Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Some notes on Pete Tridish talk


There's some really good background on Tridish in a 2004 Mother Jones article. One interesting fact is he took the name Pete Tridish (pronounced petri dish) because he sees himself as helping to promote positive community growth to counterbalance corporate control. This is how the writer describes him and the Prometheus Radio Project he founded: "Prometheus, which consists of Tridish and two colleagues, has become a guiding light for community groups around the country hoping to launch low-power FM stations. Tridish & Co. provide technical advice, help with the licensing process, and even organize radio "barn raisings," at which low-power activists from around the world converge on a community for three days to get a new station up and running."

More recently, the Philadelphia Inquirer published this 2012 interviewed with Tridish.

Tridish's occupation, according to his LinkedIn profile is "Freelance Troublemaker."


Some notes from his Sept. 24 talk "A radio for the Voiceless Around the World," at UMass:

Tridish is a radio engineer and media activist. Martha Fuentes-Bautista, a communications professor who introduced him, described him as above all, "a social innovator."

A self-described "troublemaker," what he likes to do is "tip the scales" between the powerful and powerless. One way of doing this is showing people around the world how to build their own radio stations from scratch, so they don't have to rely on information controlled by corporate media organizations. He tries to create a experience of "what it will be like when we're all working for ourselves."

His biggest piece of advice for new college graduates is to find a "crappy construction job," save $2,000 and go live somewhere else in the world and learn a new language. Tridish said he didn't do that himself; he waited until he was 30.

Since then, he's worked in over 20 countries helping community groups start radio stations. He talked about his experiences in Tanzania, Mexico, Thailand and some other countries

Tridish structured his presentation as a series of lessons he learned in other countries, including, for example, that there is "more to the world than left and right," that Americans need to let go of their "American sense of time," and that in America, "we're taught that we're the best," but that "you might be surprised."

Tridish said of his fellow Americans, "It's super-interesting to see ourselves through other people's eyes." Most people he's met think Americans are "barbarians" when it comes with food, for example, "wolfing down pizza" in front of the computer, instead of socializing with others while enjoying a meal.

He got probably his biggest laugh when he described being a carpenter in Philadelphia in 1996, "running a little children's garden" and working with anti-war groups. He and his fellow talked about starting a pirate radio station, but they couldn't pull it off. Then they read "Rebel Radio," by Jose Ignacio Lopez Vigil about the extraordinary lengths El Salvadoran rebels went through to create their own radio reports, which they broadcast every night for 11 years. 

"We're so lame," Tridish said he and his fellow activists said to each other the next they met. After that Tridish learned how to start a radio station and he's been causing trouble ever since.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Anaridis Rodriguez visit






Some questions for Anaridis Rodriguez

1)     Is there a certain way of speaking -- what we think of as a TV reporter or anchor’s delivery -- when you report the news that is encouraged in broadcast journalism school or by station managers?
2)     Could you tell us about a particularly dramatic story that you worked on?
3)     If you were able to report on a particular subject/beat, what would it be?
4)     Can you recall an awkward or embarrassing moment on-camera?
5)     How do you prepare a piece from beginning to end?
6)     Has being from the Dominican Republic and being bilingual had a big impact on your career?
7)     What was your favorite part about reporting on the Academy Awards?
8)     Why did you choose to go into broadcast vs. some other kind of journalism?
9)     How do you prepare your interviewees for an interview and to be on camera?
10)  Do you feel that you approach stories differently depending on whether you are very passionate about the subject or not?

11)  What’s a common mistake for a person starting out in broadcast to make?

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Schedule changes

 See changes to schedule  in red below:

SEPT 3 Introduction, In-class reporting and deadline writing assignment #1: Hand in 500 words with LEAD and NUTGRAPH about first day of class. NEXT:  read Chap. 5; write 300-word summary for next class. Bring  in three or more written ideas of speeches/events to attend, ideally during class time, at UMass or nearby in the coming days.
SEPT 5  Discuss Chap. 5 and speech options, discuss first-day pieces. NEXT: Read Chap. 16 on speeches, write 200-word summary for next class. ALSO READ CHAPTER 15 ON INTERVIEW PRINCIPLES FOR NEXT CLASS (BULLET POINTS ARE NOT DUE) 

SEPT 10 Discuss chapters on speeches and INTERVIEWING, how to write a speech story.  In-class INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT- Interview a classmate on a topic he/she is an expert on while a third classmate videotapes the interview. Post  2-3 minute interview videos on blog.

