P4- Article Plan

The story I would like to cover relates to mental health and its relationship with school. In it, I will be discussing the correlation between school and mental health as a way of finding out whether students from Deyes High are being positively or negatively affected.

Even though my planned article does not cover all of Galtung and Ruge’s news values, it will cover a few. The first of these is ‘proximity’, this refers to the relevance it has to the people it’s being distributed to. In this case, it is about the UK and more specifically about Deyes at times, so it is relevant to my audience as they not only live in the UK, but also go to Deyes. It should also cover the news value of ‘ordinary people’. This is because it is just about students and what they’re potentially going through. As they might be able to relate, the story will be of human interest and may be able to provoke sympathy from people who do not struggle from mental illnesses. The article will also cover ‘ordinary people’ as it represents a large issue forming in our society.

I will present my information in article form as this is suitable for a school newspaper. The article will consist of shot paragraphs as I have noticed this to be a very common convention for newspapers of all types. I will keep my article to a limit of 600 words, as a longer article may increase the chance of a loss of interest. The main body of my article will consist of quotes from the Head of sixth form in my school, these will then be explained and then used to try and engage the reader. For example, if my Head of sixth form makes a point, I will explain it and then give the reader something to think about or relate to, such as a rhetorical question or a statement of my own.

Even though my article has good intentions, it could cause moral panic. One way it could do this is by causing readers to think that they have a mental illness, even if they don’t. It could make students paranoid about their mental health and cause for some of the possible side effects to occur (e.g. the quality of their work begins to drop). This could be done through sensationalist language and hyperbole that describes the extreme of the situation, which may cause people to think that the extreme cases are quite common. Another form of moral panic it could create is by turning people against school, as they might read a sensationalist headline indicating that school can have a detrimental effect on mental health and then suddenly blame all their relevant problems on Deyes High. To avoid causing any moral panic, I will make sure to not sensationalise such a serious topic. I believe this is important to do so as the subject can be very sensitive, therefore I will make it more factual than dramatic, so that no situations are blown out of proportion. An example of something I will not say but could do to cause moral panic is; ‘Students are going mental; could it be you?’


In terms of language, I will use sensible adjectives as the issue that my article is discussing is quite a sensitive one and I do not want to come across as glamorising or using the increase in mental health awareness to benefit the article. e.g. using mental health as a marketing tool as I know it is a popular topic at the moment. This would be terrible to do as it is morally wrong and could ruin the reputation of both me and the school (which has ties to where the article will be published). Rhetorical questions will also be used throughout my article to engage the reader. I aim to use them to make the reader think and relate. This is because this could further their interest in the article and even their connection with it. This could increase the chance of them reading the whole article, which is important to do when news can now be consumed so quickly.  


The article will be written in first and third person. I think these are the most suitable ways in which I can write my article due to the content. First person is suitable because as it is such a personal and sensitive topic for people, the readers need to know that it's coming from someone, rather than it being just information on a page. It gives the article a more personal feel and means I can also state that I too am a student. I believe this could be important to mention as what is being said will mean more coming from someone who is living it at the moment rather than someone who hasn't experienced that specific situation for a while or who has the benefit of hindsight who could say things that the targeted readers do not agree with. Third person also needs to be used so I can refer to the interview that I have completed with the Head of my sixth form. Without third person I could not correctly and appropriately incorporate the quotes into my work or explain that he has the experience needed to be classed as a credible source.

I believe if I deliver my article using more factual based, calm, quoted language, it will limit the amount of sensationalism that is possible. It will also inform people, and the more they know about the situation, the better they can form opinions of their own. Rather than just hearing about how school may be damaging towards their mental health and then blaming the school for all of their relevant problems.