Robert McChesney and John Nichols event

Hi Everybody -- Here's the information about the event we're planning to attend on Monday and write about for the speech assignment:

February 1st 2010 Lecture/Reading
Time 5:00 pm
Admissions / Ticket information Free and open to the public.
Campus UM
Location Bernie Dallas Room, Goodell Building
Title Talk and Book Signing by Robert McChesney and John Nichols
Robert McChesney and John Nichols, the award-winning authors of twenty books on media and politics, will speak about their newest book, The Death and Life of American Journalism. Followed by a book signing.

Event sponsored by the UMass Department of Communication, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), and the Media Education Foundation.

Check out this biographical information about McChesney and other material you can find online in advance of the talk.

The speech assignment should be 750 words (include a word count after your name and date) and the basics are:


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. (We'll talk about how to estimate how many people are in the audeince.)
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 and include direct quotes.