370 October 10 Review

JOURNALISM 370

OCTOBER 10, 2011

NEWS RELEASE GRADES

BY THE NUMBERS •  13 A (93 and above)

•  6 A-‐ (90-‐92) •  4 B+ (87-‐89) •  4 B (83-‐86) •  1 B-‐ (80-‐82) •  1 C+ (77-‐79) •  1 C (73-‐76) •  C-‐ (70-‐72) •  D+ (67-‐69) •  D (63-‐66) •  D-‐ (60-‐62) •  F

Follow DirecPons

•  We had a specific slide addressing the memo. •  No memo…you’re at D+ before I ever read a word of your copy.

•  The book says double space releases. •  I don’t.

HOW CAN WE GO FROM GOOD TO GREAT?

•  Lead Sentence – What is the most important element of the story?

•  The Person •  The Event •  The Place

– You need to really think about this answer. – However you answer the quesPon, I would make that the subject of your lead sentence.

HOW CAN WE GO FROM GOOD TO GREAT

•  Many of you focused on the event. •  Few of you focused on the benefit of said event.

•  Which is more important? –  If the event is different, pickle eaPng contest, who really cares?

–  If it’s helping keep kidens alive, tweak your lead. – Think beyond your organizaPon when wriPng the lead sentence.


•  A local gas staPon has a new way to help people dealing with rising gas prices.

•  Rising gas prices have a local gas staPon coming up with creaPve ideas to help people at the pump.

•  People sick of high gas prices have a new way to save a few bucks.

•  Saving money at the gas staPon? Really.


•  Watch your release gefng too commercial. – Reporters like to talk about pricing, not prices. – Reporters think about industry first, business second.

FACT SHEET THOUGHTS

•  Organize you points into two or three main themes. – The person – The place – The event

•  Take all of those great points you have and put them into those secPons.

•  It gives the document a beder look and organizaPonal feel.

WRITING IDEAS

•  Watch forcing the present tense, especially in the lead. – This can create passive voice. –  It’s also not accurate. – A group is hosPng an event. – A group will host an event

WRITING IDEAS

•  I like the use of links. Add the hyperlinks. – www.twider.com/danfarkas – hdp://scrippsjschool.org/

•  Vary sentence length. – Short sentences can pack a punch. – Count how many words in each sentence. – Avoid cadence.

WAYS TO GO FROM GOOD TO GREAT

•  Commitment Statement – One sentence that explains everything happening in a story.

–  It could involve emoPon. •  A fundraiser isn’t a good commitment statement.

•  A Southeast Ohio group is pulling an all nighter on school night to help kids learn how to read. This can have some emoPon.

Reading Memo

•  Memo format. Use one. – One page max. – To, from, subject and date

•  Every memo has a beginning, middle and end. Many of you didn’t have space for an end. Create that space, and explain what’s next.

•  Every memo should outline the « what » and the « how » this impacts me.

PASSIVE VOICE

•  THINK SVO •  Avoid “By” •  Avoid “To Be.”

What is due Wednesday at 5

•  A feature/bio. •  An op-‐ed. •  Your Third reading memo.

How am I grading the feature?

•  WriPng •  Is it news? •  How is it news? •  I need to see you did some digging to find interesPng content.

How am I grading the op-‐ed?

•  Did you follow the format we talked about in class?

•  Did you make a convincing argument? •  How well did you write it?

Wednesday

•  Class is open. •  You don’t have to be there. •  I am around via Skype dan.farkas1. •  Your Feature, reading memo and op-‐ed are due in ONE word file by 5:00

•  www.slideshare.net/danfarkas1975 for slides.

370 October 10 Review

Documents

Transcript of 370 October 10 Review