Week 8: Journalism 2001 March 20, 2006 What’s misspelled? 1. 2. 3. snowmobilers designated snowmobling Announcements – New York Times offering a four-week free trial 25 copies out each day.
Download ReportTranscript Week 8: Journalism 2001 March 20, 2006 What’s misspelled? 1. 2. 3. snowmobilers designated snowmobling Announcements – New York Times offering a four-week free trial 25 copies out each day.
Slide 1
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 2
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 3
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 4
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 5
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 6
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 7
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 8
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 9
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 10
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 11
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 12
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 13
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 14
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 15
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 16
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 17
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 18
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 19
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 20
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 21
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 22
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 23
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 24
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 25
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 26
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 27
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 28
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 29
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 30
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 31
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 32
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 33
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 34
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 35
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 36
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 37
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 38
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 39
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 40
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 41
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 42
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 43
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 44
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 45
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 46
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 47
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 48
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Email
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
E-mail
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 2
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 3
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 4
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 5
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 6
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 7
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 8
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 9
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 10
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 11
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 12
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 13
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 14
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 15
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 16
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 17
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 18
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 19
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 20
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 21
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 22
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 23
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 24
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 25
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 26
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 27
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 28
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 29
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 30
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 31
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 32
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 33
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 34
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 35
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 36
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 37
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 38
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 39
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 40
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 41
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 42
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 43
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 44
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 45
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 46
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 47
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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
Slide 48
Week 8: Journalism 2001
March 20, 2006
What’s misspelled?
1.
2.
3.
snowmobilers
designated
snowmobling
Announcements
– New York Times offering a four-week free trial
25 copies out each day in Cina 104
Pick one up!
– WDIO-TV Tour: Tuesday, March 28
4:30 p.m., meet at station
Watch 5 p.m. broadcast
5:30: Possible talk with anchor
15 points Extra Credit
Review of last week’s news
Hard News:
(murders, city council, government, etc.)
– Major local stories
– Major national/international stories
– Major sports stories
Soft News:
(retirements, school programs, human interest)
– Local stories
– National/international stories
– Sports stories
Review of assignments
Overall excellent work!
Tips for all stories:
– Watch wordiness
– Use AP Stylebook!
– Put attribution after quote
– Use comma, not period, at end quote
Blah blah blah, she said.
North Country story
Excellent job!
“Real” interview good practice
Watch opinions
One sentence summary lead still strongest
Names OK in lead – why?
The sheer strength of the women working in the mines
and the beauty of a wintry iron range, brought actress
Charlize Theron and director Niki Caro to the “North
Country” Movie project.
Although neither Niki Caro nor Charlize Theron were
from the Iron Range working in the mines with men, the
story, North Country, still hit home for both of them in
different ways.
Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) and Academy Award
winner Charlize Theron (Monster) don’t want you to
think that they hate men.
The struggle that women went through in the mines of
Northern Minnesota is what drew actress Charlize
Theron and director Niki Caro the most to the film “North
Country.”
Review News Release Rewrite
First name not important in lead
Put attribution after quote
Style errors:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
States
More than/over
Dateline
Military titles
Academic degrees
Years
Numerals
Senate
President
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general by President Bush, pending approval by
the U.S. Senate.
A 1971 UMD Air Force graduate was nominated by
President Bush to the rank of a four-star general.
A 1971 UMD graduate has been nominated to the rank of
four-star general and selected to command the Air Force
Material Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Ohio after the Senate confirms his nomination.
The president recently nominated a 1971 UMD Air Force
ROTC graduate to the rank of Four Star General.
A UMD graduate has been nominated by President Bush to
the rank of a four star general, the highest rank in the U.S.
Army.
Hard News Reporting Stories
Interesting meetings!
Many style errors – possible 25 points
Many used quotes effectively
– High up in story, direct and indirect
Need first names!
One sentence summary lead the strongest
Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion
The Duluth City Council Planning Commission
voted Tuesday in favor of building a new hospice
care unit near Marshall School.
Project plans will be resubmitted to the planning
committee after local Duluthian’s tempers flared
at the February 13th Duluth City Council meeting
as they pled with the councilors to reevaluate
the Beacon Point Condominium project.
Due to the recent boom in Methamphetamine
busts in St. Louis County, county officials have
met with congressman Oberstar to address this
rising epidemic.
Mayor David Ross made clear his intention at the
Superior City Council meeting on Feb. 21 to do
what he can to save the Carnegie Library from
the wrecking ball.
The Superior City Council was confronted
Tuesday evening by concerned citizens of
Superior who do not want to see the Carnegie
Library demolished.
Citizens planning to enjoy the wilderness, either
quietly or on their all terrain vehicles will have to
wait a little longer before they know what trails
will be accessible.
Let’s rewrite the hard news story!
