Fall semester: greatest hits

the profession of gathering, editing, and publishing news reports and related articles for newspapers, magazines, television, radio or on-line

the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience

what we’re going to study for the next 34 weeks!

Journalism

Straight ahead journalism... papers, mags, websites, TV stations, radio

Journalism for profits and non-profits such as colleges, governments, big companies. AKA: Internal Communications

PR Government relations Legal field Politics General business

Possible career paths for journalists

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

First Amendment

“1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[a] among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

Luke 1:1-4 (NIV)

Seven elements of news

I can never prepare pancakes in England

ImpactConflictNoveltyProminenceProximity ImmediacyEmotions

Accuracy

Most important characteristic of any story

Check every name, number, quote... every detail

John Hopkins University = F/E You’ll never have all the facts, but

the ones you have must be accurate

Which brings us to objectivity Most mainstream journalists contend

they strive for objectivity... even at pubs such as Time, Newsweek, NY Times, Washington Post et. al

Objective = provable “Properly understood, objectivity

provides the method most likely to yield the best obtainable version of the truth.”

Taking great notes

Without great notes, you can’t write a great story

It all starts with a notebook Then your own system of note

taking: shorthand, organization, pen, fact organization, etc.

Learn to write while looking at subject; talk about one thing and write about another; give yourself time to catch up

Interviewing

It’s a skill you’ve got to develop to be a great reporter

Interviewing is a social skill: friendly but aggressive; polite but probing; sympathetic but skeptical

In person interview Phoner Email Scrum (lots of people on one

interviewee)

On, off the record, on background Different sets of ground rules for

interviews The vast majority of interviews are

“on the record”: everything is for publication

“Off the record”: information can’t be printed or used in any form

“On background”: can use stuff, but no attributi0n

Make sure you and source agree on rules!

If you’re a reporter, somebody’s gotta say it Unless it’s a well known fact – the

earth is round – you usually need an attribution

You have to indicate the source of most fact, all opinions and quotes

Must keep your own opinions out of story: i.e., you can’t say Mrs. B is a dynamo. Tom Pellegrino can say that and you can quote him

So what is the IP?

The lead, which summarizes the story’s most important facts

Second graph adds more details or background

This graphs addsmore factsMore facts

Five Ws (and an H)

Who

Five Ws (and an H)

Who: ran for the TD, robbed the bank, insulted the commissioner... who made this news happen?

Five Ws (and an H)

What:

Five Ws (and an H)

What: what happened, what’s going on, what is the point of this story?

Five Ws (and an H)

When: When did this all take place?

Five Ws (and an H)

Where: Where’s this news happening: on the basketball court, in the Supreme Court, in the classroom at LAF?

Five Ws (and an H)

Why:

Five Ws (and an H)

Why: Why did the tax bill fail? Why did the heiress leave $15 million to her dog? Why did the public high-school ban prayer at the football game?

Five Ws (and an H)

How: How does the reader find the hot-new restaurant? How does the mayor get away with not living in her own city? How can the reader avoid listeria in his salad?

Five Ws (and an H)

WhoWhatWhereWhenWhyHow

Writing great ledes

Remember your five Ws and an H Remember what makes news Ledes are short: almost always less

than 30 words. Count ‘em! Generally a single sentence; can be

two if you’ve got great materials. But let’s aim for one-sentence ledes

Writing great ledes

“If you can master the process of writing ledes – identifying key facts and expressing them concisely – you’ll have a solid command of the craft of journalism.”

Writing great ledes

Collect all your facts Sum it up, boil it down Prioritize the five Ws (and an H) Rethink, revise, rewrite Is it clear? Is it active? Is it wordy? Is it compelling? Is it news??????

Other lede variations

Delayed identification lede Lede that withholds a person’s name

(or other key W) until the second graph

Don’t name names in lede unless person is well known (Prominence)

Other lede variations

Immediate identification lede Use only when somebody really

important says or does something

Other lede variations

Anecdotal/narrative ledes A mini story to illustrate your bigger

story Save for longer stories, feature news,

softer news

Other lede variations

Scene-setter: “It was a dark and story might...”

Direct address: “Your tax bill is about to go up after Sarasota City Commissioners...”

Startling statement: “One in three LAF students will drop their iPhones in a smoothie this year...”

Ledes are so important because they force you to organize and prioritize your material

But most of the time, the lede is just the beginning

Important to have some idea of how long your story will be: depends on your editor or teacher

Creation of universe covered in Genesis chapter 1... just seven graphs!

Is Genesis 1:1 the best lede ever? “In the beginning God created the heavens and

the earth.”

Brites

A featurette: generally odd or amusing nuggets

Comic relief from the hard news of the day

Ledes are fun, designed to draw you in... not inverted pyramid

The nut graph (or graf)

Keep in mind: basically two broad types of stories: hard news with inverted pyramid lede that gets right to the point... and stories that don’t get there until the second graph or even later

So when you have a soft lede or an anecdote lede, you need a nut graph to explain what the story’s all about: the first sentence doesn’t do that

Narration

Simply telling a story, using characters, scenes, anecdotes and dialogue... mixed in with chronology

Seen in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and online

Analogous to a movie or a novel: you usually don’t get everything in the first two graphs

There are specific techniques we can deploy

Vivid scenes

Capture the color of the situation and the characters

“We should all try to make readers see, smell, taste and hear”

Develop your senses for the details that make the story

Dialogue

People talking with one another Ideal when two or more people are

talking, especially in conflict Where would the Bible be without

dialogue?

Service journalism

News You Can Use What does the reader need to know

to act on this information Use of boxes, bullets, subheads Addresses, websites, instructions,

directions, maps, phone numbers

So what do readers want? They’re in a big hurry They have short attention spans They want stories that personally

connect... craft stories that focus on the reader rather than on the newsmakers: what does it mean to ME?

But they also want stories: real narrative dramas starring real people

“Innovate or die.” Richard Curtis, ex- USA Today

The hierarchy: Sarasota Herald-Tribune Owner: New York Times Company, a New

York Stock Exchange listed public company. Bought the Sarasota paper in 1982

Publisher: Diane McFarlin, el queso grande Executive editor: Mike Connelly, chief

news executive Assistant Managing Editor: Matt Sauer City Editor: Bart Pfankuch, assigns and

edits most of the local hard news

The hierarchy: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Also has sports editor, national/foreign editor, community news editor, state/regional editor, real estate editor, editorial page editor

In addition to news side, also has executives running circulation, advertising, and production

Terms, terms, terms

By-line: Reporter’s name and title Headline: Big type, almost always

written by copy editors Dateline Pull quote/lift-out quote: a juicy

quote from story that’s given special graphic emphasis

Cutline: the copy underneath a photo that explains what’s going on

Lessons from Pfankuch

Your writing: quality, deadlines, applying lessons

Your participation Scheduled exams... perhaps a MOAT DPQs

How will I be graded?

Assignment for January 3 Come back refreshed and ready to

rock and roll!