Now This
Assignment 2 (Proposal)

Karida Jia Hui Wang S3691282
Kris Jiao Yu Han S3637200
Kathrine Li Yu Liang S3732141
Qing Koh S3729776

Fact Check Brief
Does Australia have one of the highest loss of species than anywhere else in the world? The fact check story that we have chosen is related to climate change and the extinction of species in Australia. The article introduces us to the biodiversity of Australia, telling us how many species are unique to Australia and how Australia compares to other countries.

• –  It also talks about the extinction of species, how do people and departments assess if species are extinct
• –  Compares the number of extinction of species in Australia against the world. Australia ranks fifth in the number of extinct species, with the USA in first place with 266 extinct species.
• –  The article also tells us what causes the extinction of species, also noting that Australia is a special case. As most animals are endangered due to rapid human growth and habitat loss, Australia does not fit into the criteria as most of Australia is largely natural.
• –  It also mentions that the scientific community does not know what is causing these extinctions.
• –  The article concludes by saying that Australia does have one of the highest loss of species than anywhere in the world.

  Reasons for choosing this story
  We chose this story because we are passionate about this issue, as some of the causes of extinction, is also the causes of climate change, for example, Pollution. Climate change is a very big issue that more people need to be concerned about, and how it affects the world. We want to raise awareness on these issues, as more and more species are going extinct. For example, the Javan Rhino. A subspecies of Giraffe is also listed as endangered.

  This article was written in 2015, and updated in 2016. Although this was 3 to 4 years ago, this issue is still ongoing, and nothing much has changed. We want to inform the audience that fact checks regarding these issues remain current for a long period of time as these issues are not easily solved.

  Target Audience
  Youths
  Youths are the current generation that can make the most impact if they wanted to, as they span from ages 18 to 35. Today’s youth are also more cynical as compared to the previous generations.

Objective
We aim to educate the audience on fact-checking in order to aid them in doing their part to protect the earth and its species

Prototype
The format of our show is going to be similar to John Oliver’s talk show where there is one camera which is a close up on the presenter. The tone we are using for the show is satire and we are planning to build on it by using some props.
Here are some of the ideas and examples that we have come up with:

• –  The presenter gets progressively agitated as they start to realise that people are not doing much to help
• –  We can use soft toys to represent the species that are endangered and dying
• –  “If all the species become extinct, us humans as a species would become extinct too.”
• –  “The Office” type of camera work
• –  Use of gifs and reaction images to further bring in the candidness of the show.

  Elements
  We plan to include in an infographic video, voxpox and different reaction images to add on to the tone that we are going to adopt.

  Reasoning
  Satire is able to promote critical thinking. Youths know that climate change is not a hoax, despite what some climate change deniers might say. Although there are some youths that are partaking in movements like the #strawban, it does not actually contribute to lessening the impacts of climate change. Youths need to start thinking about what contributes to climate change, for example, companies that greenwash themselves into being more environmentally friendly despite not actually changing their ways.

  By incorporating satire into the show, we are able to invoke critical thinking within youths and therefore aid them in doing their parts in protecting the earth. We want youths to take action and thus create a better future.

  We decided to use an infographic video to summarise the statistics within the article as it would get really dry and boring if the presenter were to just read out the stats without any visual aids. By visualising the numbers, the audience would be able to retain the information better.