Principles of Journalistic Writing Professor Joe Dennis The Killer Bs Principles of Journalistic Writing Professor Joe Dennis

The Killer “Be’s” Be Right Be Tight Be Clear Be Active Be Smooth Be Quick

Be Right Accuracy is the pinnacle of journalism Mistakes destroy trust, careers

Be Tight Wring out every unnecessary word Give your readers everything they need to know in the first few paragraphs The 6 “C’s” of tight writing Completeness: answer the 5 w’s Clearness: words everyone understands Concreteness: avoid generalities, be specific Correctness: use correct grammar Conciseness: eliminate unnecessary words Courtesy: consider the reader’s reaction Fox News host upset Wonder Woman isn’t American enough

Respiratory Syncytial Virus threatens babies Be Clear Avoid jargon that may confuse readers Be sure to understand information Clarity = Credibility Respiratory Syncytial Virus threatens babies

Target targets Chicago Be Active Use active voice: subject-verb-object Replace boring verbs with vigorous verbs Target targets Chicago

Syrian refugees did not flee for tents Be Smooth Maintain a steady pace to your writing No more than two ideas (one ideally) per sentence Make sure the story logically flows from one idea to the next Syrian refugees did not flee for tents

Trump looks to privatize air traffic control Be quick Get to the point Use quickness to get reader engaged Trump looks to privatize air traffic control

The Killer “Be’s” Be Right Be Tight Be Clear Be Active Be Smooth Be Quick Focus on the Killer “Bs” in your editing process. Eventually, it will sink into your writing.

The Inverted Pyramid Most important information Least important

The Inverted Pyramid Most important information Least important

An alternative approach The “award-winning” Joe Dennis approach Sexy lead Focus on the essence of the story, “who did what to whom” (A lot more on this coming Friday) Lead quote The best quote from your primary source Reinforces lead Nut graf The rest of the who, what, when, why, where, how Advance the story with a transition Quote* Explanation/transition* *follow quote/transition format until … Closing quote or call to action

Or ”lede” if you’re a traditionalist Professor Joe Dennis It’s all about the lead Or ”lede” if you’re a traditionalist Professor Joe Dennis

It’s all in the lead … The lead sets the precedent for the rest of your story. Focus on the “who,” “what” and “how.” Not the “when.” Consider SEO. Be sexy  Spend as much time as you need with the lead before writing anything else Read the lead out loud. Does it flow? Are you stumbling over words? Are you out of breath?

It’s all in the lead … UGA named #8 party school. Same story, four different leads. Associated Press Atlanta Journal Constitution Athens Banner-Herald Red & Black

It’s all in the lead … Grammy recap. Same story, four different leads ... NPR Fox News Associated Press USA Today

It’s all in the lead … Types of leads Summary lead Contrast lead Delayed lead Anecdotal lead AVOID question, quote, imagine, you leads