Chapter 11: Computer-Assisted
Reporting and Research
Traditional journalism skills:
– Good interviewing
– Accurate note-taking
– Organization and fast writing
New journalism skills:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
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
Local examples of CAR stories
Hospital deaths in state
Housing values rise
Nursing home abuses
Rip tide currents
State budget analysis
Online research
Newspaper archives, commercial
databases
– Duluth News-Tribune
Using the Internet
– Listservs
– Newsgroups
– Online forums
– Chat
– World Wide Web
What an email account means
– [email protected]
Name: lucy kragness
@: at
Host computer: Duluth University of Minnesota
Type of host computer: education
edu: educational institution
org: nonprofit organization
gov: government
com: commercial
net: network
mil: military
Types of host computer:
Listservs
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
– NAPANET
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
Save instruction email when sign on to a
listserv
Newsgroups
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
– Similar to newsgroups, but open to members
of a specific service
Chat
Online chat areas are real-time typed
“conversations”
Chat room
– Can be waste of time unless active area
– Major websites host chat sessions with
prominent people
Find chat rooms at:
– ICQ (I seek you): www.icq.com
– Yahoo: chat.yahoo.com
World Wide Web
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
Useful information
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: www.leg.state.mn.us/
Companies
– Often find a company: www.companyname.com
Duluth.com
Associations
– Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org
– Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
– World Health Organization: www.who.org
Reference Works
– UMD Library
– Information Please almanac:
www.infoplease.com
– Merriam-Webster dictionary, thesaurus
www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Search tool categories
Directories: organized by subject
– Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
– Excite: www.excite.com
– Health Finder: www.healthfinder.gov
Spiders/Robots: Roam the Web, index
words
– Google: www.google.com
– AltaVista: www.altavista.com
– HotBot: www.hotbot.lycos.com
“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
Metasearch databases: multiple search engines
– Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
– Metacrawler: www.metacrawler
Scouting reports: Evaluated, annotated by
scouts
– Poynter Institute for Media Studies
– FindLaw: www.findlaw.org
Web Rings: www.webring.com
Checklist when looking at websites
Authority
– Who sponsors page? Link to goals?
Accuracy
– Sources listed so they can be verified
– Free of grammatical, spelling errors
Objectivity
– Check if biases clearly states
Timeliness
– Look for dates showing when page was written
Coverage
– Is the page complete or under construction?
Ways to use website information
Story ideas: identify trends, interest of
readers
Use as background information
– 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”
Chapter 12: Surveys
Conducting a survey
– Formulating the questions
– Usually closed-end question: yes or no, one of two
choices
– Open-ended questions: tough to tabulate
– Testing the questions
– Developing the sample
Identifying respondents
Selecting a random sample
Determining the sampling error
Gathering data
– Face-to-face interviews
– Mailed questionnaires
– Telephone interviews
Analyzing the data
– Hand-tabulate
– Computer programs
Writing the story
– Don’t overstate results in the lead
– Must explain survey methodology
When are surveys used?
Election campaigns
– Harris poll
– Media polls
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5711627.html
– Political party polls
Local issues:
– Price of gasoline, price of beer
– http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/n
ews/13051565.htm
Pew Research Center:
– http://www.people-press.org
Survey rules and guidelines
Analyze the data carefully
Carefully interpret statistics correctly
Lead with survey’s most significant findings
Strive to humanize the statistics
Organize the story to help readers
– Use bullets for key statistics
Make comparisons among subgroups
– Gender, sex, age
Consider using charts for statistics
Don’t forget to explain survey methodology
Avoiding distortions
James Simon’s Top-10 Factors
1. Reflection versus Prediction: Polls as
snapshots
2. Sponsors: Are they credible?
3. Samples: Who was polled?
4. Neutrality and Accuracy: How were the
questions phrased?
5. Context: In what order were the questions
presented?
6. Respondents’ answers: Giving the “right”
answer.
7. Attitudes and non-attitudes: Measuring
intensity
8. Interpretations: Evaluating Pollsters’
conclusions
9. Statistical Significance: Are the results
meaningful?
10. Consistency: Comparing results across polls
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/27
News Release rewrites
– 3 paragraph articles
– Assume writing for Statesman
– Use summary lead, keep it brief!
Upcoming stories
Sports Reporting Assignment
– Final article due: March 20
Speech/news conference/multicultural reporting
assignment
– Final article due: April 3
Any challenges?
Feature Story Assignment
– Story pitch due: April 3
– First draft due: April 17
– Final article due: May 1
Feature Story Reporting Assignment
Story Pitch Due: 4/3
– No more than three paragraphs, 200 words
– Include 5Ws and H
– Review Chapters 15, 18
– Email to: [email protected]
First draft due: 4/17
Final story due: 5/1
Dan Rather Assignment
Out of Class Assignment: Due 3/20
Next week’s assignment
News Release rewrites
Due: March 27
– Email: [email protected]
Today’s assignment
Computer Assisted Reporting Assignment
– Go to: http://www.d.umn.edu/~lkragnes
Egradebook
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