. . . because it never hurts to get extra credit:
FOR GETTING AN OUT-OF-CLASS STORY PUBLISHED,
I will replace your out of class story grade (which is the average
between your original version and your rewrite grade) with the higher
grade. If your grade was the same with both versions, I will add up to
o.5 to your grade, up to the grade becoming a 4.0.
For
me to count your extra credit, you need to submit to me a published
copy of your work or email me a Web link to your work, along with an
email request to have it applied to extra credit.
FOR DOING A FOURTH OUT-OF-CLASS STORY, for your final grade the three out-of-class stories that go into that grade will be the three (of four) with the highest grades. So if you did four out-of-class stories and one included a fatal, you are making thatfatal go bye-bye.
Plus, in the event you are on the borderline of receiving a higher grade, I will take into account whether you applied extra effort, including whether you did a fourth out-of-class story.
FOR DOING AN OUT-OF-CLASS MINI-STORY
-- which can be between 300 and 500 words, with a minimum of two
human sources, in which you can cover ANY sort of event (subject to my
approval) like a student group meeting or a speaker on-campus -- I
will replace your two lowest practice story grades with 4.0s.
FOR GETTING THE MINI-STORY PUBLISHED, I will replace two more lowest-scoring practice stories with 4.0s.
I
will also consider other extra-credit projects on a case-by-case
basis. Please see me during my office hours to work out other
extra-credit assignments.
THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS
is that you are demonstrating to me that you can now correctly
apply skills learned in this class that at one time you did not
apply as well; that you went above and beyond what we are learning
in this class to further educate yourself in journalism; and/or you
are demonstrating ability learned on your own prior to this class
but applicable here. You can expect any ad hoc extra credit beyond
the assignments listed here to include at least one of those
components.
I don't care if you messed up earlier;
show me you can get it right now and I'm happy to replace earlier
grades with something more accurately reflecting where you are at
NOW.
I just want to be clear on this one point
regarding extra credit: extra credit will be applied to replace the
grades of assignments you have actually done, including fact-fataled assignments.
Extra credit will NOT be applied to assignments that you did not turn in, or in which you had a time fatal.
So
if you were thinking of skipping an assignment or two toward the end
of the semester by pre-emptively turning in some extra credit, that
plan won't work.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Out-of-Class #2: A Strong Example ...
... of the strong points cited in the overall round-up blog. Please note those attributes and try to get some ideas for how you can best do your rewrite and third out-of-class story. The author's name has been removed to protect the innocent:
JRN 200
10.24.12
Slug: China
JRN 200
10.24.12
Slug: China
An
impending shift in political power halfway across the world could have a
significant impact on MSU students, according to Yasumasa Komori, an expert in
East Asian politics at MSU.
In
early 2013, the Chinese Communist Party will introduce a new president — Xi
Jinping — whose policies will likely add to the already significant influx of
Chinese international students to MSU, Komori said.
Since
2007, the population of Chinese international students has grown by more than
400 percent to almost 3,500 in 2011, according to the MSU Office of
International Students and Scholars.
These
increases of Chinese students are common across major universities in the
western world, Komori said, and are due to an increase in the population of China’s
upper class amidst the nation’s swift economic growth.
“China’s
economy has grown by very large percentages each year over the past few
decades,” Komori said.
Most
Chinese students who are undergraduates at MSU come from wealthy families,
according to Li Kang, Director of the MSU Neighborhood Cultural Assistance
Program.
“The
average income of a Chinese family is about $5,000 or $6,000 per year, and
tuition and living expenses at MSU can cost 10 times that,” Li said. “Usually
only the wealthy families can afford to send their children here.”
Li
works within the integration process of Chinese students to the MSU community.
He said that employers in China see huge value in students who have been
educated in the western world and can speak English well.
“The
American university system is very highly regarded in China,” Li said.
But
even as an increasing number of Chinese students come to MSU, many have trouble
adjusting to American culture, Li said.
“Often
times Chinese parents don’t realize the difficulties that come with sending
their children to the United States,” Li said.
These
difficulties can lead to resentment between American students and Chinese
students, Li said, which will only increase as MSU’s Chinese student population
grows.
“People
don’t like what they don’t understand,” Li said. “It is so important that we
find ways to bridge the gap between American and Chinese students.”
Komori
said that American students sometimes feel threatened by Chinese students.
“Americans
always hear about China as a growing economic superpower, so they view China as
a threat,” Komori said.
However,
China’s economic growth itself could be under threat, Komori said.
After
nine years of stable growth under current president Hu Jintao, Xi is set to
take over as Chinese citizens demand more transparency of their government all
the time, Komori said.
“Xi
knows that he is taking over a fragile superpower,” Komori said. “The rise of
China’s middle class is dangerous to him because Chinese people are finding
more and more about the how political processes work outside of China.”
Most
of China’s federal decisions are made by a Communist Party panel behind closed
doors, Komori said, and local elections are corrupt and often rigged.
As
the middle class demands more input in China’s governance, it could negatively
impact the nation’s economic growth through unrest, Komori said.
Higher,
Adult and Lifelong Education graduate student Mei Jianyang said that life in
China has been improving for most over the past decade, but few Chinese are
interested in voting.
“Most
people in China are so poor, they only care about having enough to eat,” Mei
said. “China is not ready for free elections.”
However,
she said that as Chinese people grow more educated, she thinks free elections
are possible in a few decades.
“They
will have to get rid of corruption among public officials,” Mei said. “Nobody
trusts the few elections we do have. We know they’re rigged.”
Mei
— who studied history at Nankai University in Tianjin, China — said that when
she participated in elections for university officials, there were communist
party members at the polls who effectively ordered voters who to vote for.
“Everyone
knew how the election would turn out,” Mei said.
Mei
said she came to MSU because of “new opportunities” that would not be available
to her in China.
While
she doesn’t expect Xi to be much different than Hu, Mei said she thinks that
Chinese citizens will demand more transparency from him.
“Access
to the internet has changed the way many Chinese people think about politics,”
Mei said.
Word Count: 721
Sources:
Yasumasa Komori,
James Madison College professor
Expert in East Asian Politics
Expert in East Asian Politics
komoriy@msu.edu
Li Kang, Director of
the MSU Neighborhood Cultural Assistance Program
likang968@gmail.com
Mei Jianyang, Higher,
Adult and Lifelong Education graduate student
meijiany@msu.edu
MSU Office of
International Students and Scholars, 2011 Annual Report
http://oiss.isp.msu.edu/documents/statsreport/11pdfs/Asia.pdf
http://oiss.isp.msu.edu/documents/statsreport/11pdfs/Asia.pdf
Out-of-Class #2: Overall
Each class I have I remember for having done something well, and something not-so-well.
