Example of a speech story

Hi Everybody -- Remember, for class Wednesday: Write a lively paragraph or so with information about one or both of the speeches/events we plan to attend on Thursday, Sept. 11 by poet John Ashbery at 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall and by Kenneth Feinberg, who directed the $7 billion fund created by Congress to assist the families of those killed or injured in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at 4:30 p.m. in the Goodell Bernie Dallas Room. Each person only has to attend ONE of these.
We'll also discuss what you need to include in your speech story and an example of a speech story (see both below). After, we'll look at what you've posted on the blog prompted by the word "ridiculous."
Speech story (650-750 words) due next Wednesday, Sept. 17.

SPEECH PAPER ESSENTIALS
1) The lead should get to the heart of the event -- NOT just say it occurred.
2) Include in the first few sentences of the story --what the occasion was, -- who sponsored it, --where it was held and -- how many attended.
3) Nutgraph: This takes the reader beyond the lead and sums up in a few sentences the major points the speaker made or the basic gist of his/her argument/case/presentation.
4) Body of story: Take the reader through the points that the speaker made in support of his or her case/main point/argument/presentation. Provide specific examples and direct quotes.
5) Interview 3-4 people who attended for their reaction/thoughts.

Example of a speech story:

Thomas: Press 'finally coming out of coma'
BY MARY CAREY STAFF WRITER
Thursday, June 29, 2006
AMHERST - In more than 50 years 'before the mast' as a political reporter, Helen Thomas kept her opinions out of her copy.

Now a syndicated columnist, she's supposed to tell people what she thinks, the dean of the White House press corps told an audience of about 75 people Wednesday at the University of Massachusetts.

Since the foremost question on her mind is why the press is not holding the president responsible for having deceived the country about going to war, that is what she intended to talk about.

'Happily, I think the press is finally coming out of its coma, slowly,' she said. But reporters did not ask tough questions in the lead-up to the American invasion of Iraq, she maintains.

A lively hour-long question-and-answer session with Thomas, who is in her mid-80s, was one of the opening events of a three-day seminar on the future of journalism, sponsored by the Media Giraffe Project at UMass.

Thomas knows what goes on at Washington, D.C., press conferences because, for a very long time, she stood sentry there. As a longtime wire services reporter, Thomas occupied a front-row seat at press events during nine presidencies, often getting to ask the first question.

In recent years, the feisty reporter has been reassigned to a seat in the back and is rarely called upon.

Thomas recalled being in the back of the room in the days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She said she was 'fuming.' She prodded fellow journalists to ask the president why the country was going to war. 'And no one did,' she said. 'They asked him, 'Do you pray?' '

'Reporters, I believe, helped pave the way for the U.S. disaster in Iraq,' Thomas said.

The media, like much of the public, has been 'cowed' since the events of Sept. 11, 2001. People are afraid of seeming unpatriotic, she said, and have somehow accepted the argument that they should not question the president when the country is at war. 'There lies the fallacy,' Thomas said.

She has written a book on the subject, 'Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public.' She signed copies of the book after her talk. As the blurb on the book cover from The Washington Post put it, 'No wonder presidents have shuddered at this woman's approach for four decades!'

Sandra Howell, of Hampden, a retired professor from Springfield Technical Community College, told the audience how she and colleague Roberta Albano of Wilbraham, first encountered Thomas in a Washington hotel lobby in 2002. Thomas was talking about the coming war, said Howell, who attended Wednesday's talk with Albano.

'Was I raving?' the wry Thomas asked.

'Yes,' Howell said. 'And I want everyone to know this was before the war.'

It was the first time Howell had heard someone express skepticism about the reasons for going to war, she said. 'I was appalled,' she said.

Since then, she has had two sons go to war and return. 'We still argue about it,' she said. 'Both of them are very patriotic.'

Shava Nerad of Somerville, a conference participant waiting in line to have Thomas sign her book, recalled seeing the grande dame of the press on television over 40 years ago. At the time, she said, her mother pointed to Thomas and told her: 'See, you can do anything.'

Hearing Thomas made Emily Moses, a recent UMass graduate in journalism, want to go to Washington and ask questions. 'I feel like I now have some sort of responsibility to do something,' Moses said.