Story topic and angle
Sharks are one of the most ancient species in the world and have been on Earth for about 500 million years. However, they are at the risk of extinction due to human activity such as overfishing and marine pollution.
Research shows that the number of sharks in Australian waters has dramatically declined in the past five decades. In this case, it is necessary to call better protection for the threatened species.
My story will focus on the issue of shark protection as well as the relationship between human and nature based on the thought-provoking contemporary art exhibition On Sharks & Humanity. I will briefly talk about the catalyst and inspiration of the art exhibition, from the perspective of sociality and artistry.
For the artistry part, there are a number of different artworks in the form of painting, sculpture, video and poetry designed with creation and wisdom by the artists. Each of the works represents profound meanings and has a symbolic significance.
The sociality is the core theme of the exhibition, considering about arousing the awareness of the great public on shark conservation and environmental protection.
It is acknowledged that there are many shark attacks in Australia every year, causing great threaten to the coastal residents.
However, the government had better consider of how to make man live in harmony with nature in stead of placing shark nets across Australia, which could kill marine life and leave the ocean empty.
Narrative genre
I will write a feature article to tell my story, giving the background of the exhibition and the situation of shark protection in Australia, and describing the artworks in a persuasive way to draw readers’ attention.
Through the interpretation of the art exhibition, it is likely to cause the emotional investment into the love of sea creatures and the awe of nature.
Publication and target user group
I would like to choose Sydney Morning Herald as the publication. One reason is that it serves at one of the media partners of this exhibition. Thus, it will be more valid and convenient to publish the article on it.
Another important factor refers to its authority with 187-year history and more than 7 million total readers. This feature story is proper to be in the category of Conservation due to the topic.
The feature story target mainly at visitors of the exhibition and environmentalists. Additionally, the potential audience may be anyone concerned about wildlife protection.
Sources of information
I plan to interview several visitors in the exhibition about their attitudes and feelings on the artworks, which could make the story more real and touchable. Also, I want to interview one of the artists about the ideas and emotions behind the works.
The online sources I may use include the information of the art exhibition from the official website such as the overview of major exhibition, the preparation process, the artists and their works, the shark stories.
Additionally, I will mention Valerie Taylor’s opinions and experience about shark, who changed from a spear fisher to a shark protector.
Ideas for multimedia and interactivity
In my feature story, there will be a series of photographs of the artworks took by myself to enhance the visual effect and use hyperlinks to supplement the textual content.
I think your idea has the potential to become a good news feature. This idea contains news values and could attract audiences’ attention to read it as readers may be interested in the Sharks & Humanity art exhibition. I think you can also focus on one of the artists. You could explore the inspiration and concept of the artist work, and what and how does the artist deliver the idea of shark protection by creating the artwork. Besides, you could interview the visitors’ thoughts and feelings for the artwork of the interviewed artist. Your feature story could include appealing and various visual contents and would be a human interested news feature.