Guerrilla Nature

This was a writing exercise requested as part of the process for a job application with a company allegedly called GMZ Media Group. They asked for a submission of a an article that had not been published and it seemed a bit shady so here it is, published before it ever gets sent to the company who could then theoretically just use it for whatever they please without offering any credit for the writing. The request read as follows (guidelines omitted during copy and paste, but are available on request) and the stipulations were a 200 word script for a hypothetical video entitled ‘Peter Doocy: What Just Emerged At Tthe Grand Canyon Terrifies Scientists’ followed by ‘a 150 word bullet point outline of the talking points’.

We are interested in potentially working with you.
To ensure you are a good fit for our company, we’d like you to please make
a demo/sample according to the instructions and guidelines below.
Please submit your sample within 24 hours of receiving this PDF.

We are looking forward to review your demo/sample.
Thanks in advance.

Peter Doocy Example Exercise

The iconic Grand Canyon is the subject of so much mystery. Theories about the history of the area are steeped in controversy. Explorers, expeditionists, researchers, historians, archaeologists, spiritualists, travellers and cultural commentators are among those who have theorised about what might have been happening in the Canyon since the formation of the fossils of animals that existed millions of years ago. Peter Doocy claims that his recent discoveries resolve some of the ambiguity about historical events that might have occurred amongst these ancient rock formations. Has one adventurer found the key to answering questions about the intricate artwork that can be found amongst the remnants of buildings which suggest the existence of a civilised culture? Can the evidence he claims to have found finally demystify what is clearly a very rich history, potentially revealing hidden truth about a secret civilisation that existed there millennia ago? Crucially, why would that possibility terrify scientists? Doocy’s most recent findings seem to suggest the existence of community that was way more connected to the Earth and the cosmos than modern society, as shown by the evidence available through studying these sites, especially the geometric patterns and images of celestial bodies in the rock art.

• Could the history of a civilization that existed in the Grand Canyon have been hidden?
• Might a cover-up have been intentional?
• Why would anyone cover up the existence of such a civilisation?
• What can we ascertain about the culture that existed in this civilisation?
• What did the ancient peoples who lived in this location know about geometry, cosmology and the connection between those two concepts?
• What does the architecture imply about this civilisation?
• What does the art in the paintings left by these peoples tell us about this community?
• What can we deduce from the evidence found about this people’s connection to their environment?
• Has science developed by the descendants of colonisers covered up a richer and more enlightening Amerindian culture?
• What has Peter Doocy found?
• What is Peter Doocy’s theory about what he has found and how it relates to the unanswered questions about the history of the area?

The challenge was followed by a question about audience retention, why it is valuable and suggestions of it can be achieved within the writing of an article. The response was as follows.

The term ‘audience retention’ in this context refers to how long a piece of content will keep users engaged and the probability of those users continuing to explore on the same page or site, or deciding later to return to the same page or site. Audience retention is usually dependent on how interesting and assimilable a piece of content is for users. Audience retention is important because markets are competitive, with lots of people’s attention being sought by lots of different organisations, each of which has its own agenda. In order for scripts to maximise audience retention, it is important to use words that users will recognise, but also include a broad enough vocabulary to cover plenty of key search terms, with the intention of increasing the SEO visibility of the page or site when people search for content, so that the result gets higher up the rankings. Importantly, the content must also be stimulating and engaging once users find it, so that there is a higher probability of audience retention, as mentioned above.

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