Oddly, what is shaping up as my memory for this class is contradictory.
The good thing so far is the lack of fatals on practice stories. But the bad thing is the unprecedented volume of fatals on out-of-class stories.
We had three more with the second out-of-class stories, bringing the semester total to seven. Which is more than all other semesters I've taught, combined.
And it's the usual array of small stuff. Like saying BBBC News (three B's) when you meant BBC News (with two B's).
Or spelling President Barack Obama's first name as Barrack, with one too many r's. (Ironically, misspelling Obama's name was an example of a fatal in the syllabus!).
Or spelling desert (a dry place) when you meant to spell dessert (a sweet post-dinner snack).
The only lesson we learn is the one we seem to be overlooking at our peril: double-checking each and every name, title, figure and fact after we finish writing to ensure what we wrote is correct and is what we intended to write has nothing to do with talent, just vigilance.
It's too bad, because many people did quite well in this exercise, doing things like ...
... talking to a wide range of sources (instead of just one narrow category of sources).
For example, one of you did a story on how Chinese students at MSU may be affected by changes in Chinese leadership, in which you talked to Chinese students (the obvious central point of the story) AND MSU officials (another important groups, since they oversee the students) AND an expert in Asian politics (a neutral expert!).
It broadly reached across several parties that either have a stake in the issue AND experts who can help readers put those viewpoints into a better context.
... and interviewing sources first-hand (as opposed to simply citing other news organizations and Web sites).
One story on student health was flawed by its over-reliance on second-hand sources, which could easily have been supplanted by first-hand local sources we could have interviewed ourselves. Why cite livestrong.com when we could talk to a health expert at Olin Health Center? Why cite realsimple.com when we could go to a clinic and talk to a local doctor or nurse? Why go to WebMD when we could talk to a professor in the School of Medicine here?
... and structuring stories well with ledes than went to ultimate outcome and end result and nut grafs that filled in details from the lede and telling quotes that hammered home main points ...
... and using frequent attribution, so that readers knew where we were getting our information ...
... and not making assumptions, and finding sourcing for background information. Some people had statements that simply lacked attribution. For example, a statement saying people are wondering whether the electoral college should be scrapped didn't come from out of nowhere. How do you know that? You need to tell your readers that. If you're not sure how, exactly, you know that, then find a knowledgeable source to cite, like a neutral expert.
... and finding and using neutral experts to help readers navigate stories.
For example, one of you who did a story in student diversity spoke with a psychoanalyst about the psychology behind accepting or fighting diversity. Another person doing a story about the Nobel Peace Prize interviewed a history professor here at MSU. A story about college eating habits included comments from a nutritionist. A report on the dude who jumped from the edge of outer space had interviews with the head of MSU's physics department about the science behind the jump.
... and offering data to support your generalizations. One person didn't just write that the population of Chinese international students at MSU has increased, they cited data: it's grown by more than 400 percent to almost 3,500 students in 2011, according to the MSU Office of International Students and Scholars, That's showing me, and not just telling me.
... and offering quotes to support your data and generalizations. For example, the aforementioned story on student diversity had this generalization-and-quote pairing:
Peter Wood, a psychoanalyst in East Lansing, said that how the student was raised at home is a great indicator as to how the student wull accept diversity upon going to such a large school like MSU
"Having trouble accepting differences in people always has the possibility to create stereotypes. With that, stereotypes are something you cannot escape in life; they are everywhere," Wood said.
The generalization/quote package creates a more powerful subsection than if each lacked the other; the generalization provides a basic understanding but the quote adds a human voice and proof for the generalization.
Like I said, lots of good stuff. And lots to emulate and learn from.
Oddly, what is shaping up as my memory for this class is contradictory.
The good thing so far is the lack of fatals on practice stories. But the bad thing is the unprecedented volume of fatals on out-of-class stories.
We had three more with the second out-of-class stories, bringing the semester total to seven. Which is more than all other semesters I've taught, combined.
And it's the usual array of small stuff. Like saying BBBC News (three B's) when you meant BBC News (with two B's).
Or spelling President Barack Obama's first name as Barrack, with one too many r's. (Ironically, misspelling Obama's name was an example of a fatal in the syllabus!).
Or spelling desert (a dry place) when you meant to spell dessert (a sweet post-dinner snack).
The only lesson we learn is the one we seem to be overlooking at our peril: double-checking each and every name, title, figure and fact after we finish writing to ensure what we wrote is correct and is what we intended to write has nothing to do with talent, just vigilance.
It's too bad, because many people did quite well in this exercise, doing things like ...
... talking to a wide range of sources (instead of just one narrow category of sources).
For example, one of you did a story on how Chinese students at MSU may be affected by changes in Chinese leadership, in which you talked to Chinese students (the obvious central point of the story) AND MSU officials (another important groups, since they oversee the students) AND an expert in Asian politics (a neutral expert!).
It broadly reached across several parties that either have a stake in the issue AND experts who can help readers put those viewpoints into a better context.
... and interviewing sources first-hand (as opposed to simply citing other news organizations and Web sites).
One story on student health was flawed by its over-reliance on second-hand sources, which could easily have been supplanted by first-hand local sources we could have interviewed ourselves. Why cite livestrong.com when we could talk to a health expert at Olin Health Center? Why cite realsimple.com when we could go to a clinic and talk to a local doctor or nurse? Why go to WebMD when we could talk to a professor in the School of Medicine here?
... and structuring stories well with ledes than went to ultimate outcome and end result and nut grafs that filled in details from the lede and telling quotes that hammered home main points ...
... and using frequent attribution, so that readers knew where we were getting our information ...
... and not making assumptions, and finding sourcing for background information. Some people had statements that simply lacked attribution. For example, a statement saying people are wondering whether the electoral college should be scrapped didn't come from out of nowhere. How do you know that? You need to tell your readers that. If you're not sure how, exactly, you know that, then find a knowledgeable source to cite, like a neutral expert.
... and finding and using neutral experts to help readers navigate stories.
For example, one of you who did a story in student diversity spoke with a psychoanalyst about the psychology behind accepting or fighting diversity. Another person doing a story about the Nobel Peace Prize interviewed a history professor here at MSU. A story about college eating habits included comments from a nutritionist. A report on the dude who jumped from the edge of outer space had interviews with the head of MSU's physics department about the science behind the jump.
