Praxis Journalism case studies
Praxis Journalism · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Praxis Journalism (5221) is an ETS Praxis Subject Assessment used in the educator-certification pathway for prospective journalism teachers and school media advisers. ETS describes Praxis Subject tests as measuring "subject knowledge for educator licensing in the U.S.," and states that every state sets its own requirements, so candidates must confirm with their own state agency or educator preparation program that Journalism (5221) is the test their license actually requires before registering. The Praxis Journalism case studies are 5 cases and about 4,384 words.
1The Promise Made in a Parking Garage
Priya, a two-year beat reporter at a 22,000-circulation daily, met a city clerk named Dana in a parking garage. Dana said the deputy public works director had steered $180,000 in no-bid contracts to a cousin's firm and that she had copied the purchase orders.
880 words, about 4 min2The Headline That Said 'Dozens'
The Cedar Falls Ledger, circulation 9,200, runs a 14-inch story under the print headline 'Mott Swindled Dozens, Records Show.' The story reports that Gerald Mott, a 52-year-old remodeling contractor, was charged with one count of felony theft after a single homeowner, Ellen Pryor, told police Mott took 4,200 for a kitchen job and never finished it. The body attributes the charge to a police affidavit, notes that Mott has not been convicted, and quotes Mott's denial in the 11th paragraph.
863 words, about 4 min3The Poll That Moved a Race
Six weeks before the mayoral election, the Riverbend Ledger's site posts 'Holloway Surges Into Lead in Mayor's Race.' The story rests on a poll by the state university's polling center: Holloway 47%, Ruiz 44%, undecided 4%, n=402 likely voters, margin of sampling error plus or minus 4.9 points, conducted Sept. 12-16 by live interviewer on landline and cellphone, and the release includes the topline and demographic tables.
907 words, about 5 min4Closed Session, Open Vote
a reporter for the Bayview Register learns that the school board voted 5-2 at its 7 p.m. meeting to buy a $2.3 million office building from the brother-in-law of board member Alan Cho, who participated in the vote.
876 words, about 4 min5The Vigil Photograph and the Sneeze
A freelancer delivers 14 frames from a candlelight vigil for Jayden, a 15-year-old killed by a driver charged with DUI. The strongest frame shows Jayden's mother collapsed on the grass, face and jersey visible, two younger siblings crying beside her; a second frame is a wide shot in which a clearly recognizable bystander in the background is mid-sneeze, face contorted, and the editor proposes using a cloning tool to remove him.
858 words, about 4 min