terms of the specific company you focus on, what are the successes and failures it has had?

● In regards to the failures, why did they occur, how could they have been avoided, and was the company able to recover? For example, some common failures include a poorly designed business plan, the inability to generate revenue, a leadership vacuum (or bickering), a crowded industry, legal woes, and public relations problems. Some companies will experience one of those failures or a combination of a few.

● Furthermore, was there a company like it that tried and failed already? Why did another company thrive or fail in comparison to the one you’re writing about?

● What made this entrepreneur different than so many others? What made this person and his/her situation unique?

● And most importantly, is the business you’ve selected sustainable? What, if anything, could disrupt its success and why?

Your paper must have no less than seven reputable sources cited.

One of your sources must be an interview you conduct with a business or media professional(a reporter who has written about this company, for example) who can help you address the questions above

(you CANNOT interview a professor in the college or a fellow student).

The paper must have a clear introduction and conclusion. It must also abide by AP Style and

cite sources in-text using APA style. Quoted material must be no longer than two lines and

must abide by the 2:1 rule; meaning, for every line you quote, you must have at least two lines

of explanation/discussion. Spelling and grammar errors will have points deducted. More

information on the paper will be provided weeks before it is due.

Wikipedia (and any other wiki-type sites) are not acceptable sources for all papers in this

class.

Companies or people you cannot profile and which will result in a 0 for the assignment (that’s

not to say they cannot be mentioned in your writing in a compare/comparison sort of way):

- Facebook

- ESPN

- LinkedIn

- Yahoo

- Any media company that is publicly traded

- Mashable

- Slate

- Salon

- Fark

- Drew Curtis

- Suck

- Vox (which owns sites like SB Nation)

- Vice

- Shane Smith

- ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, Disney

- Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz

and Chris Hughes

- Buzzfeed

- Jack Dorsey

- Twitter (X)

- Gawker

- Nick Denton

- Jonah Peretti, John S. Johnson III

- Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, Andrew Breitbart

- YouTube

- Reddit

- Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian

- Myspace

- Drudge Report - Brad Greenspan, Chris DeWolfe, Josh Berman, Tom Anderson

- Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim

- Instagram

- Pinterest

- Snapchat

- Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger

- Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown

- Huffington Post