Transcript Week 8: Journalism 2001 October 27, 2008 What’s misspelled? 1. 2. 3. snowmobilers designated snowmobling Lauren the Editor! Mary the Traveling Editor! Announcements  Election coverage: – Will email information Review of last week’s news  Hard.

Week 8: Journalism 2001
October 27, 2008
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Lauren the Editor!
Mary the Traveling Editor!
Announcements
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Election coverage:
– Will email information
Review of last week’s news
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Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
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Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Upcoming stories
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Hard News 2 Reporting Assignment
– Final article was due: October 23
– Tonight will edit classmate’s story, return feedback
– Rewrite/edit stories in class, will be put up on class weblog
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Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: Thursday, November 6
– Any problems?
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Community Journalism reporting assignment
– Story pitch due: October 29
– Final article due: November 17
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Feature Story Assignment: Will discuss next week
– Story pitch due: November 10
– First draft due: November 24
– Final article due: December 8
Community Journalism Reporting
Assignment
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Story Pitch Due: Wednesday, October 29
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No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
Include 5Ws and H
Email to: [email protected]
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Divide the city into zones: Each reporter picks a neighborhood to cover
Go out into an area of Duluth, report on a topic of interest in that area
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Graffiti Graveyard: Ashley
Canal Park: Kate, Nick
Central Hillside: Gram
Chester Park/UMD: Kjestine, Pat
Congdon Park
Cotton: Betsy
Downtown/Central Business District: Mary
Duluth Heights: Lauren
East Hillside/Endion
Kenwood: Dane
Lakeside/Lester Park: Joli
Lincoln Park/West End
Park Point
Piedmont Heights
West Duluth
Woodland: Tessa
Final story due: November 17
I'm not from Duluth and I've been researching
Woodland for my community story for a couple
days on Duluth News tribune to try and get an
idea of what issues have come out of that
community recently. All I know is that it has a
really really cold ice rink. I went on the city web
site to try and get an idea of where it is and I
know its in district 8, but the agenda and
minutes for the district meetings haven't been
updated for about a year. I'll try going to the
Woodland Recreation Center after spring break,
I wasn't able to make it out there because of
midterms and papers due this week. I just
wanted to let you know I'm not blowing off the
assignment, I'm just having trouble.
As of right now I don't have a definite topic for the community news
story. However, I do have a few strategies that can help me come
up with a topic. My target area is the Chester Park/UMD
community, so there is a good chance that my story will focus on
the school or its students. Because of this, I'm going to have to
keep my ears open around school for interesting events or stories
occurring in the community
Another strategy of mine involves reading through the Duluth News
Tribune and The Statesman for community events. Since I'll be
gone for a week over spring break, I plan on checking the Duluth
News Tribune Web site daily for news relating to the school or
Chester Park area that would be an interesting topic. UMD's Web
site also has a number of links about community events, so I'll take
a look at those to see if there is anything that could be used as a
topic for this article.
After I come up with a topic I'll probably have to go around campus
and Chester Park area to interview people for my article, so I'll also
have to come up with some questions.
Community story ideas
Spring 2008 Class Weblog:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lkragnes/jour2001
spring2008/community_journalism/
Fall 2007 Class Weblog:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lkragnes/jour2001
fall2007/community_journalism/
Chapter 18: News Releases
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What is a news release?
– Announcements
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New line of products
Events
Promotions
Public service announcements
– Cause-promoting
 Fundraising
 Volunteers
– Image-building
 Politicians
 Corporations
Evaluating news releases
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Does it have news value?
– Local, regional or national
Is it trying to gain free publicity?
 Is it worth following up?
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– Story and/or photograph
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Can it be trusted?
What is Public Relations?
Promoting an organization, institution or
corporation
 UMD Communicators Council
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– University Relations
– Natural Resources Research Institute
– Minnesota Sea Grant
Which releases will be used?
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No set formula
– Interests of reporters, editors
– How many people affected
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Usually rewritten
– Eliminate “fluff:” self-serving, promotional info
– Embarrassing if two media use exact same
wording
– Often raise additional questions
Emailed releases
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www.eReleases.com
– How to write a press release
 Concise
 Well-written
 Factual
 Honest
 Timely
Using news releases
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Boiling down a handout
– Determine 5Ws and H
– Find the lead
– Eliminate fluff
– Avoid free ads
– Determining local news value
How to write a news release
Avoiding hype
 Avoiding jargon
 Structure of a release
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 Contact information
 For Immediate Release
 Dateline
 Headline
 Lead, inverted pyramid style copy
 Quotes
 Boilerplate paragraph
Handouts
Wise Words from PR Week Career Guide
 Journalism can be a deadly profession
 Is there a “right” way to report horrific
news?
