September 27, 2005
Nancy's Blog Portfolio
Newswriting is challenging and I must confess, that blogging and the advanced internet skills that go with are new to me. But as George Elliot once said, “What are we here for except to help one another.” That’s a big part of blogging, belonging to a blogging community that helps and encourages one another. Neha’s comment encouraged me during a particularly frustrating time.
In class, we covered text from The Reporter's Notebook, The Elements of Journalism, and the Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 8 of The AP Guide to News Writing. After reading the assigned chapters in Kovach and Rosenthal's text book, I shared my thoughts. In an interaction with Chris U's paraphasing blog, I posted information on quoting from The APA Sytlebook and Guide to Newswriting.
I took an in depth look at Chapter 4, The Journalism of Verification in The Elements of Journalism. After a class discussion on a Tribune Review article on Speech Codes, I posted a timely blog on my personal experiences with speech codes.
To prepare for our articles, we covered various forms of news media including the August 30th, Sept. 8, Sept. 20, and Oct. 9 editions of the Tribune Review. We also reviewed a WTAE-Channel 4 newscast.
After writing my spot news draft, I initiated a discussion on the importance of assertiveness and persistence. Another timely blog discussion ensued when I posted my concerns about on and off the record after it was brought up in class. I also took an in depth look at 'plain and simple' writing which started another discussion.
Finally, I compared my spot news article with a similar one in the Setonian and Communicator. And, of course, I had to try my hand at Xenoblogging on Chris U's Paraphrasing blog.
Posted by NancyGregg at 05:37 PM | Comments (4)
WTAE-Pittsburgh Channel 4 TV newscast
It is no secret that broadcast news is more about ratings and commercial ads than journalism. As Dr. Jerz pointed out in class, it relies on teasers and emotional impact to hold the viewers’ attention. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the visual component it offers is compelling. One story that ran on the 5 p.m., August 30th broadcast involved 3 missing people from a wedding proposal flight that disappeared over Lake Erie. None of the bodies were recovered and all that remained from the flight was an oil slick and random debris. The impact of the videos was very emotional. There was a close-up shot of the oil slick along with bits and pieces of the plane. Then a photo of each of the victims was displayed. Unlike, reading the newspaper story, the viewer could attach faces to the tragedy. These were ‘real’ people. The visual of the oil slick, as well, 'spoke' of the finality of this accident.
Posted by NancyGregg at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
The Reporter's Notebook
As a novice reporter, I sometimes grope for good interview questions. Author Mark Levin explains in the Stock Interview Questions section of The Reporter's Notebook (p.23), that a news story is only as good as the questions asked. Reporters, Levin advises, need to do their homework. Fortunately, Levin includes 11 open-ended biographical questions which guarantee some good quotes. Some examples are:
“What has been the hardest obstacle you’ve had to overcome to get to where you are today?”
and
“What do you hope to be doing 10 years from now?”
Posted by NancyGregg at 11:44 AM | Comments (1)
September 26, 2005
Spot News Comparison
Anyone interested in the Griffin’s first-ever home game could feast on a news-story smorgasbord─the Setonian, the Communicator, and my spot news article all approached it from different angles.
Setonian Staff Writer, Valerie Masciarelli’s coverage did not include a play-by-play description but comprehensively outlined the Griffin’s “new era” of optimism. She paralleled the team’s initial morale obstacles and how they overcame them with that of RA Meredith Harber’s turnaround. To do so, Masciarelli solicits an impressive array of quotes. I like the headline she chose and also the “new-era” theme of her article.
The Communicator article, on the other hand, includes a play-by-play description. I especially like the first two sentences of the comprehensive, three-sentence lead. The quote that follows from President JoAnne Boyle effectively portrays her emotion and excitement in seeing this monumental event finally come together.
In my spot news article, I used the angle of how alumni and older, non-traditional students felt about the first home game and how they felt about the football program in general. I included a controversial quote from an alumna─“I wonder if the athletic department will give an equal portion of the budget to women’s athletics”─that I should have countered or balanced by the athletic department. Unwittingly, not doing so created bias in my article. In contrast, Masciarelli paraphrases Head Coach Snyder’s surprise that the team coalesced so quickly and then adds tension with a player quote revealing that the team camaraderie was not instantaneous.
Posted by NancyGregg at 09:20 PM | Comments (2)
Tribune Review August 30th Edition
When we did our media comparisons, there were two feature stories in the August 30th Tribune Review that did not appear in either broadcast or internet news. One was CMU researchers detoxify toxins; the other Pittsburgh’s Chinese reflect on growing economic clout. The China article attracted my attention because I not only spent a few months in China but I also find China’s economic power more threatening than its military power.