... and offering data to support your generalizations. One person didn't just write that the population of Chinese international students at MSU has increased, they cited data: it's grown by more than 400 percent to almost 3,500 students in 2011, according to the MSU Office of International Students and Scholars, That's showing me, and not just telling me.
... and offering quotes to support your data and generalizations. For example, the aforementioned story on student diversity had this generalization-and-quote pairing:
Peter Wood, a psychoanalyst in East Lansing, said that how the student was raised at home is a great indicator as to how the student wull accept diversity upon going to such a large school like MSU
"Having trouble accepting differences in people always has the possibility to create stereotypes. With that, stereotypes are something you cannot escape in life; they are everywhere," Wood said.
The generalization/quote package creates a more powerful subsection than if each lacked the other; the generalization provides a basic understanding but the quote adds a human voice and proof for the generalization.
Like I said, lots of good stuff. And lots to emulate and learn from.
Friday, October 26, 2012
JRN 200: Video/Blog/Online News #1
Per your request, here are the details of the first round of video/social media/online news assignment. Everything is due via email by 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2 to omars@msu.edu.
If you have any questions on details of these assignments, or if you want to see examples of what these assignments in finished form looked like in my summer 2012 JRN 200 class, please see the appropriate previous recent blog posts.
The assignments are as follows:
Video: Create a news video no shorter than one minute and no longer than two minutes, reporting on the topic of what we've learned sofar in JRN 200 this semester. Your video must include at least two interview subjects from your video group, and no fatals.
When finished with your video, please upload it to your YouTube.com account, and make sure that account is set to public viewing. Then email me a link to your video by the deadline.
Tweets: Live-tweet an event you are following. It can be as simple as a TV show you're watching, or your roommate making breakfast, or some other routine activity. You need to do a minimum of 12 tweets, each with a unique universal hash tag unifying the tweet stream.
When finished with your tweet stream, please email me a link to your Twitter account (and make sure it's open to the public), along with what your unique hash tag is for this assignment.
Online news: You need to write a minimum of two posts -- one preview and one review -- of the same even you're live-tweeting. Each post must be at least 100 words and no longer than 200 words, and each must include at least two relevant hyperlinks.
When finished with your news posts, make sure they are open to the public and please email me links to each post.
Questions? See me ASAP, please. And good luck!
If you have any questions on details of these assignments, or if you want to see examples of what these assignments in finished form looked like in my summer 2012 JRN 200 class, please see the appropriate previous recent blog posts.
The assignments are as follows:
Video: Create a news video no shorter than one minute and no longer than two minutes, reporting on the topic of what we've learned sofar in JRN 200 this semester. Your video must include at least two interview subjects from your video group, and no fatals.
When finished with your video, please upload it to your YouTube.com account, and make sure that account is set to public viewing. Then email me a link to your video by the deadline.
Tweets: Live-tweet an event you are following. It can be as simple as a TV show you're watching, or your roommate making breakfast, or some other routine activity. You need to do a minimum of 12 tweets, each with a unique universal hash tag unifying the tweet stream.
When finished with your tweet stream, please email me a link to your Twitter account (and make sure it's open to the public), along with what your unique hash tag is for this assignment.
Online news: You need to write a minimum of two posts -- one preview and one review -- of the same even you're live-tweeting. Each post must be at least 100 words and no longer than 200 words, and each must include at least two relevant hyperlinks.
When finished with your news posts, make sure they are open to the public and please email me links to each post.
Questions? See me ASAP, please. And good luck!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
JRN 200: We Have A Published Writer In Here!
I'm happy to report that one of youze is an officially-published author. Spartan Edge has posted one of your stories. Here it is.
Now this person can do several things. First, they can start filling out their portfolio with published work, something that employers definitely want to see. Second, they can put on their resume that in the fall of 2012, they were a freelance contributor to a news Web site, adding demonstrated ability to their background.
And like we talked about recently, demonstrated ability is critical to your ability to get an internship[ and a job and, you know, do something with your degree.
A number of other people have indicated they expect to be published soon. We'll share all the examples as they become official and public.
Now this person can do several things. First, they can start filling out their portfolio with published work, something that employers definitely want to see. Second, they can put on their resume that in the fall of 2012, they were a freelance contributor to a news Web site, adding demonstrated ability to their background.
And like we talked about recently, demonstrated ability is critical to your ability to get an internship[ and a job and, you know, do something with your degree.
A number of other people have indicated they expect to be published soon. We'll share all the examples as they become official and public.
Lawsuit/Stats: Fatals
The information we were given for the lawsuit exercise was that it was the East Lansing School District being sued in Ingham County court.
So it would be incorrect to say it was the Ingham County School District, as two of us did.
In another instance in lawsuit, one of us reported the lawsuit sought $50,000 in damages. In fact, it was $500,000. We dropped a zero.
Moving on to stats, one of us said the survey encompasses 11.1 million households. In fact, it was 113.1 million. We dropped a "3."
With the conclusion of these exercises, we have filled up all the spots in the JRN 200 Fatals Club. You are all members. Welcome! The blood oath is pending.
So it would be incorrect to say it was the Ingham County School District, as two of us did.
In another instance in lawsuit, one of us reported the lawsuit sought $50,000 in damages. In fact, it was $500,000. We dropped a zero.
Moving on to stats, one of us said the survey encompasses 11.1 million households. In fact, it was 113.1 million. We dropped a "3."
With the conclusion of these exercises, we have filled up all the spots in the JRN 200 Fatals Club. You are all members. Welcome! The blood oath is pending.
Lawsuit: Legal B.S.
Did you need to say the Dowdells demand a jury trial of all issues triable as of a right by jury?
What the hell does that mean, anyway?
It just means they are asking for a jury trial. So it would have been enough to say the Dowdells demanded a jury trial.
Likewise, did you need to say the lawsuit targeted both the defendants jointly and severally, for the compensatory damages in the amount of $500,000?
No. More legal B.S. You could just say the lawsuit targeted the defendants for $500,000.
Now, I didn't knock your grade for your inability to navigate legal mumbo-jumbo, unless it changed the meaning of things. This is the sort of stuff you'll get the hang of when you actually start covering court cases.
Still, if you're not sure of the meaning of what you're writing, you should ask a source for a layman's translation.
What the hell does that mean, anyway?
It just means they are asking for a jury trial. So it would have been enough to say the Dowdells demanded a jury trial.
Likewise, did you need to say the lawsuit targeted both the defendants jointly and severally, for the compensatory damages in the amount of $500,000?
