Evaluate the article (U7: M4)

M4 (U7): Explain the mode of address and structure used

The article I wrote for 'New Angle' was focused on the issue of fast fashion and its impact on our environment. I believe writing this article was well suited to the online news website as its audience needs to be informed of the issue, teens are one of the largest consumers of fast fashion brands so informing them of the negative effects is more likely to affect change than informing an older audience who are set in their ways. The mode of address used in this article was formal and direct as this was serious reportage that needs to use a serious tone in order to show the gravity of the situation which has been and will continue to be an issue for many years. Within the article, formal language was used such as the phrase "an alarmingly high percentage" to indicate to readers the significance of the issues being discussed within the story. The use of the adverb "alarmingly" shows the urgency of the situation and implies to readers that the issue is important. The purpose of this article is to inform readers and attempt to effect change, so using formal language that can still be understood by the younger target audience will help achieve that. Generating awareness for the matter can be achieved here by using a direct tone to portray the issues without sugar-coating the information and in this way further impact the audiences, encouraging them to re-think their shopping habits.

The structure used in the article has medium-sized paragraphs to separate each thought within the article, each new idea is split up in order to improve the overall flow of the article and make it an easy read for the readers. The presentation includes 3 images throughout the article to break it up and ensure the audience remains engaged throughout. These have been carefully positioned within the writing in order to both relate to the information alongside it as well as give audiences something to focus on during the duller moments within the article.

Additionally, the sentence structure used in this story varies depending on the amount of detail shared within that section of writing. For example, the long sentence; "The concept of fast fashion first began in the 1990s as the New York Times coined the term after Zara began producing clothes quickly after they appeared on the runway." has been used to provide context and detail for the audience. This longer sentence has been used to help the flow of the article by making the different sentences vary in length so as to appear more engaging. Contrastingly, a short rhetorical question has been used to allow the story to progress and remain interesting for readers "What positive changes in our actions can be made?" Finally, the article has been written in the present tense with references to the past and the future as this is a current topic that needs to be addressed but also needs to provide a historical context to better inform the audience.

The journalistic style used here is a news-style writing piece that has been able to address all the questions an audience can have including; What, Where, When, Who, Why, and How.
In my article, I have used a variety of sources as well as one direct quote from a professional on the issue in order to provide expert knowledge. The direct quote was from an environmental activist, Greta Thunberg who said "We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people." This quote will further resonate with my audience as she is a well-known name online through her frequent appearance on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, using a direct quote instead of paraphrasing has a greater impact in this instance. Furthermore, the source materials used have been referenced and linked at the end of the article in order to credit the websites for those interested in researching more about the issue after completing the article. 

According to the brief, this article will be distributed online via their news website and therefore will appear in a typed window. However, this article might also be shared via social media platforms if audiences choose to send the link to their friends and family so it must be able to adapt to various devices such as a phone, laptop, and desktop. The news company might consider making part of the article accessible offline by introducing a download option in order to improve convenience for the audience as they will be able to read the article at their leisure. 

Finally, the article uses elaborated code on a lower level in order to produce a serious article that the intended audience is still able to understand. Restricted code would appear too informal for the topic under discussion but high vocabulary words wouldn't be fully comprehended by the target audience so a mixture of the two has been used to present an overall engaging article. For instance, "your favourites" is an example of restricted code in order to better relate to the target readers whereas "dire ramifications" is an example of elaborated code used to show the significance of the event.