Chapter 27 tips and Review Writing

Journ300 – Chapter 27 and review writing


TIPS

• Give voice to all groups in society

NOT just the powerful

• The public’s need to know is an important value

• Consider the relevance of the material to the

Real NEEDS of the audience

• If the reporter cannot disclose in the story the

tactics used to gather information for the story,

such tactics should NOT be used.

• Be wary of treating people as a MEANS

• Be committed to a value system, but don’t let ideology

(your political party, religion etc) influence your

reporting and writing

• Be wary of promising a source help in return

for material

• In balancing moral alternatives, it’s most important

to not risk anyone’s life

• Balance the public with the private good

• A factor is whether an event is or will soon be public

knowledge

• ACCURACY is absolutely key!

How to write a review

LEAD: What, SPECIFICALLY makes this

video/movie worth watching or NOT watching.



NUTGRAPH: What this video, directed by WHOM

In what YEAR is essentially ABOUT. WHO is in it,

whether they are actors playing characters or real

people, in which case you may or may not give their

names, but briefly characterize them. For instance,

the coach of the basketball team portrayed or

a 10-year-old Australian girl who keeps a cane toad

a pet.



BODY OF REVIEW: Expand upon and support the

Assertion in the lead about what makes this a video

you would recommend that others see/not see, by

describing:

• Key scenes

• Important points

• Direct Quotes

Write like you would speak. Avoid CANNED

Language. Have some fun with these!

Additional AP tips

Abbreviations

• Abbreviate and capitalize titles before names:

           Ms., Sen, Rep., Gov., Lt. Gov., Sgt., Gen., Dr. etc
           Never abbreviate president, either before or after a name.

• Do not abbreivate United States and United Nations when uses as nouns. However, you should abbreviate them when they are used as modifiers and as parts of military titles. For example, U.S. Ambassador, U.N. General Assembly

Punctuation

• There is no comma after a person's name and any Roman numerals, Jr. or Sr. that may follow. For instance it is Martin Luther King Jr.

Numbers

• Dimensions: Use figures and spell out inches, feet, yards etc. to indicate depth, height,length and width. He is 5 feet 6 inches tall. the 5-foot 6-inches tall man.

Assorted

• Toward, forward, backward, upward and downward do NOT end in S.
• It's Daylight Saving Time -- NOT savings
• URLS of websites should be the full URL as it appears on your Internet browser. For example: do NOT write googld.com/news/ Do write http://www.google.com/news/.

Monday, April 8 deadline assignment

Interview at least four students on the subject of the perennial conflict between students and the community caused by large and destructive off-campus gatherings, exemplified by the "Blarney Blowout" and "Hobart Hoedown."

Ask students whether they participate in and/or approve of gatherings like these, even when they result in destruction of property, injuries -- and the potential diminishment of UMass's reputation.

Request to take their photos and include them in a short piece that begins with a lead based on your reporting, includes some synthesis and brings the personalities of your sources to life.

You might want to quickly read "UMass discipline report: 519 students involved in 348 off-campus incidents so far in academic year; 375 students sanctioned," an April 4 Springfield Republican article on the subject of sanctions for bad behavior and strategies for preventing it:

Feature tips

Due Wednesday, April 3


• Final feature, stapled to the first draft. Include WORD COUNT.

• Pre-first draft of Issue: 250 words with a lead and nutgraph based on first-hand reporting. NO un-reported generalizations.

• Conference is FRIDAY, April 5 at Hampshire College’s Franklin Patterson Hall WRITE 400-500 word news report; post on blog

Feature tips:

• Write your feature with the idea that you will try to get it published. Don’t include material that will appear “dated” or as if it’s “old news” a few weeks from now. If your feature is about an event that is coming up, mention the date and time of the event high in the story.
• Do NOT lead with a sweeping, unreported generalization; plunge right into the reported material
• Describe/SHOW vs. Tell
• The more reporting, the better. You can’t make up for a lack of reporting by trying to write cleverly. You need several voices, so that you’re not going back to the same source for more than a couple or so paragraphs. Every page should have a lively, dynamic mix of voices – not just one person!
• Eliminate wordiness! Do NOT repeat anything!!
• Paraphrase or rewrite rather than using parentheses/brackets. You should only need to use parentheses once or twice a year – NOT once or twice in a single paper.
• Keep quotes short so that they have a greater impact. Paraphrase!!
• Don’t jam together, spliced by a comma, two complete and unrelated sentences. For instance, don’t say something like, “Wearing her black moccasins, Jane Doe is a graduate of UMass.” Avoid getting into traps like this by using SVO.

Examples:

Aviva – “Wires, computer chips and various other electronic parts cluttered the nearly empty UNOCCUPIED? rows of workstations in the basement laboratoryGOOD SPECIFIC LOCATION; ESTABLISHES THE PLACE WHERE THIS SCENE TRANSPIRED of Marcus Hall at UMass Amherst on a recent Thursday evening.GOOD – PLACES THE SCENE IN TIME Among the mishmash of components and equipment GOOD VISUALS; AS THOUGH THE STUDENTS ARE OUTSIZED BY THE EQUIPMENT sat four students, focused intently on the prototype in front of them.GOOD VISUAL With their April 8 deadline looming, GOOD PLACES THIS IN TIME; ESTABLISHES THAT THIS IS CURRENT, NEWSWORTHYthe group was making the final adjustments to their Senior Design Project – a football helmet fitted with a real-time concussion analyzer.” IF IT WERE A MOVIE, THE CAMERA WOULD NOW ZOOM IN ON THE OBJECT AT THE CENTER OF THE STORY
Jason: Max Nowak pauses in front of a door, DOOR IS SPECIFIC, CONCRETE, VISUALloud music and shrieking voices emitting from the room. He bangs on the door and says, “RA’s on duty!” The room plunges into silence as a nervous resident cracks open the door. CHEERFUL TONE Nowak reminds him of quiet hours and recommends that everyone calm down. It’s just a warning – for now. INTRO PLUNGES US INTO THE ACTION/SCENE