No. More legal B.S. You could just say the lawsuit targeted the defendants for $500,000.
Now, I didn't knock your grade for your inability to navigate legal mumbo-jumbo, unless it changed the meaning of things. This is the sort of stuff you'll get the hang of when you actually start covering court cases.
Still, if you're not sure of the meaning of what you're writing, you should ask a source for a layman's translation.
Lawsuit: Allegedly
Like we've discussed before, in a lawsuit anyone can allege anything. So it's extra-important to note things are alleged.
The district didn't fail to adequately educate James Dowdell. They allegedly failed to adequately educate Dowdell. We won't know whether that's true or not until the trial takes place and evidence is presented.
The district didn't fail to adequately educate James Dowdell. They allegedly failed to adequately educate Dowdell. We won't know whether that's true or not until the trial takes place and evidence is presented.
Lawsuit: Plurals vs. Possessives
When you are talking about the Dowdells as a family unit, it's plural, as in Dowdells; e.g., the Dowdells demand a jury trial.
When you are talking about a single Dowdell in the possessive form, then it's Dowdell's; e.g., Dowdell's IQ score was 94.
When you are talking about a group of Dowdells in the possessive, then it's Dowdells'; e.g., the Dowdells' lawsuit.
Losta problems with apostrophes and s's in this one.
When you are talking about a single Dowdell in the possessive form, then it's Dowdell's; e.g., Dowdell's IQ score was 94.
When you are talking about a group of Dowdells in the possessive, then it's Dowdells'; e.g., the Dowdells' lawsuit.
Losta problems with apostrophes and s's in this one.
Stats: Flip The Lede
Some of you had good ledes that would have been great ledes if you
flipped the lede; that is, switch positioning of attribution and
substance to highlight the latter.
Here's one lede that could have used a flip:
According to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau, Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes.
Nice lede, but see how it starts with the attribution before getting to the gist of the story? You can reverse that order like this ...
Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes, according to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau.
... and you emphasize what is being said over who is saying it. Please note in this case I did not change, add or eliminate any word you used in your lede.
I simply flipped the order.
Here's one lede that could have used a flip:
According to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau, Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes.
Nice lede, but see how it starts with the attribution before getting to the gist of the story? You can reverse that order like this ...
Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes, according to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau.
... and you emphasize what is being said over who is saying it. Please note in this case I did not change, add or eliminate any word you used in your lede.
I simply flipped the order.
Stats: A Lot of Youze Guys ...
... were thrown off by the press release starting so heavily with
background about the survey before moving on to what the survey found.
That led many of you to offer generic background on the survey -- it's been conducted since 1942, it polls 50,000 households, ect. -- ahead of what the survey found regarding Internet use -- most households now use computers, and the number has drastically grown over the past few decades.
And it led some of you to lede with the fact a survey was taken, rather than what the survey discovered!
All because something is first in a press release -- or a city council meeting, or a football game -- doesn't mean it's worth prominent mention or a lede. Your lede is based on the Peanut Barrel values we've discussed all semester (and in that case, it's not, Hey! A survey was taken! right?) and where you rank information is based on most relevant to least relevant, and not necesarily the order in which things were presented.
Don't fall for the sequence trap. Rank information on value to the reader and support for your story's central premise.
That led many of you to offer generic background on the survey -- it's been conducted since 1942, it polls 50,000 households, ect. -- ahead of what the survey found regarding Internet use -- most households now use computers, and the number has drastically grown over the past few decades.
And it led some of you to lede with the fact a survey was taken, rather than what the survey discovered!
All because something is first in a press release -- or a city council meeting, or a football game -- doesn't mean it's worth prominent mention or a lede. Your lede is based on the Peanut Barrel values we've discussed all semester (and in that case, it's not, Hey! A survey was taken! right?) and where you rank information is based on most relevant to least relevant, and not necesarily the order in which things were presented.
Don't fall for the sequence trap. Rank information on value to the reader and support for your story's central premise.
Stats: Writing With (AP) Style
Is it internet with a little i, or Internet with a capital I?
It's Internet, with a capital I.
Some of you may have missed that because the listing in AP Style for Internet doesn't say in the text to capitalize it. But in the heading and throughout the definition Internet is indeed capitalized.
The headings for each listing is more than a heading; it also shows the form in which the term is supposed to be used. Things that are lower-cased like international date line are listed as such, in lower case. Things that are usually capitalized are also listed as such, like Internet.
Also, one of the oldest AP Style rules we have around here is that you spell out percent instead of using the percent symbol. No excuse for not knowing that by now. Yet, some of you are still repeating that mistake.
Plus, remember that in first references you should use a full title in caps, like the U.S. Census Bureau. But subsequent references should use the generic title in lower-case, like the census bureau.
Let's get these loose ends tied up, okay?
It's Internet, with a capital I.
Some of you may have missed that because the listing in AP Style for Internet doesn't say in the text to capitalize it. But in the heading and throughout the definition Internet is indeed capitalized.
The headings for each listing is more than a heading; it also shows the form in which the term is supposed to be used. Things that are lower-cased like international date line are listed as such, in lower case. Things that are usually capitalized are also listed as such, like Internet.
Also, one of the oldest AP Style rules we have around here is that you spell out percent instead of using the percent symbol. No excuse for not knowing that by now. Yet, some of you are still repeating that mistake.
Plus, remember that in first references you should use a full title in caps, like the U.S. Census Bureau. But subsequent references should use the generic title in lower-case, like the census bureau.
Let's get these loose ends tied up, okay?
Blog #1: Hyperlinks Are Easy
In traditional print journalism, we work in one dimension. That is, in the text story we put everything a person needs: a lede, quotes, data, background, ect.
But when we are writing online news, we can write in two dimensions: the literal text, and via hyperlink.
Hyperlinks are highlighted pieces of text that, when clicked on, takes the viewer to a new Web page. For example, this is a hyperlink. And it takes us to a Wikipedia entry about hyperlinks.
What hyperlinks do in an online story is allow you to offer background or quotes or video or other related content in a secondary dimension, so that your primary story can concentrate on conclusions and such.
If in print we try to show and tell readers, in online news hyperlinks allow us to tell in the main story, and then show through a hyperlink. Like in this ESPN.com story, where the hyperlinks let us know who is who, without that background overwhelming the text of the story.
In this blog post, hyperlinks include ones to earlier stories from the same Web site, and news stories from other Web sites (including one of my local favorites). See how it offers background in two dimensions?
