Writ 340/Paper #1/Spring 2026 1
Paper One: Magazine Style Business Ethics and Strategy Article
WRIT 340/Kavya
Due Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026, 11.59 PM Uploaded as Pdf to Brightspace
Points: 60
Description:
In todays world, the most successful business professionals are those who can interpret fast-
moving cultural, technological, and ethical shifts through a lens that is both financially sound and
socially responsible. This assignment challenges you to write a magazine-style article that
critically analyzes a current business issue from the 2025 headlines and argue your point of view
(POV).
Your task: Choose a topic at the intersection of ethics, technology, and business
performance and craft a persuasive, data-driven article for a mainstream business magazine.
Your article should illuminate your POV and make a compelling case for how business leaders,
investors, or employees should think or act.
Example Topics (2025 context):
o AI in the Workplace: Friend, Foe, or Both?
o Gen Z Leadership: Rethinking Authority in Flat Organizations
o ESG in 2025: From Greenwashing to True Accountability
o The Four-Day Workweek Debate: Productivity vs. Profitability
o AI Bias & Global Trade: Who Gets Left Behind?
o Financial Wellness as a Benefit: The Next Talent Differentiator
o Digital Nomads & Global Payroll Ethics
Audience Selection
Pick one of these magazines (or propose another, with approval) and write in a voice that
resonates with its readership:
1) Bloomberg
2) Businessweek
3) Forbes
4) Harvard Business Review (HBR)
5) Inc.
6) Wired
Before drafting, research your chosen magazines audience demographics (age, role, values,
typical tone) to guide your language, style, and evidence
Writ 340/Paper #1/Spring 2026 2
Once you pick your business magazine, please familiarize yourself with its reader demographics
to further zero in on your audience, i.e., age, education, etc.
In this original article, you will present a comprehensive look at the issue you choose and your
POV including both the pros and cons of your position. While you will address the pros and
cons, you are asked to take a firm position on the issue. Please note that your subtitle should
reflect your POV. Of course, you will need facts and figures to fully examine and argue the issue
from both an ethical as well as financial perspective regardless of topic. Business audiences in
particular depend on this kind of strategic information. We will discuss potential topics during in-
class discussions and apply them in the in-class Writing Lab.
Writing Guidelines:
To insure that your paper presents logical content, it should contain the following information:
o Identify the issue you are writing about in your article. An explicit statement is required
in the introduction and again, the subtitle should also reflect your POV.
o Identify the reasons that support your POV. (I would suggest limiting these to no more
than five).
o Evaluate the evidence and reasons surrounding the issue or reasoning in your article.
o Provide a minimum of 3 sources to back up your content. This means you will have to
cite sources in the body of your article vs. in an Appendix. (We can talk more about this
last one in class)
Elements of Critical Thinking in Writing:
Introduction: Incorporates a short explanation about the nature of the subject and its
significance to the reader. You want to preview the content of your paper and engage the
reader. It should also include an explicit POV statement.
POV Support: Presents the main points of your issue and point of view with supportive reasons
and evidence that include facts, statistics, data, and illustrative examples. This is the longest and
most substantive section of your paper.
Anticipate and refute opposing viewpoints: An effective analysis always includes opposing
views (for example, those who may disagree with you about the ethics of your issue) and even
some that an opponent might agree with. You want to demonstrate that you are aware of all sides
of the issue you are writing about and ideally persuade the reader to appreciate and/or adopt your
point of view.
Conclusion: This summarizes your main line of reasoning and perhaps suggests what action or
line of thinking readers should take. It also gives the reader a sense of closure by restating your
primary POV or postulating potential implications or consequences (either positive or negative
or both). In your conclusion, there should be thought provoking reflections over the substantive
meaning of your topic.
My topic is The Hidden Cost of AI: Is Innovation Fueling a Climate Crisis?POV Angle: The energy demands of AI data centers are a growing ethical and financial risk.
Requirements:

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