1. Principles of Journalistic Writing
Follow the Killer “Be’s”
Dr. Joe Dennis • Media & Leadership Academy

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

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

4. Be Tight “Kiss off” unnecessary words
Write with a KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)
Complicated:
With one of its locations in Demorest, Georgia, Piedmont College sits among the foothills of the mountains of North Georgia.

5. Avoiding wordiness KISS OFF PREPOSITIONS! Write with a KISS
Complicated:
With one of its locations in Demorest, Georgia, Piedmont College sits among the foothills of the mountains of North Georgia.
KISS OFF PREPOSITIONS!

6. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: With one of its locations in Demorest, Georgia, Piedmont College sits among the foothills of the mountains of North Georgia. Written with a KISS: Piedmont College’s Demorest campus is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains. Words saved: 6

7. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: John McCain considers himself a supporter of the Republican Party. He is not, however, a supporter of Donald Trump, the President of the United States.

8. KISS OFF REDUNDANT WORDS!
Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS.
Complicated:
John McCain considers himself a supporter of the Republican Party. He is not, however, a supporter of Donald Trump, the President of the United States.
KISS OFF REDUNDANT WORDS!

9. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: John McCain considers himself a supporter of the Republican Party. He is not, however, a supporter of Donald Trump, the President of the United States. Written with a KISS: Although a Republican, John McCain does not support President Donald Trump. Words saved: 14

10. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: In class today, Dr. Joe Dennis taught his students how to eliminate excessive and unnecessary words in their writing.

11. Avoiding wordiness KISS BETTER WORDS! Write with a KISS. Complicated:
In class today, Dr. Joe Dennis taught his students how to eliminate excessive and unnecessary words in their writing.
KISS BETTER WORDS!

12. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: In class today, Dr. Joe Dennis taught his students how to eliminate excessive and unnecessary words in their writing. Written with a KISS: Today, Dr. Joe Dennis taught students how to write more concisely. Words saved: 8

13. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: The president of the college was upset by the critical coverage the student newspaper gave administration, and proposed at last month’s cabinet meeting that the college withhold funds that the publication relied on for printing.

14. KISS OFF COMPOUND SENTENCES
Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS.
Complicated:
The president of the college was upset by the critical coverage the student newspaper gave administration, and proposed at last month’s cabinet meeting that the college withhold funds that the publication relied on for printing.
KISS OFF COMPOUND SENTENCES

15. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Complicated: The president of the college was upset by the critical coverage the student newspaper gave administration, and proposed at last month’s cabinet meeting that the college withhold funds that the publication relied on for printing. Written with a KISS: Upset by the student newspaper’s critical coverage of the administration, the president asked cabinet members to withhold the publication’s printing funds. Words saved: 13

16. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Even little kisses matter! Needs a little love: The basketball team finished just one game shy of the record. Mini-kiss: The basketball team finished one game shy of the record. The police have not found any witnesses. The police have not found witnesses.

17. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Even little kisses matter! Needs a little love: Kesha is the best pop artist in the whole world. Mini-kiss: Kesha is the best pop artist in the world. He went to Wal-Mart and also to Target. He went to Wal-Mart and Target.

18. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Kiss off ‘tiptoe words.’ Tiptoe: The student was a little nervous before giving her speech. Written with a kiss: The student was nervous before giving her speech.

19. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Kiss off ‘tiptoe words.’ Tiptoe: Donald Trump kind of dissed the news media at his press conference. Written with a kiss: Donald Trump dissed the news media at his press conference.

20. Avoiding wordiness
Write with a KISS. Kiss off ‘tiptoe words.’ Tiptoe: My mother seemed to be upset when I crashed her car. Written with a kiss: My mother was upset when I crashed her car.

21. 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

22. Be Active BE ACTIVE! Use active voice: subject-verb-object
Replace boring verbs with vigorous verbs
Linking/being verbs: link a subject to a noun or pronoun 
There were 13 students who marched in the parade.
There is new legislation that would legalize marijuana.
He is the writer of two books.
Action verbs: things are happening 
Thirteen students marched in the parade.
New legislation legalizes marijuana.
He wrote two books.
BE ACTIVE!
*tip: a sentence that starts with “there” almost always sets up a linking verb

23. ICE arrests chemistry professor …
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
ICE arrests chemistry professor …

24. Pink nails national anthem …
Be quick
Get to the point
Use quickness to get reader engaged
Pink nails national anthem …

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

26. The Inverted Pyramid Most important information Least important

27. The Inverted Pyramid Most important information Least important

28. 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 on the next slide)
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
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4

29. 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.”
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?

30. 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

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

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

33. Quotes Quotes are the essence of journalistic writing
Makes stories objective
Changes the voice in the reader’s mind / easier to read
Helps the story flow

34. Quotes vs. Paraphrasing
Stays true to source’s actual word
Adds to flow of story / easier read
Can get messy
Paraphrasing
Gets the exact information you want
Put it in more explainable words
Best when followed up with actual quote
Can be taken out of context

35. Partial quotes Combines quotes and paraphrasing
Good when you want to quote a couple words to represent opinion
Joe Dennis called the students in his writing class “horrible writers” after he graded their papers.
Easy to take out of context
Use sparingly

36. Attribution Said Testified (court) Stated (documents)
Announced (formal announcement)
Asked (questions)
According to … (websites)
Use “subject verb” unless there is a title after source
OK to eliminate attribution immediately after paraphrase
Dennis said in some cases, leaving out attribution is OK. “If you’re using a quote after a paraphrase which was attributed, then you can leave out the attribution in the quote.”