And that gives the reader options. If they choose to trust your summary, they can leave it at that. If they want more info, all they have to do is click on a hyperlink and -- voila! -- they can get into as much detail as their little hearts desire.
Hyperlinks are real easy to make.
First, you want to highlight a section of text that is directly relevant to what you're hyperlinking to. For example, if you're writing an article about yourself and you want to hyperlink to your Facebook page so people can get background about you, a relevant place to hyperlink from would be a mention of your name.
After highlighting the next, look at your tools bar for wither a symbol that looks like linked chains, or the word "link." Click on that.
When you do, a box should pop up that asks for a URL, which is a fancy way of saying, Web address. Copy the URL and paste it into the box, and then hit "OK."
Then, save, close and publish your item. You should now have a working hyperlink.
And after posting your story, be sure to go to your item just as a reader would, and double-check your hyperlinks to make sure they work.
But when we are writing online news, we can write in two dimensions: the literal text, and via hyperlink.
Hyperlinks are highlighted pieces of text that, when clicked on, takes the viewer to a new Web page. For example, this is a hyperlink. And it takes us to a Wikipedia entry about hyperlinks.
What hyperlinks do in an online story is allow you to offer background or quotes or video or other related content in a secondary dimension, so that your primary story can concentrate on conclusions and such.
If in print we try to show and tell readers, in online news hyperlinks allow us to tell in the main story, and then show through a hyperlink. Like in this ESPN.com story, where the hyperlinks let us know who is who, without that background overwhelming the text of the story.
In this blog post, hyperlinks include ones to earlier stories from the same Web site, and news stories from other Web sites (including one of my local favorites). See how it offers background in two dimensions?
And that gives the reader options. If they choose to trust your summary, they can leave it at that. If they want more info, all they have to do is click on a hyperlink and -- voila! -- they can get into as much detail as their little hearts desire.
Hyperlinks are real easy to make.
First, you want to highlight a section of text that is directly relevant to what you're hyperlinking to. For example, if you're writing an article about yourself and you want to hyperlink to your Facebook page so people can get background about you, a relevant place to hyperlink from would be a mention of your name.
After highlighting the next, look at your tools bar for wither a symbol that looks like linked chains, or the word "link." Click on that.
When you do, a box should pop up that asks for a URL, which is a fancy way of saying, Web address. Copy the URL and paste it into the box, and then hit "OK."
Then, save, close and publish your item. You should now have a working hyperlink.
And after posting your story, be sure to go to your item just as a reader would, and double-check your hyperlinks to make sure they work.
Tweet #1: Tweets Are Easy
Many of you already use Twitter, but you may wonder how to use it for news.
That's easy, actually.
As you probably know, in Twitter you communicate in bursts of text no longer than 140 characters. So you're trying to say a little in a lot of space.
But that's less of a challenge than you may think.
That's because you're not limited to just one tweet. You can do as many tweets as you'd like!
So a single tweet is not a single story. Rather, a collection of tweets are. One tweet may be like sort of a lede, where it sums up the main point. following tweets are like the body of a story, with one tweet offering an update and another some relevant stats, and yet another a quote.
And that's the most basic value of Twitter -- it's another way to relay events live and as they happen to an audience who may not be near a TV or radio or whatever. You can essentially "broadcast" live, just using text sent to mobile devices of readers.
A collection of related tweets are unified by a hashtag; that is, the hashtag symbol on your keyboard (the thing that looks like a criss-cross fry; it's the number 3 key when under shift lock) followed by a unique phrase. For example, tweets at the convention I am going to are joined by the hashtag #ncmc12 (short for National College Media Convention 2012).
You can supplement your tweets with links to a photo uploading site, like yFrog, which can help tell the story beyond the 140 characters allowed in a tweet, and beyond simple words.
You can also link to anything on the Web with the aid of a URL shortener, like bit.ly. What the service does is take a URL and replace it with a much shorter one. Using a bit.ly link here gives you more room to write text without the URL taking up so much space.
Ideally,
the best tweet streams can be put in reverse order and read just like
an inverted-pyramid news story, with (timewise) your first tweet
summing up what happened, and the following tweets filling in details
and offering a chronology as something unfolds.
Now, it's your turn. Your assignment is to live-tweet anything -- the latest episode of your favorite TV or radio show; a sporting event you're attending; your roommate eating dinner; whatever -- and send me a link to your Twitter account (which must be open to the public), with a deadline of the start of class Wednesday.
You will need to send a minimum of 12 tweets, with a unique hashtag applied to each. For this first assignment, I don't care what the news value is of your topic. I simply want to see your technical proficiency in live-tweeting something happening, as it happens.
That's easy, actually.
As you probably know, in Twitter you communicate in bursts of text no longer than 140 characters. So you're trying to say a little in a lot of space.
But that's less of a challenge than you may think.
That's because you're not limited to just one tweet. You can do as many tweets as you'd like!
So a single tweet is not a single story. Rather, a collection of tweets are. One tweet may be like sort of a lede, where it sums up the main point. following tweets are like the body of a story, with one tweet offering an update and another some relevant stats, and yet another a quote.
And that's the most basic value of Twitter -- it's another way to relay events live and as they happen to an audience who may not be near a TV or radio or whatever. You can essentially "broadcast" live, just using text sent to mobile devices of readers.
A collection of related tweets are unified by a hashtag; that is, the hashtag symbol on your keyboard (the thing that looks like a criss-cross fry; it's the number 3 key when under shift lock) followed by a unique phrase. For example, tweets at the convention I am going to are joined by the hashtag #ncmc12 (short for National College Media Convention 2012).
You can supplement your tweets with links to a photo uploading site, like yFrog, which can help tell the story beyond the 140 characters allowed in a tweet, and beyond simple words.
You can also link to anything on the Web with the aid of a URL shortener, like bit.ly. What the service does is take a URL and replace it with a much shorter one. Using a bit.ly link here gives you more room to write text without the URL taking up so much space.
Here
-- again, in reverse order, with the tweets in order of when they
were posted -- is the State News' sports Tweet stream just before and
from the press conference announcing Coach Dantonio's heart attack a
while back:
Report: Football head coach Mark Dantonio suffered a heart attack but is OK.
There is a "important football-related press conference" scheduled for 1 p.m. It is unclear if it is related to reports of Dantonio's health
MSU: Dantonio will remain at the hospital for a few days for monitoring. Return to sidelines at a later date.
MSU: Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will manage day-to-day responsibilities of head coach.
MSU: Dantonio had "symptoms consistent with a heart attack."
MSU: Dantonio had a cardiac catheterization procedure early Sunday morning.