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– Column by Nancy Barnes, Editor
– Minneapolis Star Tribune
Chapter 16: Broadcast Writing
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Radio Station Organizational Chart
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Television station organizational chart
Local television stations
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KBJR/KDLH
– http://www.kbjr.com/
 Joel Runck story
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WDIO
– http://www.wdio.com/
Successful alumni/students
- Amy Rutledge
WDIO-TV Tour
Dan Rather
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Dan Rather stepped down as anchor and
managing editor of the CBS Evening News March
2005, 24 years after his first broadcast in that
position.
His last broadcast as anchor was March 9, 2005,
the 24th anniversary of when he assumed the
position from Walter Cronkite.
Rather’s impact on television news
Who replaced Dan Rather as the
permanent CBS anchor?
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Peter Jennings
Katie Couric
Sam Donaldson
Broadcast Style
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Numbers
– Simplify complicated numbers: approximately,
more than, about, almost
– Vary wording to help announcer, listener
– Spell out numbers under 12
– Use a hyphenated combination of numerals
and words to express thousands
– Use round numbers:
 $2,001,894.46: slightly more than two million
dollars
Broadcast writing websites
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Newswriting for Radio:
– http://www.newscript.com/
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Writing for Broadcast:
– http://www.udel.edu/UDWI/other/writing_for_broadc
ast.html
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National Association of Broadcasters
– http://www.nab.org/
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Radio-Television News Directors Association &
Foundation
– http://www.rtndf.org/
Checklist for broadcast writers
Write the way you talk
 Write simply
 Use short words and short sentences
 Use active verbs and sentences
 When in doubt, leave it out
 Don’t raise questions you don’t answer
 Put attribution before quote
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Broadcast newswriting characteristics
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Immediacy
– Use present tense as much as possible
– Avoid yesterday’s story; update yesterday’s
story
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Conversational style
– Write the way you talk
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Tight phrasing
– Conversational style without being wordy
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Clarity
– Write simply, OK to repeat words
Radio websites
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Live radio broadcasts from around the
world
– http://www.broadcastlive.com/radionews.html
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KDAL
– http://www.kdal.am/
Do I stop him?
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“Do I stop him?” Reporter's arresting
question is news
– A TV team chases a story to the finish. Was
there a confusion of roles? “Film at 6.”
– http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics
/aiding-law-enforcement/do-i-stop-him/
What would you do?
Chapter 17: Multimedia Journalism
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Storytelling on the Web
– Print, broadcast journalists inevitably online
journalists
– Internet explosion: 7 out of 10 surf in 2005
 Established in 1969 by Department of Defense
(not Al Gore)
– Shovelware: text, photos, audio, video from
other sources
What’s the difference from print?
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Multimedia stories:
– Linear or nonlinear
– Unlimited background, space
– Less formal – snappy, conversational, edgy
– More active with searchable databases, blogs,
games, polls, surveys, quizzes, etc.
– Needs to be constantly updated
Multimedia story structure
Inverted pyramid
 Linear stories best on scrolling pages
 Screen-size chunks for nonlinear stories
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– Readers rule: Each chunk independent
National Geographic:
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearl
harbor/
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To link or not to link
– What do you think?
Story summaries: a type of link
 Sidebars, information boxes
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Slide Shows (Photo Galleries)
Take readers behind scenes
 Washington Post’s Camera Works
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– http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/photo
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Duluth News-Tribune
– Editors told to put stories on web first
– http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/
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Tips for cutlines:
– Good ol’ 5Ws and maybe H
Multimedia Storytelling on the Web
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Seven steps to success
– Find a fresh idea
– Focus your topic
– Plan and research
– Sketch a storyboard
– Report, interview, observe
– Edit and revise
– Test and troubleshoot
Your future as a Multimedia Journalist
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The Backpack Journalist
– Write, shoot and record
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What skills do you need?
– Strong writing
– Use digital still camera, video camera, audio recorder
– Edit photos, videos, html
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Global, yet personal
– How does it affect your readers?
