Journalism 08/29/12 When picking up a newspaper, what catches your attention? What makes you want to read a story? What makes a story interesting? What are you looking for in the first few paragraphs of a story? What different types of leads have you noticed while reading the paper? Talk about “first day of school” newspaper different types of leads have you noticed while reading the paper? Talk about “first day of school” newspaper.

Benchmarks Week 2 Understand BEATS, and be assigned to one Understand quotations Read good and bad leads, choose best leads Highlight opinionated words in stories Identify the 5 W’s in a news lead List the best possible leads for a variety of stories Condense essential facts into an effective lead Organize and write 3 stories Write a news brief Unscramble the 5 W’s Write a lead Write a closer

FINDING ARTICLE IDEAS: A well-equipped reporter has something to write with, something to write on, something to record interviews with— and an idea. Where exactly do article ideas come from? Ideas come from beats, from sources, from interviews, from research, from assignments, and from what we will call “alternate perspectives.” Anything new is likely to be interesting, so good reporters work hard to find what is new— but the best reporters can look at something that happens every day, and they’ll find a way to write about that daily reality from a fresh perspective. They will “find an angle.”

Stories come from BEATS: Covering beats is extremely important. We attribute the majority of our successful news stories to covering beats. We have managed to spread our beats into the local community. A beat is an area of expertise. When reporters work their beats, they are doing the newspaper’s business.

They are setting up meetings, usually with people (whether administrators, teachers, or students) who are also engaged in the school’s business. When they meet with people, they should be courteous and well organized. They should have clear goals for the end results of their meetings. Their sources should be treated with the kind of respect normally associated with a business relationship. Beat reporters are expected to obtain relevant calendars of events and to attend important meetings or, on days they cannot attend, to arrange for another reporter to take their place. Beat writers are responsible for recognizing and proposing article ideas!

School BEATS: Main office, athletic department, academy events and awards, PTSA, counselors, school departments, principal, administrative team, attendance, lunch shifts, library, SGA and activities room, general events that are on-going for all classes. Community BEATS: Middle schools, Kiwanis club, City hall, Chamber of commerce, Community organizations, art events, concerts, museums, public library, restaurants, MIAMI BEACH IS FILLED WITH DAILY HAPPENINGS AND EVENTS!

Move quickly from assignment to writing, Brainstorm the reader’s questions. Decide on a focus point early but be willing to be flexible, to change the information you report. Find the heart of the story: an effective story has a single dominant impression. Ask two questions that keep track of the focus of any story: What’s the news? What’s the point? They address the reader’s concerns: What’s new here? What’s this story about? Why am I reading this? Keep thinking through the entire process: What’s this story really about and what are the essentials I must include? Keep in mind the “iceberg effect.” The strength of a story is the mountain of reporting that lies underneath, the interviews, details, understanding the writer will never see but infuse the story with power.

You only want the best; add the most illustrative anecdote, the most telling detail, the most pungent quote, the most revealing statistic. Look for revealing details that put people on the page. Use five senses in your reporting and a few other senses: sense of place, sense of people, sense of time, and sense of drama. End it first. Once you settle on a destination, it’s easier to plan your route. Write early: write what you know, and what you need to know.

Try this “Five Boxes” approach for organization: The first box, the lead, contains the image or detail that draws people in the story. The second box is a “nut graph” that sums up the story. The third box begins with a new image or detail that resembles a lead and precedes the bulk of the narrative. The fourth box contains material that is less compelling but rounds out the story. The fifth box is the “kicker,” an ending featuring a strong quote or image that leaves the reader with a strong emotion.

SHOW AND TELL: Both techniques, showing and telling, are very useful. The writer must know how to use both, how to mix them, and when not to use one or the other. The two techniques can and will definitely overlap. Showing is dramatic narrative, writing that lets the reader see scenes. It shows action. It uses vivid action verbs and appeals to the reader’s senses—all over the senses, not just the visual. It often has tension and emotional content. Telling is summary narrative and explanation. Showing sometimes is obviously an inappropriate technique in some stories and should be used judiciously even in stories when it is appropriate. The technique should be reserved for scenes that have illustrative power, for turning points into stories. Telling is the technique for moving the story along to the next important scene.

The inverted pyramid would be a pyramid upside down, a pyramid with its little tip at the bottom and its big base at the top. In journalism, the inverted pyramid story structure places the most important part of the article at the top of the story (the “wow” element), facts of middling importance (secondary information that puts the story in context) in the middle of the story, and the least important facts at the end. Basic news articles use the inverted pyramid style. More in-depth news articles and sports articles which often summarize their topic at the end, as well as creative features that try to grab the attention of the reader the entire time should consider the wineglass format.

Direct quotes are the preferred method of sourcing for out newspaper. Strive for diversity in selecting the sources of your quotes. Few will want to read a publication if it covers the same few people repeatedly. For each topic in an article, we ask our reporters to place quotes from three sources, and those sources should be varied in nature. Varied opinions are awesome, too! No quote should stand alone. Quotes should be between 5-20 words in length. For really great quotes in an article that focuses on human interest, the limit is flexible to words. If the quote is really strong, it definitely deserves its own paragraph! Be accurate. Every quote must be word for word. Quotes should only be tagged with “said,” but these tags can come at the beginning,middle, or end of the quote. Mix it up! Place “said” before the speaker’s name. Write: Said Anderson, “Quote.” Don’t write: Anderson said “Quote.” New person, new paragraph. Choose the BEST quotes.

Look over TIP SHEETS. They can be found in the 'Resources' tab of the website if you ever lose them. KEEP THEM, STUDY THEM, APPLY THEM TO YOUR WRITING AND INTERVIEWING! They will be used for exam purposes.

HOMEWORK: Imagine that you are applying for the job of working a beat for your school newspaper. Which beat would you want to work for? Explain how you would go about finding stories for that beat. Try to cover every possibility. Write your “job application” in an essay form. GET CREATIVE! The BEATS are: News, Features, Opinion, Arts and Entertainment, and Sports.