AD Mark Hollis said Dantonio will not be on the sidelines for the Northern Colorado game Saturday.
Hollis: "This is a time for the Spartan nation to come together, to rally."
Dr. D'Haem of Sparrow Hospital said a full recover is expected.
Dr. D'Haem said procedure is very routine and happens often. Also said he expects no long-term negative impact. Return yet to be determined.
Dr. D'Haem said Dantonio began feeling symptoms around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Dr. D'Haem: Heart attacks are never good...but I would classify this as a rather small heart attack.
Hollis said he spent the night at the hospital until about 5:30, the returned to hospital this morning at 8.
Dr. D'Haem: "Stress doesn't cause coronary heart disease, but very stressful events can be a trigger."
Coach Treadwell on players' reaction: "They're handling it as well as they can. They love their head coach."
Hollis: "(Dantonio's) thoughts went immediately to his family and then to the football program."
Treadwell said the fact staff has been together for a number of years will make this process easier from a football point of view.
Dr. D'Haem said timetable for Dantonio's return will be taken week-by-week.
There's a lede. There's a nut graf. There's supporting details. There are quotes. There is background. It collectively qualifies as a journalistic story. And you did it within the confines of social media.
This is exactly how The Associated Press wire service has always filed breaking news stories as a story is breaking: line-by-line, with the idea the lines can be pasted together into a story. It allows the writer to push out a story (and an editor to edit copy) much faster than if he or she waited to have a mass of information combined into a story, and yet a reader still ends up with all the information they need to consider the package in its totality.
There is a "important football-related press conference" scheduled for 1 p.m. It is unclear if it is related to reports of Dantonio's health
MSU: Dantonio will remain at the hospital for a few days for monitoring. Return to sidelines at a later date.
MSU: Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will manage day-to-day responsibilities of head coach.
MSU: Dantonio had "symptoms consistent with a heart attack."
MSU: Dantonio had a cardiac catheterization procedure early Sunday morning.
AD Mark Hollis said Dantonio will not be on the sidelines for the Northern Colorado game Saturday.
Hollis: "This is a time for the Spartan nation to come together, to rally."
Dr. D'Haem of Sparrow Hospital said a full recover is expected.
Dr. D'Haem said procedure is very routine and happens often. Also said he expects no long-term negative impact. Return yet to be determined.
Dr. D'Haem said Dantonio began feeling symptoms around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Dr. D'Haem: Heart attacks are never good...but I would classify this as a rather small heart attack.
Hollis said he spent the night at the hospital until about 5:30, the returned to hospital this morning at 8.
Dr. D'Haem: "Stress doesn't cause coronary heart disease, but very stressful events can be a trigger."
Coach Treadwell on players' reaction: "They're handling it as well as they can. They love their head coach."
Hollis: "(Dantonio's) thoughts went immediately to his family and then to the football program."
Treadwell said the fact staff has been together for a number of years will make this process easier from a football point of view.
Dr. D'Haem said timetable for Dantonio's return will be taken week-by-week.
There's a lede. There's a nut graf. There's supporting details. There are quotes. There is background. It collectively qualifies as a journalistic story. And you did it within the confines of social media.
This is exactly how The Associated Press wire service has always filed breaking news stories as a story is breaking: line-by-line, with the idea the lines can be pasted together into a story. It allows the writer to push out a story (and an editor to edit copy) much faster than if he or she waited to have a mass of information combined into a story, and yet a reader still ends up with all the information they need to consider the package in its totality.
So really, tweets are just a way of applying old journalistic skills in a new way.
Now, it's your turn. Your assignment is to live-tweet anything -- the latest episode of your favorite TV or radio show; a sporting event you're attending; your roommate eating dinner; whatever -- and send me a link to your Twitter account (which must be open to the public), with a deadline of the start of class Wednesday.
You will need to send a minimum of 12 tweets, with a unique hashtag applied to each. For this first assignment, I don't care what the news value is of your topic. I simply want to see your technical proficiency in live-tweeting something happening, as it happens.
Blog/Tweet #1: Some Examples
For our opening assignment in using social media and writing about breaking news, what I will ask you to do is to pick out anything in your daily routine for which to write an online breaking news preview story, an online breaking news follow-up story, and a live tweet stream as the event is unfolding.
When I say I want you to do anything in your daily routine, I do mean anything. Cover your watching your favorite TV show. Or your roommate making breakfast. Or a game on TV you're watching. Really, anything.
The reason for that is that I simply want you to get used to the technical process, without having to do any real and time-consuming reporting. We will incorporate reporting in latter versions of this assignment.
Now, on these assignments, everyone will get a 4.0 as long as long as we meet the basic parameters of the assignment.
Those include:
-- Each breaking news entry being about the SAME topic, being covered as a preview and then a recap of what happened
-- Each breaking news story staying over the 100-word minimum
-- The breaking news stories being written in a journalistic style, as opposed to a first-person blog-like style
-- Each breaking news item containing two working hyperlinks, inserted onto text
-- A minimum of 12 tweets on the same subject as the breaking news topic
-- Each tweet having a consistent unique hash tag, to allow the tweets to be chained together
The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. So, if your tweets lacked a consistent unique hashtag, you got a 3.5. If your breaking news stories lacked topic consistency AND the minimum hyperlinks, you got a 3.0.
In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.
These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.
Now, to give you an idea of what the final product might look like, let's look at breaking news/tweet combos from the first such assignment my summer 2012 JRN 200 class, and let's talk about what worked and what can be done better.
And we're off:
Max: Stanley Cup preview / review /tweets #maxonstanleycup
Julia: making pasta preview / review / tweets
Lindsay: rainy day preview / review / tweets #whenitsraining
Molly: making a sandwich preview / review / tweets #bestroomie
Nubia: movies review / another review / tweets #vh1babyboy
Lilly: Bachelorette/baseball game preview / review / tweets #bachelorettelivetweets
Tiarra: TV show preview / review / tweets #funnyshow
Justin: NBA Finals preview / review / tweets #NBAFJRN200MSU
Emily: TV show preview / review / tweets #finallysomedecenttv
Kyle: NBA Finals preview and review / tweets
Katelyn: TV show and scary stuff: preview and review / tweets
When I say I want you to do anything in your daily routine, I do mean anything. Cover your watching your favorite TV show. Or your roommate making breakfast. Or a game on TV you're watching. Really, anything.
The reason for that is that I simply want you to get used to the technical process, without having to do any real and time-consuming reporting. We will incorporate reporting in latter versions of this assignment.