Irregardless, it’s interesting to review them again with a more critical approach. The lead Jennifer Bail uses in her CMU article is straightforward. It reads:
“Carnegie Mellon University chemists say they have discovered a safe and environmentally friendly way to destroy toxic man-made pollutants released by the dye and pesticide industries.”
Bail’s next paragraph, the nut graph, identifies the toxin and tells the reader why he or she should care. It also identifies the researcher and where he presented his findings. Some of the information in the nut graph could have been in the lead but Bail chose to keep the lead plain and simple.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_368831.html
The other journalist, Violet Law, is more creative with her lead. It reads:
“Wenfang Tang often marvels at the progress his native country has made over the last quarter-century.”
The next paragraph starts with a quote from Tang and ends with some biographical information. Another quote does not appear until the sixth paragraph.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/business/s_368823.html
Posted by NancyGregg at 04:54 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
Sept. 8 Tribune Review
From our September 8th Tribune Review reading assignment, I had saved a variety of articles for their content as well as style. Any story with the name ‘Gotti’ in the headline catches the reader’s attention. This article caught mine. In her article, Gotti’s defense: Perjury by witnesses, journalist Christine Kearney, writes the following one sentence, 49-word lead.
“Defense attorneys for the son of late mob boss John Gotti made final arguments for their client Wednesday, telling a jury that testimony from the man he is accused of targeting for an attack is packed with lies and therefore, should not be used to reach a guilty verdict.”
Whew, I had to come up for air while reading it.
Posted by NancyGregg at 10:36 PM | Comments (2)
Chapter 1 of AP Guide to News Writing
When I left my job in the executive dean’s office of a local community college, I decided to test the water on the other side of academia by enrolling in a college writing course. In the class, one of first things we learned was to “remember you audience.” I thought of that as I was reading Chapter 1 of the AP Guide to News Writing.
In an Excellence in News Writing 2002 Judges' Report for the Circle of Excellence Awards Program, awards were given in General News Writing and Research, Medicine, and Science News Writing. The winners in both categories “clearly had their audience in mind,” the report said. They did not burden the reader with unnecessary numbers and figures and used simple “easy to understand” language. http://www.case.org/Content/AwardsScholarships/Display.cfm?CONTENTITEMID=2164
As we discussed in class, ‘plain’ writing, which is essential for the newsprint audience, is an adjustment for creative-writing students as well as those accustomed to college writing in general.
Posted by NancyGregg at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
Chapter 3 of the AP Guide to News Writing
In Chapter 3, of the AP Guide to News Writing, I was looking for leads that were creative as well as informative. I highlighted the following lead that Rene Cappon calls a "gem."
"Bill Cashman, a fireman, says he didn’t mind posing nude for a centerfold in a magazine for women who like men. But he has a $2 million objection to the use of his picture by a magazine for men who like men" (26).
As Cappon points out, it not only attracts the reader but also summarizes the entire story. It also, in my opinion, demonstrates that a journalist can be creative within the plain and simple parameters of good reporting.
Posted by NancyGregg at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Journalism of Verification -- Kovach & Rosenstiel
Kovach and Rosenstiel demonstrate in Elements of Journalism that journalism is more than a non-fiction art form─it is a science. The scientific approach in journalism, they explain, involves five principles: “never add anything; never deceive; be transparent, be original; and exercise humility” (78).
The word ‘transparent’ is in vogue. People who discuss their short comings; their weaknesses are said to be transparent. Transparency in journalism also includes honesty but goes a step further. It includes virtue and credibility. In journalism, that means accrediting sources and quoting accurately. And as we have been reminded in class discussions, it requires the journalist to be not just transparent but invisible.
As also discussed in class, when the journalist becomes invisible, the reader decides for him or herself. That’s what our democracy is about. That’s what education is about. That’s what journalism is about.
I came into this class thinking I would experiment with another writing discipline. Journalism, I am learning, is much more than that.
Posted by NancyGregg at 06:52 PM | Comments (2)
September 21, 2005
To Quote or Not to Quote
There are so many things to remember about newsprint writing that I have not quite grasped yet. I imagine in time, though, they will come naturally. Concerning quotes, I know when you omit the middle of a sentence, elipses are required, which I did notice in the Trib. I know too that if you omit the first part of a quote, you do not need elipses. I am wondering though that if you have, for instance, two pages of quotes from a source, can you pick and choose and construct a three line paragraph of quotes without using elipses.
