Your first chance to write a complete graded story on a controversy ended up pretty much the way such first assignments have usually ended up in my previous JRN 200 classes: people were all over the board. Some did well, some came close to doing real well, and others struggled a bit.
And that's okay. First assignments are always the toughest, because you don't have anything to compare them to.
You're not exactly sure how to lay out a story and organize facts. You've had only theoretical discussions to date.
But in journalism, we learn by doing. And then having that work critiqued, so I can highlight what you did well,and what could be improved upon, and how to do better the next time around.
The sort of mistakes I saw this time around are on par for what trips up a young journalist: your paragraphs are too big. Attribution is lacking. Fatals creep up here and there. There's a bit of excessive wordiness.
No one loves seeing a lot of red ink on their papers. But red ink, right now, is a good thing. It means we're finding out what we need to work on, and we're working on solutions to those issues.
So don't fret, no matter how you did on our first few assignments. We have a long way to go, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to show me your improvement in the coming weeks.
And that's okay. First assignments are always the toughest, because you don't have anything to compare them to.
You're not exactly sure how to lay out a story and organize facts. You've had only theoretical discussions to date.
But in journalism, we learn by doing. And then having that work critiqued, so I can highlight what you did well,and what could be improved upon, and how to do better the next time around.
The sort of mistakes I saw this time around are on par for what trips up a young journalist: your paragraphs are too big. Attribution is lacking. Fatals creep up here and there. There's a bit of excessive wordiness.
No one loves seeing a lot of red ink on their papers. But red ink, right now, is a good thing. It means we're finding out what we need to work on, and we're working on solutions to those issues.
So don't fret, no matter how you did on our first few assignments. We have a long way to go, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to show me your improvement in the coming weeks.
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