Now, on these assignments, everyone will get a 4.0 as long as long as we meet the basic parameters of the assignment.
Those include:
-- Each breaking news entry being about the SAME topic, being covered as a preview and then a recap of what happened
-- Each breaking news story staying over the 100-word minimum
-- The breaking news stories being written in a journalistic style, as opposed to a first-person blog-like style
-- Each breaking news item containing two working hyperlinks, inserted onto text
-- A minimum of 12 tweets on the same subject as the breaking news topic
-- Each tweet having a consistent unique hash tag, to allow the tweets to be chained together
The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. So, if your tweets lacked a consistent unique hashtag, you got a 3.5. If your breaking news stories lacked topic consistency AND the minimum hyperlinks, you got a 3.0.
In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.
These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.
Now, to give you an idea of what the final product might look like, let's look at breaking news/tweet combos from the first such assignment my summer 2012 JRN 200 class, and let's talk about what worked and what can be done better.
And we're off:
Max: Stanley Cup preview / review /tweets #maxonstanleycup
Julia: making pasta preview / review / tweets
Lindsay: rainy day preview / review / tweets #whenitsraining
Molly: making a sandwich preview / review / tweets #bestroomie
Nubia: movies review / another review / tweets #vh1babyboy
Lilly: Bachelorette/baseball game preview / review / tweets #bachelorettelivetweets
Tiarra: TV show preview / review / tweets #funnyshow
Justin: NBA Finals preview / review / tweets #NBAFJRN200MSU
Emily: TV show preview / review / tweets #finallysomedecenttv
Kyle: NBA Finals preview and review / tweets
Katelyn: TV show and scary stuff: preview and review / tweets
Vid #1: Your Video Group!
For the video exercise, each person will be assigned to a three-person group with which you will work on the vid assignment and interview each other. Each group has at least one person who told me they have a Flip camera or comparable video recording device; please share whatever video resources you have within your group.
For those of you who don't have a camera, please be sure to get a memory stick or comparable memory device in which to store your raw video.
You may edit your video on whatever editing program you have on your own personal computers (iMovie, ect.). If you lack such an editing program, the open lab on the second floor of the CAS building has such programs already loaded.
You MUST work with your group members and include their interviews in your story. However, additionally you MAY collaborate with other groups in working on this story and ALSO include their members among your interviews. You may NOT trade group members.
Green group: Shelby, Amber, Matt
White group: Tia, Cait, Leah
Sparty group: Nourhan, Danielle, Stephen
Izzo group: Angelica O., Alex, Nick
Breslin group: Carly, Angelica C., Brytanie
Munn group: Alyssa, Liam, Bella
(NOTE: The Munn group of State Newsers is being grouped together only because two of these three people will be at the same convention as I am, and won't be available at most times to work with non-State Newsers in a group. I would rather have mixed them up with the rest of the class, but this is a nod to practicality. Plus, this is my full disclosure of a conflict of interest, so nyah.)
For those of you who don't have a camera, please be sure to get a memory stick or comparable memory device in which to store your raw video.
You may edit your video on whatever editing program you have on your own personal computers (iMovie, ect.). If you lack such an editing program, the open lab on the second floor of the CAS building has such programs already loaded.
You MUST work with your group members and include their interviews in your story. However, additionally you MAY collaborate with other groups in working on this story and ALSO include their members among your interviews. You may NOT trade group members.
Green group: Shelby, Amber, Matt
White group: Tia, Cait, Leah
Sparty group: Nourhan, Danielle, Stephen
Izzo group: Angelica O., Alex, Nick
Breslin group: Carly, Angelica C., Brytanie
Munn group: Alyssa, Liam, Bella
(NOTE: The Munn group of State Newsers is being grouped together only because two of these three people will be at the same convention as I am, and won't be available at most times to work with non-State Newsers in a group. I would rather have mixed them up with the rest of the class, but this is a nod to practicality. Plus, this is my full disclosure of a conflict of interest, so nyah.)
Monday, October 22, 2012
Vid #1: Your First Assignment, Some Examples
For the first video assignment, I am asking you to do a news video on the topic of, what have you learned sofar in JRN 200?
In this assignment, I will split you up into groups, and you will interview your group members for this story.
As long as you meet the basic parameters of this assignment, I will give you a 4.0 equal to that of a practice story. Those parameters include:
-- Videos staying within the 1-2 minute range and on-topic
-- Videos containing at least two human interviews on tape
-- Videos containing NO fatals
The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.
These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.
Now, in doing a first video people demonstrate a wide range of starting points. Let's get a sense of what those starting points may look like, based on the first videos from my summer 2012 JRN 200 class. Let's point out and discuss good habits and ones that can be a bit better.
Off we go:
Justin
Lindsay
Molly
Emily
Tiarra
Lilly
Nubia
Kyle
Max
Julia
Katelyn
In this assignment, I will split you up into groups, and you will interview your group members for this story.
As long as you meet the basic parameters of this assignment, I will give you a 4.0 equal to that of a practice story. Those parameters include:
-- Videos staying within the 1-2 minute range and on-topic
-- Videos containing at least two human interviews on tape
-- Videos containing NO fatals
The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.
These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.
Now, in doing a first video people demonstrate a wide range of starting points. Let's get a sense of what those starting points may look like, based on the first videos from my summer 2012 JRN 200 class. Let's point out and discuss good habits and ones that can be a bit better.
Off we go:
Justin
Lindsay
Molly
Emily
Tiarra
Lilly
Nubia
Kyle
Max
Julia
Katelyn
Out-of-Class #1: An Overview
Generally nice job from many people, but there was one area I think many people can improve on, and that's regarding your range of first-hand sources.
Many of you only sought direct interviews for one aspect of your story, entirely ceding other angles to reports you found online or the work of other media.
For instance, let's say you did a story on student voting, as many of you did. Perhaps you interviewed students about it, and certainly they are one important group.
But when it came to neutral experts, you cited other media instead of finding and talking to neutral experts yourselves.
When it came to background data defining the problem, you cited reports you found online instead of seeking neutral experts to give you data directly.
When it came to political campaigns seeking the youth vote, you cited other media and the work they did, instead of contacting campaigns and campaign consultants or even student partisan political groups (like the College Democrats and College Republicans) yourself to get that information first-hand.
And in journalism, we should be contacting all of those groups -- and representatives of the various angles -- ourselves.
That's how we explore subjects; not based on second-hand information, but on first-hand witnesses.
