Spring 2012 February 22, 2012 Dr. Alma Kadragic

Tonight’s program Go over assignment from last week Some tips Discussion of problems writing a paragraph Looking at a good piece of writing News values

MMC911 Introduction to News Writing Looking back at Tony Orsten story Separate facts from writer’s style – “shark” Underline points you might use Make star next to possibly useful quotes At the end of reading, underlining, and making stars, what is the main idea you will express in the paragraph?

Writing the paragraph Follow instructions Assignment was one paragraph Do not use quotes from writer Use quote(s) from Tony Orsten Write paragraph which is beginning of a longer piece on Tony Orsten and twofour54 Paragraph should introduce direction of rest of the piece

Last week’s assignment Here is the compilation of what everyone wrote: What do you notice about each one?

Problems you may have You can’t write if you are struggling with the topic You have to decide where you want to go with the writing Put down a few points before you start as reminders Keep it simple Do you know KISS? It’s a good thing to remember

A good piece of writing In today’s National: A unique poetic voice falls silent by Rym Ghazal If you had to write about his life in 100 words, where would you start? How does the writer get across the poet’s personality? What are the key details used? What do you learn about the poet’s life?

Tonight’s assignment Describe our classroom in one paragraph Make a list of some facts about the room What do you think about the classroom? What is your approach? Factual? Imaginative? From small to big? Other?

Writing Exercise #1 again Write Word document to me as text:

News Values Adding two new internet readings for MMC Paper.pdf

Common News Values Frequency Negativity Unexpectedness Unambiguity Personalization or human interest Reference to key nations Reference to high profile people Conflict

More News Values Composition – competing stories Competition - other news media Co-optation – related to major story Prefabrication – already done Predictability – already scheduled Time constraints Logistics – travel, satellites, conditions, budgets

Updated version of news values Especially valid for TV and other visual media Visualness Emotion Conflict Celebrity journalists

Meet Grammar Girl How a podcast turned into a media network! turned-a-single-hobby-podcast-into-a-growing- media- network/?utm_source=Daily+Lab+ +list&utm_m edium= &utm_campaign=cd7c0e8a9f- DAILY_

How do you start? Remember the 5 Ws and How The opening is the most important Pyramid style – what is it? Jot down key points Put them in order Write simple sentences Use present tense mainly Other styles for features, backgrounders

After you’ve written Read out loud Change bits that are hard to say Proofread Ask another person if text is clear If not, make changes Read again Put away and give yourself a break Read again Hand in

For Session 4 next week Bring examples of news stories: good ones; bad ones! We will catch up with Writing Exercise #2 We’ll discuss how to approach the On Campus News Story

MMC911 Introduction to News Writing That’s it for tonight. Use the weekend to catch up with MMC910 readings which are all available now See you Monday in MMC910. Our speaker will be Magda Abu-Fadil