News Writing (Fall 2011)

Bring to class, on your MacBook, in a single word processor file, both your revised Advance Story (100 words) and your Followup (400 words)

Part 1: Revised “Advance Story”

Your revised 100-word “advance story” (an advance story emphasizes an upcoming event, for the benefit of readers who might want to attend; these are typically very short)

Example of an Advance Story
Greensburg City Council wants churches and the citizenry to take part in a remembrance of those who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mayor Karl Eisaman signed a proclamation on Tuesday that asks churches to ring their bells at 1 p.m. on Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, and urges flags to be flown at half-staff.

“I urge all citizens of Greensburg to join me and the citizens of other communities throughout the nation at 1 p.m. Sunday to stop and remember 9/11 through a national moment of remembrance to reflect on the lives lost and those affected by the tragedies of 9/11,” states the proclamation.

“In observance of this event, the City of Greensburg will fly our flags at half-staff, and our fire departments will sound their sirens for one full minute to signal the remembrance. I also encourage our churches to ring their bells at 1 p.m. and businesses to fly their flags at half-staff in honor of this somber occasion,” adds the proclamation, read during a council meeting yesterday.

(Greensburg Tribune-Review)

Tips for the Advance Story

• Let’s assume your advance story was published early Wednesday morning (the day of the event).
• Does the story explain everything an interested reader would need to know?
  (Put yourself in the shoes of an interested reader; if you were interested in this event, what would you nee to know about it?)
• Does the story follow AP style for times and dates?
  • If you mention “Seton Hill University” only once, it won’t actually save any space if you introduce the acronym SHU, so don’t robotically add “(SHU)”.
  • IF you can leave out a word, such as the “on” in “on Wednesday,” leave it out.
• Quotes are not necessary for short advance stories; you won’t always have time to get quotes, but you do need to say where you got your information. You could say “According to the SHU website…” or “According to a press release…”).

Evaluation for the Advance Story

6 — informative, engaging, elegant, accurate
5 — informative and accurate; may be a bit routine, but it gets the job done
4 — useful and mostly accurate; may be a bit dry or wordy, but readers will benefit from reading it
3 — minor errors may compound, detracting from strengths; readers may not end up fully informed, but this is a good-faith effort
2 — partial submission (may not be in the form of a news story; may contain major factual errors)
1 — little evidence of any effort
0 — no attempt made

Part 2: Draft “Followup Story”

Aa 400-word news story on Honors Convo. Do not just add to the “advance story” — submit a new story that emphasizes what you experienced as an observer. Include direct quotes from at least 3 sources.

We will examine the following rubric during the Story 1 Draft workshop.

For the draft:

• Length
• Structure
• Quotes
• AP Style

Characteristics of an A Draft

• Length: between 380 and 420 words, without wordiness or gaps in content.
• Structure: efficient lead that engages the reader and emphasizes the newsworthiness of the event; inverted pyramid structure, with short paragraphs (1-3 sentences); expert use of objective point of view
• Quotes: 5+well-chosen, diverse sources represented with well-chosen quotes; punctuated expertly
• AP Style:  submission shows evidence of advanced, independent knowledge of AP Style.

Characteristics of a B Draft

• Length: may be less than 380 or more than 420 words; minor wordiness or gaps in content.
• Structure: functional lead that informs the reader and communicates the newsworthiness of the event; inverted pyramid structure; most paragraphs are short; writing is precise, not flowery
• Quotes: 3 or 4 well-chosen, knowledgable sources represented with well-chosen quotes; punctuated effectively.
• AP Style: submission shows mastery of the major topics we’ve mentioned in class (dates and times, numbers, basic punctuation); trivial lapses don’t affect content.

Characteristics of a C Draft

• Length: may be less than 350 or more than 450 words; some wordiness or gaps in content
• Structure: adequate lead that communicates the newsworthy details; lead may be wordy or dry; good evidence of adequate success with the inverted pyramid structure
• Quotes: direct quotes from at least 3 appropriate soures.
• AP Style: mostly applies AP style for the major topics we’ve mentioned in class (dates and times, numbers, basic punctuation)

Characteristics of a D Draft

• Evidence of a good-faith effort to meet each of the four evaluation categories.