Posted by NancyGregg at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)
AP Guide to News Writing
Until I read Rene Cappon's AP Guide to News Writing, I never found text books pleasurable. The example he used for badly placed background detail on page 21 was hilarious. It's the piece on Elvis's death. In my opinion, he's an excellent, entertaining writer.
Posted by NancyGregg at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)
Speech Codes
Concerning today’s discussion on the Tribune Review article, Academic freedom in question, I wonder, as Jenna pointed out in the North Korea article, if the reporter should have defined speech codes more clearly. Although I worked for an Executive Dean for a year, that issue never came up in our office. Nevertheless, concerning politics, I do think it is a problem. As I said in class, though, Dr. Jerz keeps his political opinions out of the classroom, which is refreshing.
In an Astronomy class last year, the professor asked who voted for a particular candidate in the 2004 presidential election. I decided to raise my hand along with one or two other students. I not only received a disgusted look from this professor but got “blasted” by several students afterwards. In another class, a professor asked if anyone was of Eastern European heritage. Since my father was Polish I raised my hand. Later I had to sit through a barrage of dumb Polish jokes which I did not find amusing. Which brings me to my point─Do the speech codes cover everyone or just a segment of our population?
Another example occurred this semester when I volunteered to be the note taker. (I guess I should have learned by now never to raise my hand; never to volunteer.) I was told on break that my notes would be given to a disabled student. I pictured someone who physically could not be in class. To my dismay, however, in addition to the abstract subject matter, taking notes and then typing them for this three-and-a-half hour class was exhausting. Then, prior to the second class, I observed a student placing a packet on the professor’s podium which the professor handed to me. My jaw dropped when I started reading the two-page format instructions required for a learning disabled student. It also stated that every effort was to be made to protect this student’s identity. The professor then asked me in front of the class what the problem was. “What didn’t I understand?” I was humiliated. I now knew who this student was. I also knew that this person was taking five classes which seemed like an oxymoron to me.
Posted by NancyGregg at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2005
Rambling Thoughts on Kovach
In chapter 3 "Who Journalists Work For," I agree that journalism has become a business and also that journalists have a civic and moral obligation to the public not the corporation that signs their pay checks. I also agree that many journalists have become cynical. For instance, when Roosevelt was president (I wasn't born then!), the media never showed his handicap; never reported his affair. Now, however, every effort is made to humiliate a president.
I also believe that the journalist's word choice is crucial. Take John Kerry and Teressa Heinz-Kerry's Fox Chapel 'farm.' When they were campaigning in Pittsburgh, it was reported that they were at the farm. It's a palacial estate, not like any farm I have ever seen.
Another point, I think that the commercialization of journalism is a sympton of the general problems in our society. Medicine and education have become businesses. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, spend their research money on the most profitable drugs.
One final point, are journalists also obligated to protect the public? When the BTK serial killer first started killing in Kansas, the news media was asked by the FBI and local police to suppress the story. They theorized that by doing so, the killer would be more likely to give them more clues. As a result, other people were killed before the public was informed that there was a serial killer in their midst.
Posted by NancyGregg at 09:01 PM | Comments (2)
September 15, 2005
Spot News Interviews
Interviewing at an event adds another dimension. The reporter senses the overall atmosphere of the event--the enthusiasm or lack of it--and attempts to convey that. Actually, seeing the person you're interviewing, helps the reporter by enabling him or her to see facial expressions, etc. Of course, voice inflection is evident both on the phone and in person.
Posted by NancyGregg at 03:56 PM | Comments (1)
September 07, 2005
On and Off the Record
Believe it or not, I have taken on-line classes although the format is quite different from blogging. Anyway, one thing both have in common is that if you post something "dumb" or ask a particularly dumb question, it's right there in black and white. Which leads me to my next thought--comments on and off the record. Perhaps at times it's up to the reporter to ask, "Can I quote you?" In the process of an interview the person being interviewed might not think to say, "This is off the record."
Posted by NancyGregg at 03:24 PM | Comments (3)
September 02, 2005
Confessions of a Novice Blogger
Blogging and its jargon is new to me so before I start, please forgive for all the dumb things I'll probably do. I'm a Westmoreland County Community College transfer student majoring in Creative Writing. I took this newswriting class because I want to investigate all facets of writing. Also, as Dr. Jerz pointed out in our lab today, there's an element of creativity in journalism. Not that I'm always creative or creative at all. Actually, in my opinion, writing is all about editing.
Posted by NancyGregg at 12:37 PM | Comments (4)