Advocacy Journalism

Why do this project?

Advocacy journalism, as the title suggests, is when you advocate for something. It means you champion it, support it and try to stand up for it. This project will give children first-hand experience of undertaking and writing up original research. It will also provide the opportunity for them to learn about local causes and the power of community action. It is a legitimate way for them to learn how news/magazine articles are used to inform, entertain and persuade people.

This can be a truly collaborative project that brings home and school together. Parents and carers can be involved and children will see their writing ‘get to work’ by informing others in the local community about their chosen charity. They see what writing an article in a journalistic style can do. You will be struck by the sheer variety of local charities and the children’s personal commitment to them. You may want to compile a list of charities yourself which the children could potentially use. A great many children will, however, be able to choose charities that they, or someone close to them, have been directly involved with or received help from. This will make the project feel even more important to them personally.

Things to bear in mind:

To make the writing truly purposeful, your school could set up a small charity grant fund and invite the community to top this up. This fund could then be used as a ‘prize’ for the best three articles. The prize money could be sent along with the articles to the ‘winning’ charities. Depending on the focus, each article could be placed into one of three groups, for example: