So you want to be a reporter?

Final deadline assignment helpful links

Sut Jhally's "Dreamworlds 3"  transcript: http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/223/transcript_223.pdf

Fact sheet about "Dreamworlds 3"  http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/223/presskit_223.pdf

Really good account of the making of another video in collaboration with Sut Jhally, titled "Money for Nothing: Behind the Business of Pop Music.  The name of the piece by the video's producer Kembrew McLeod is "Making the Video: Constructing an Effective Counter-Hegemonic Message in Only Forty-Nine Minutes.": http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=commstud_pubs  Good brief discussion of the way Jhally's use of film clips is supportable by the Fair Use Clause of the Copyright Act of 1976, "which protects the unlicensed re- production of media for the purposes of criticism, commentary and education."

"Women are More Likely to Be Half-Naked on Screen and Other Film Stats": Interesting infographic about a related topic: women in film: http://jezebel.com/women-are-more-likely-to-be-half-naked-on-screen-and-ot-1472083619 (Example of the stats: "Women on screen are way more likely than men to be not-talking and naked or half naked. Using data from Top Ten lists, the highest-earning woman in Hollywood makes about as much as the lowest-ranked men.")

Final assignment

The final assignment is a 600-word  deadline speech/event story. Plan to email it to me pasted in the email by 11 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25 if you are going to write about a speaker at the Tedx Professor Speaker Showcase, 6 p.m. in the Isenberg Flavin auditorium.

If you can NOT make it to this event, plan to write about a video I will show in class on Tuesday, Nov. 26. If you go to the Tedx event and send me your piece by 11 p.m., you do NOT have to come to class on Tuesday.

Your piece should include:

•  a solid lead that makes an assertion about the speaker's main theme
• a nutgraph that sums up that this was a Tedx event and a sentence explaining what that is, and that it is the second one held at UMass,  about how many people attended, who the speaker was that you are writing about and some of the key points he/she made that you will expand upon in your paper. (Or, if you do the Tuesday assignment, a video about what topic, directed by whom, and the year it was made and several key points about the video that you will expand upon in your piece.)
• quotes from the speaker (or speaker(s) in the video)
• Meaningful quotes from two people who attended

For more information about what Tedx, in general, is, check out the website: http://www.ted.com/pages/about

Here's what the UMass Journalism Facebook page says about the Monday, Nov. 25 Tedx Professor Speaker Showcase:

"Prof. Shaheen Pasha has been chosen to give a talk at the UMass Amherst Tedx Professor Speaker Showcase at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, in Isenberg's Flavin Auditorium. Pasha will give a talk entitled "What's Your Story?" about how her own personal narrative informed her work as a journalist on three continents."

More AP Tips

See:  Twelve Common Mistakes
and for titles: Quote Marks, Italics, Underline or Naked: AP vs Chicago style

Titles

• Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, dean, president and chancellor when they PRECEDE a name. 

• LOWERCASE elsewhere. 

• Occupational titles are always lowercase, such as senior vice president Nancy Schmancy

TV, movie, book, newspaper titles:

• Use quotation marks for albums, TV shows, movies, works of art, speeches books, video games

• Do NOT italicize or put quotation marks around magazines and newspapers.

Vocabulary/words/spelling

• The words toward, upward, forward and backward do NOT end is S. For instance: She ran toward the front of the room.
• Use "more than" not over -- when you refer to numbers, for instance, More than 400 people came to the party. Not Over 400 people were at the party.
• Use fewer than -- not less than -- when referring to numbers. There were fewer than six people in line. Not -- There was less than six people in line.
• Blond is a noun for males and an adjective for males and females, as in She had blond hair. Blonde stands alone for a woman, as in, She was a blonde
• Fractions standing alone are spelled out, as in One-fourth of the students were absent.

Abbreviations:

• When using a month with a specific date abbreviate the following months Jan. (as in Jan. 1). Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Spellout when using alone or with just a year. Don't abbreviate: March, April, May, June and July. Don't capitalize the seasons in general.
• For numbered addresses, abbreviate Ave., Blvd. and St. Not Road.

Capitalization

• Capitalize iPad and iPhone when beginning a sentence.. It's Google, Googling, Googled.
• Academic degrees are not capitalized, as in She had a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. 

Check out this blog/website

An example of a blog that functions like a website: http://icecoldland.com/adventure-diary/

Court chapter terms to review

District Court
Superior Court
Civil
Criminal
State Court system
Federal Court
Indictment
Arraignment
Grand Jury

Some AP tips

See:  Twelve Common Mistakes
and for titles: Quote Marks, Italics, Underline or Naked: AP vs Chicago style

Titles

• Capitalize and spell out formal titles such as professor, dean, president and chancellor when they PRECEDE a name. 
• LOWERCASE elsewhere. It should be journalism Professor Joe Schmo. Do not abbreviate professor as prof. 
• Occupational titles are always lowercase, such as senior vice president Nancy Schmancy

TV, movie, book, newspaper titles

• Use quotation marks for albums, TV shows, movies, works of art, speeches books, video games
• Do NOT italicize or put quotation marks around magazines and newspapers.

The words toward, upward, forward and backward do NOT end is S. For instance: She ran toward the front of the room.

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.

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?

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.

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.

FALL 2013 Schedule

JOURN 300/CAREY/ FALL 2013—Tuesday/Thursday 4:30- 6:25/ 1667 Dubois 

This is a tentative schedule of topics subject to revision to accommodate the news, campus goings-on that we’ll attend and classroom visitors. Check the blog (Journ300.blogspot.com) for updates and changes. Note: Each day two or more students will bring in an article to discuss and post an "AP Style tip" to the blog.

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.

SEPT 10 Discuss chapter on speeches, how to write a speech story. In-class work on blogs. NEXT: Read Read Chap 15 on Interviewing Principles to discuss. Write 6 "bullet points" based on information in chapter.

SEPT 12 Discuss Chap 16; 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.

SCHEDULE CHANGES:

SEPT 17  Present profile pitch; talk about questions for Anaridis Rodriguez; if time, work on blogs.
NEXT: Read Chaps. 2 and 3. Write 500 word “pre-first draft” profile with lead, nutgraph and quote(s).

SEPT 19 Turn in pre-first drafts. Interview class visitor NEXT: Read Chap. 7 on the Writer's Art.

SEPT 24 Turn in 600-word pieces on class visitor Attend speech/event at 4 p.m. in Campus Center

SEPT 26 650-750 word speech story due
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.

NEXT  Read Chap. 8 on Features.

OCT 1 FIRST DRAFT PROFILE DUE (INCLUDE WORD COUNT) Discuss feature stories.
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.Have read Chapter 8 on features to discuss. PEER EDIT first draft profiles. NEXT: Read Chapter 18 on Accidents and Disasters and Chapter 19 on Obituaries. Write Feature Pitch

OCT 3 FEATURE PITCH

OCT 8 Discuss chapters on accidents and obituaries. In-class deadline assignment #4/obituary writing exercise  NEXT: read Chapter 21 on Courts.

OCT 10  In-class work on feature and blogs, discuss Chap. 21 on Courts

OCT 15 VETERANS DAY -- NO CLASS

OCT 17  FINAL DRAFT PROFILE DUE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) In-class work on feature drafts. Discuss Issue paper requirements, including interviews with 2-3 "experts." NEXT: read Chaps. 11 on layered reporting. and 14 on sources.

OCT 22 MID-TERM QUIZ /  In-class deadline assignment #5: In pairs, interview 4 people on campus on topic TBA. (5 percent of total grade)

OCT 24  FIRST DRAFT FEATURE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) DUE. PEER EDIT. 

OCT 29 Discuss Feature drafts, issue ideas, experts. NEXT: Issue pitch

OCT 31 Issue pitch.