NEXT: Read Read Chap 15 on Interviewing Principles to discuss. Write 6 "bullet points" based on information in chapter.
SEPT 12 Analyze videotaped interviews. We discussed going to see Daniel Brook, author of a new book, "A History of Future Cities," at 4:30 p.m., but we may go to the Amherst Block Party instead and write a 600-word event story WITH photos (worth 5 percent of total grade), due next class/Sept. 17  in-class interviewing/(multimedia)/writing exercise  #2 : In groups of 3, one person interviews a classmate after determining a topic that person is an expert on while the third person films the exchange to be posted on the class blog (or class Facebook page?) to analyze. Repeat until all three class members have been recorded. (5 percent of total grade)
NEXT: Write a brief profile pitch to present next class.

SEPT 17 SPEECH/EVENTPAPER MAY BE DUE DEPENDING UPON THE SPEECH/EVENT WE ATTEND Present profile pitch; analyze interview videos; prepare questions for class visitor. NEXT: Read Chaps. 2 and 3. Write 500 word “pre-first draft” profile with lead, nutgraph and quote(s).
SEPT 19 VISITOR TO CLASS - Prepare questions in advance; interview visitor, take notes and write a 600-word piece  (worth 5 percent of total grade) due next class/Sept. 24. NEXT: Read Chap. 7 on the Writer's Art.

SEPT 24 Peer edit "pre-first draft"  of profile with lead, nutgraph and one or more quotes. -- Discuss Chaps. 2 and 3.  In-class work on profiles: write 100-200 words related to the subject of your profile SHOWING something (vs TELLING) , post it on the blog and critique. 
SEPT 26 SPEECH PAPERS DUE 650-750 words on speaker. Include word count. In-class, write mini pieces 400-500 words on a classmate based on your taped interviews. First draft of profile will be due on Tuesday, Oct. 1. (1,000 words, include word count.) FIRST DRAFT PROFILE DUE (INCLUDE WORD COUNT) Discuss feature stories. In-class, deadline writing assignment #3: In pairs, interview 4 people on campus on subject TBA; write 500 word story on-deadline with quotes from each of your sources.


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Fall 2013 Syllabus


JOURN 300: NEWSWRITING and REPORTING, SPRING 2013 -- M/W 4:30-6:25  p.m. -- DuBois 1667
Journalism 300 is a hands-on, nuts-and-bolts news writing and reporting class in which we learn and discuss:
• What is news
• How to identify and pitch a good story
• How to report and conduct interviews
• The news story "formula," especially leads and nutgraphs
• Kinds of stories and how to tell them
• The importance of fairness, accuracy, telling the truth and serving the public good

MARY CAREY maryelizacarey@gmail.com, 413-588-4274
Class blog: Journ300.blogspot.com

REQUIRED TEXT: Melvin Mencher, News Reporting and Writing (latest edition)
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING
AP Style Guide online
Daily newspapers and news magazines. Try to scan online and in print at least one of the local newspapers including the Collegian, Daily Hampshire Gazette or Springfield Republican every day. Also be aware of what’s on the front page of, for instance, the Boston Globe and New York Times. Each class, one or more students will bring in a newspaper article and comment on some aspect of the news, news coverage, style, choice of stories or contrast between coverage. Being conversant with what is in the news is essential to writing it.

GRADES

Grades are based on timely and thoughtful completion of in-class and out-of-class writing assignments and quizzes, multi-media blog, attendance and in-class participation. Writing criteria include news judgment, clarity of writing, grammar, accuracy, organization, spelling, conciseness, use of AP style, and meeting deadlines. Although the big picture things like news judgment and solid reporting are important, misspelling names and other seemingly minor shortcomings can ruin a story and your reputation, so they will count. Numerical equivalent of grades: A=95, A-=92, A-/B+ =90, B+88 etc.

ATTENDANCE

Not making appointments or missing the action will also undermine your career and the class. You MUST tell me BEFORE class if you are going to be absent and it has to be a legitimate excuse. (I read my e-mail regularly and have a phone message machine at home.) Otherwise you will receive zeroes for the day’s assignments. Please do not be late or leave early. More than three absences and/or repeatedly being late or leaving early will result in a significantly lowered final grade, with the grade being lowered by a full half grade for each absence over three.
CELL PHONE RINGERS MUST BE TURNED OFF. NO TAPING WITHOUT PERMISSION – IT'S ILLEGAL. NO READING FACEBOOK, UMASS MEMES etc ONLINE DURING CLASS!

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

In-class writing assignments usually won’t be longer than 2-3 typewritten pages. Most major assignments are 1,000 words or 4 pages. First drafts must be in turned in on-time for credit. Not turning in a first draft or turning in an insufficiently complete first draft will result in a zero for the first draft and a significantly lower final draft grade. Among your assignments are a profile (counts for 15 percent of final grade), feature (15 percent), coverage of a speech (10 percent), issue piece (20 percent)  analysis on deadline  and deadline writing (20 percent), blog (10 percent), minor assignments, quizzes, participation (10 percent).

HONESTY


Any instance of plagiarism or any other form of cheating is cause for course failure.