Second-hand info is for term papers. First-hand info is the raw material of journalism. That's what separates the two. And it's going to be challenging for you to get a good grade in this class if you insist on doing the former instead of aspiring to do the latter.
Many of you only sought direct interviews for one aspect of your story, entirely ceding other angles to reports you found online or the work of other media.
For instance, let's say you did a story on student voting, as many of you did. Perhaps you interviewed students about it, and certainly they are one important group.
But when it came to neutral experts, you cited other media instead of finding and talking to neutral experts yourselves.
When it came to background data defining the problem, you cited reports you found online instead of seeking neutral experts to give you data directly.
When it came to political campaigns seeking the youth vote, you cited other media and the work they did, instead of contacting campaigns and campaign consultants or even student partisan political groups (like the College Democrats and College Republicans) yourself to get that information first-hand.
And in journalism, we should be contacting all of those groups -- and representatives of the various angles -- ourselves.
That's how we explore subjects; not based on second-hand information, but on first-hand witnesses.
Second-hand info is for term papers. First-hand info is the raw material of journalism. That's what separates the two. And it's going to be challenging for you to get a good grade in this class if you insist on doing the former instead of aspiring to do the latter.
Rescue: Overall
Many people did very well with story structure, with ledes that got to end result and good nut grafs and decent narratives.
But one recurring problem was within the narratives, where some of us failed to answer a basic question: how do we know all this?
How do we know the boy died? How do we know a tunnel collapsed on him? How do we know he was taken to the Regional Medical Center? How do we know neighbors were angry?
It's because we learned all that from the East Lansing Fire Department report we read.
So, a proper first reference would have been to just that: an East Lansing Fire Department report said.
Subsequent references would simply have been, the fire department report said or the report said.
At a minimum, attribution should have been in EVERY paragraph after the lede. And because this story came entirely from a single source, we wouldn't have been wrong to include attribution in the lede, since the lede is entirely based on information from one source, as opposed to a more typical amalgamation of information from various sources.
Make sure your audience knows where you got your information!
But one recurring problem was within the narratives, where some of us failed to answer a basic question: how do we know all this?
How do we know the boy died? How do we know a tunnel collapsed on him? How do we know he was taken to the Regional Medical Center? How do we know neighbors were angry?
It's because we learned all that from the East Lansing Fire Department report we read.
So, a proper first reference would have been to just that: an East Lansing Fire Department report said.
Subsequent references would simply have been, the fire department report said or the report said.
At a minimum, attribution should have been in EVERY paragraph after the lede. And because this story came entirely from a single source, we wouldn't have been wrong to include attribution in the lede, since the lede is entirely based on information from one source, as opposed to a more typical amalgamation of information from various sources.
Make sure your audience knows where you got your information!
Police/Rescue: Fatals
Our fingers aren't perfect.
When we type, sometimes we type the wrong thing. We transpose letters. We misspell words. It happens.
That's why it's so important we thoroughly double-check our work after we finish writing.
That way we can catch instances where we meant to spell someone's last name as Adler, but accidentally spell it as Alder, with the "d" and "l" reversed.
Which we did not do in one instance in the police exercise, which resulted in a fatal.
In another instance in the police story, we said the crime happened around 1:15 p.m. In fact, it was around 1:15 a.m.
That, too, would have been caught under an adequate level of post-writing fact-checking.
Also, one of us in the police exercise alternately spelled the clerk's last name as DaRoza -- with a "z," correctly -- and DaRosa -- with an "s," and in error.
Meanwhile, two of us spelled it DaRoza and DeRoza, the latter with an "e" instead of the correct "a."
If we did a thorough fact check after we finished writing, we would have discovered we were spelling the same name two different ways, and obviously at least one had to be wrong, and had to be rechecked and fixed.
In the rescue exercise, one of us said the boy was pronounced dead at the scene. In fact, he was taken to Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead there. Same solution to avoiding this outcome.
Also in rescue, one of us said the boy was freed at 5:57. In fact, the boy was freed at 5:24 p.m., and firefighters returned to their station at 5:57 p.m. You know what the solution was.
In another instance in rescue, one of us spelled the name of Wagnor Development Corporation as Wagner, which is a more common spelling but not the correct one in this case. Spell check would have been of no help to us here.
Folks, I know these examples are getting redundant. But it's because we are still failing to do our due diligence and thoroughly double-check the basics like names and spellings before we turn in our stories.
And we need to do that every time and all the time, starting now and ending never. Because journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
And it has nothing to do with talent; just simple vigilance. If we're not vigilant for mistakes, then it doesn't matter how good we are.
For those of you keeping track, 15 of 18 JRN 200ers have fact-fataled sofar this semester. Three of you to go.
When we type, sometimes we type the wrong thing. We transpose letters. We misspell words. It happens.
That's why it's so important we thoroughly double-check our work after we finish writing.
That way we can catch instances where we meant to spell someone's last name as Adler, but accidentally spell it as Alder, with the "d" and "l" reversed.
Which we did not do in one instance in the police exercise, which resulted in a fatal.
In another instance in the police story, we said the crime happened around 1:15 p.m. In fact, it was around 1:15 a.m.
That, too, would have been caught under an adequate level of post-writing fact-checking.
Also, one of us in the police exercise alternately spelled the clerk's last name as DaRoza -- with a "z," correctly -- and DaRosa -- with an "s," and in error.
Meanwhile, two of us spelled it DaRoza and DeRoza, the latter with an "e" instead of the correct "a."
If we did a thorough fact check after we finished writing, we would have discovered we were spelling the same name two different ways, and obviously at least one had to be wrong, and had to be rechecked and fixed.
In the rescue exercise, one of us said the boy was pronounced dead at the scene. In fact, he was taken to Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead there. Same solution to avoiding this outcome.
Also in rescue, one of us said the boy was freed at 5:57. In fact, the boy was freed at 5:24 p.m., and firefighters returned to their station at 5:57 p.m. You know what the solution was.
In another instance in rescue, one of us spelled the name of Wagnor Development Corporation as Wagner, which is a more common spelling but not the correct one in this case. Spell check would have been of no help to us here.
Folks, I know these examples are getting redundant. But it's because we are still failing to do our due diligence and thoroughly double-check the basics like names and spellings before we turn in our stories.
And we need to do that every time and all the time, starting now and ending never. Because journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
And it has nothing to do with talent; just simple vigilance. If we're not vigilant for mistakes, then it doesn't matter how good we are.
For those of you keeping track, 15 of 18 JRN 200ers have fact-fataled sofar this semester. Three of you to go.
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