NOV 5 In-class work on Issue papers. NEXT: read Chap 20 on police 

NOV 7 FINAL FEATURE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) DUE. Work on Issue papers/blogs

NOV 12  FIRST DRAFT ISSUE (1,000 words with 4 voices, 2 of whom are "experts") due PEER EDIT Discuss Police chapter. In-class work on issue, blog. Next: read Chaps. 26 on Taste in Journalism and 27 on Morality.

NOV 14 Discuss Chapters 26 & 27/ In-class deadline assignment 6: TBA

NOV 19 END OF SEMESTER QUIZ In-class work on Issue paper. Discuss Chapters 24 and 25,

NOV 21 NEXT: Discuss Chaps. 24 and 25 on Government and Reporters and the Law; Summary/analysis writing. FINAL ISSUE (1,000 words INCLUDE WORD COUNT) DUE Discuss Open Meeting, definitions of slander etc.;

NOV 26 – In-class deadline assignment 7: Watch film and write SUMMARY/ANALYSIS with quote(s) from someone in class (10 percent of final grade) on deadline, due at end of class.

NOV. 28 - THANKSGIVING/NO CLASS

DEC 3 Final blog presentations

DEC 5  LAST DAY OF CLASS/RECAP 

*** 

In-class deadline writing assignments and due dates:

SEPT 3:  In-class reporting and deadline writing assignment #1:  500 words with LEAD and NUTGRAPH about the first day of class. 
SEPT 5: 300 word-summary of Chapter 5 on leads; written list of three events we could attend on or near campus in the next couple of weeks. Should include 1) name of event/speaker 2)subject of presentation/event 3) Time and place 4) short explanation of what it's about 5) cost, if any.

SEPT 10: 200 word summary of Speech chapter

SEPT 12:  6 bullet points on Interviewing chapter.  In-class reporting and deadline writing (multimedia) assignment #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)

SEPT 17: SPEECH PAPER MAY BE DUE, DEPENDING ON WHICH SPEECH/EVENT WE ATTEND Written profile pitch: Who is your subject, why would this person be a good subject of a profile? What is the angle of your profile, who do you plan to interview about your subject?
SEPT 19: 500 words profile "Pre-first draft"

SEPT 24: in-class 100-200 words SHOWING (vs telling) to be posted on blog

SEPT 26:  FIRST DRAFT PROFILE DUE In-class reporting and 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. (5 percent of total grade)

OCT 3: Written feature pitch: What is your feature about? Why is this a good subject for a feature? Who do you plan to interview (4 sources minimum)

OCT 8:  In-class deadline assignment #4: Obituary writing exercise -- Write a fake obituary according to the standard obituary formula, including a quote from a person in the class and post on blog. (Make sure if it's clear it is fake.)

OCT 17: FINAL DRAFT PROFILE DUE

OCT 22: In-class deadline assignment #5: In pairs, interview 4 people on campus on topic TBA. (5 percent of total grade)
OCT 24: FIRST DRAFT FEATURE DUE

NOV 7: FINAL FEATURE DUE

NOV 12: FIRST DRAFT ISSUE DUE

NOV 14: In-class deadline assignment #6: TBA (5 percent of total grade)

NOV 21: FINAL ISSUE DUE

NOV 26 – In-class deadline assignment 7: Watch film and write SUMMARY/ANALYSIS with quote(s) from someone in class (10 percent of final grade) on deadline, due at end of class.

UMass Fall 2013 calendar

• First Day of Classes - Tuesday, Sept. 3

• Last day to add/drop with no record - Monday, Sept. 16

• Columbus Day Holiday -- No class - Monday, Oct. 14

• Monday class schedule -- Tuesday, Oct. 15

• Mid-Semester date --  Thursday, Oct. 17

• Veteran's Day holiday -- Monday, Nov. 11

• Registration begins for Spring 2014 --- Tuesday, Nov. 12

• Monday class followed -- Wednesday, Nov. 13

• Thanksgiving Break -- Wednesday, Nov. 27

• Classes resume -- Monday, Dec. 2
*Last Day of classes -- Friday, Dec. 6

Thanks for a great semester. I hope you'll keep in touch!

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

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