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The Bottom Line: Sky’s the limit
– May the force be with you……
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
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Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
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New journalism skills:
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Searching the Internet
Using email, chat programs for collaboration, interviews
Building computer spreadsheets
Using online databases
Laptop computers
Cell phones
Wireless internet
Digital cameras
Precision Journalism
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Precision Journalism, book by Philip Meyer
– Among the first journalists to experiment with
social science tools of public opinion surveys,
statistical analysis to examine social problems
of the 1960s
– Desktop computer revolution of 1980s led to
journalism specialty
– Today, evolved into computer-assisted
reporting, or CAR
Stories by CAR specialists
Criminal justice sentencing patterns
 Election campaign contributions
 Election results
 Tax roll studies
 School test scores
 Residential segregation
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Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
 Housing values drop
 Nursing home abuses
 Rip tide currents
 State budget analysis
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Online research
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Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
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Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
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What an email account means
– [email protected]
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Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
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edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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Virtual community of people linked together by
some common interest
– NICAR-L list: National Institute of Computer-Assisted
Reporting at the University of Missouri
“One to many” communication
 Emails sent to all members of the listserv
 Most open to anyone, some are moderated
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– NAPANET
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Typically, 15 percent actively post messages,
others are “lurkers”
Where to find listservs
Tile.net: www.tile.net
 Profnet: www.profnet.com
 ‘zines: Use a search engine such as
Google
 Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
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Find a listserv to possibly join…..
Newsgroups
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Post messages to a newsgroup area
– An electronic bulletin board
Messages posted publicly
 Like listservs, good source of story ideas
 Google Groups: groups.google.com
 Online Forum
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– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
 Chat room
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– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
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Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.searchirc.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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Began in late 1960s as U.S. military project
For 20 years, used by computer engineers,
research scientists, government contractors
– Problem: Mastery of often cryptic commands
Gopher: Early way to navigate the web
Hyper-text system developed in 1989 by Tim
Berner-Lee, a Swiss physicist
By 1994, WWW began to eclipse Gopher
Why did the Web grow?
Hypertext markup language (HTML)
coding and web browser software meant
that Web pages could be created that
incorporate text, images, sound files
 Web pages designed to easily link to other
pages
 Web pages could be interactive
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Useful information
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Government websites
– Securities and Exchange Commission: www.sec.gov
 Annual reports, etc., about publicly owned comptanies
– U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.gov
 Population statistics
– White House: www.whitehouse.gov
– Minnesota Legislature: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/
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Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
 Duluth.com
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Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
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Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
 www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
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Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
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Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
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“Shaft” search sites: Like spiders, but only goes to
certain selected Web sites
– TotalNews searches news sites: www.totalnews.com
– Medical World Search: www.mwsearch.com
– Euroseek: www.euroseek.com
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Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
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Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
 Guessing:
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– Let’s find: White House, Burger King, Mayo Clinic, St. Scholastica
Checklist when looking at websites
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Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
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Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
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Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly stated
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Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
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Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
 Use as background information
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– When have new story assignment, search the
web for similar stories, ideas
– Find sources on a particular topic
Make sure the website is legitimate
 Never attribute by writing “according to
the Internet”
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Out-of-Class Assignments Due Today
Dan Rather Assignment
 North Carolina survey story
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Next week’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting worksheet
 Due: November 3
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In-class Assignment: Due today
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Editing classmate story
– Make changes, give to reporter
– Editing form returned to me: Worth 5 points
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Rewrite Hard News 2 stories
– Using all of the editing suggestions, rewrite/edit your
story
– Email final copy by TUESDAY to:
[email protected]
 Worth 5 points
– Stories will be posted on class weblog:
 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lkragnes/jour2001fall
2008/
Hard News 2 Review
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Overall strong stories
Remember to focus on news: What happened, not how
– Avoid chronology!
– Ask yourself “what happened”
– How you would explain what happened to friend
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Attribution strongest after quote
Keep graphs to 2-3 sentences max
Need background information
– If idea mentioned in lead, needs to be included in story
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Direct quotes bring story to life
– Trust your notes!
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Need first names for sources
Watch the use of acronyms
City council members voted Monday to keep the
“Minnehaha” window in Duluth, and off the
market.
The Duluth City Council members changed their
minds last Monday about the salfe of the
Minnehaha window after learning that it was not
worth as much as originally thought.
The Duluth City Council voted against selling
Park Point land and the Minnehaha stained glass
window at their meeting on Monday.
Tips for rewrites
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Let’s look up titles:
– Mary Evans, Daughters of the American
Revolution
– Penny Clark, Duluth Heritage ???
– David Ross, Duluth chamber?
– Carolyn Sundquist, Duluth Heritage?
Use background information
 Add quotes
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Egradebook
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Doublecheck assignments correct in
egradebook:
– http://www.d.umn.edu/egradebook
Portfolio
Store academic information on your
Electronic Portfolio. Each student has 100
mb of storage.
 Access Electronic Portfolio at:
https://portfolio.umn.edu/portfolio/index.j
sp
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