Journ 300/Spring 2013 recap




1) First day LEADS

• Follow the lead rules in the book – must be grammatical, no cliches, don’t start with a quote

• Makes an assertion. Is NOT a classic bad lead. Gets to the HEART of the event. (If you had ONE thing to say about the event, what would it be?)

2) Interview practices (blog posts on another student)

• Establish a relationship; don’t interrupt, be prepared with good questions; get the correct spelling of all names

• Ask open-ended details that allow your interviewee to tell you anecdotes; press for DETAILS

3) Speech paper on photo exhibit

• Lead needs to get to the heart of the event

• Research in advance and prepare good questions; interview a lot of people who attended for a more lively piece with greater perspective. Try to interview the artist. DESCRIBE.

4) Deadline writing assignments on Chinese dancers at DCs, seniors’ post-graduation plans, thoughts on “ZooMass”

• Reporting is KEY. If your reporting is good the writing will come easy. If you don’t do enough reporting, you can’t make it up by trying to write cleverly; that usually doesn’t work. It’s much better to interview people in person, to go to the event you are reporting on, etc.

• Don’t use Cliches, euphemisms, convoluted and ungrammatical sentences, “canned” language.

• Be observant, curious and original

5) Minor papers on PSA script focus group, PSA try-outs, Amherst Police Station visit, Sexual Assault conference

•Lead must make an assertion

6) Profile

• A good interview is key! Ask probing questions. Get concrete details and anecdotes. DESCRIBE

• Don’t make them HAGIOGRAPHIC.

• Ask other people about your subject so you have multiple perspectives for a fuller portrait

7) Feature

• Picking a good topic is KEY. Spotting a trend and writing a story that hasn’t been written before is impressive!

8) Issue

• Picking a good topic is KEY.

• Identify experts and contact them ASAP

• Interviewing sources in-person is much better than by phone or email (BEING THERE is key)

• Experts are the ones who offer opinions/analysis. Your sources talk about their personal experiences

9) Review

• Lead should make it clear if you recommend/don’t recommend the movie and why

• Write as you would speak! Your writing must FLOW, or the reader becomes confused and loses interest

10) Summaries

• Synthesize information. Doesn’t have to be in the same chronological order as what you are summarizing

11) Blogs

• Should be well organized and reader-friendly; AP style and grammar should be correct; photos add a lot! Be creative and original