Sara Siddiqui, W14: Topic Refinement

The pitch exercise was extremely helpful to me. It allowed me to be give a brief, to-the point summary of my topic. Two weeks ago, when I finally picked a topic, “KONY 2012,” I was a little confused as to what aspects of this documentary I should focus on. I was not sure whether I want to emulate an On the Media-style podcast or Stuff You Missed in History podcast. However, after having the opportunity to work on this pitch exercise, I had a better understanding of what I should focus on and which podcast show I should try to emulate. Moreover, this pitch exercise allowed me to consider my audience, which is a vital factor that most podcasters consider when creating a podcast episode. I believe the “pitch” is definitely a useful pre-writing exercise in other assignments because it encourages one to narrow down his/her topic and consider all aspects of the given assignment. Most importantly, it leads us to ask and answer the question, “So what? Who cares?”

My refined show idea focuses on the ways colonialism was depicted in the documentary, “KONY 2012,” and it will encourage for a more nuanced understanding of the subject. I will include a variety of primary and secondary sources that will support my points.