If you have already used a SHU WordPress blog for me in another class, just use the login/blog me button to demonstrate how to create a two-way link between your blog and this post.
If you are new to blogging at SHU, watch this video, which shows you exactly how to set up a WordPress blog at blogs.setonhill.edu. (If you can send an email, you can post to a blog. If you’d like face-to-face help, please feel free to make an appointment.) Read More »
If I have taught you journalism before, you have probably already seen this video. You’re welcome to watch it again; however, instead of responding directly to it, please tell me 2 or 3 things you’d like to learn more about during this News Writing course.
If you haven’t already seen this video, watch it, and respond to the 2 or 3 things that you found most interesting.
Respond either by
“What is Newsworthy?” (9-minute audio)
If you have not heard this podcast before:
Include the URL of a current news story, and use it as an example to demonstrate your understanding of newsworthiness.
If you have listened to this podcast for another class:
You are welcome to listen to it again to refresh your memory; but instead of responding to it again, I’m asking that you choose two different events — one that you feel is prominent in the media, but is NOT a newsworthy story; and one that you feel is not prominent in the media, but IS a newsworthy story. Link to your examples, and demonstrate your understanding of newsworthiness.
Read the introduction to Elements of Journalism.
If you already have a SHU WordPress blog, feel free to respond to this reading there.
If you haven’t set up your SHU blog yet, post your response as a comment here.
What is brief passage from this reading that you think is worth talking about in class? Quote the passage, and briefly explain what you would say about this passage if called on in class.
I sometimes hear people say “I don’t have time to read the paper. I watch the news on TV instead.”
Monitor a half hour of a local news; keep a log of what, exactly, is happening every 15 or 30 seconds.
You might pick a local TV news broadcast, or listen to a half hour of programming on a local radio station that brands itself as “news.”
For this assignment I am not asking you to choose an internet or streaming service; I am asking for a local broadcast (originating in the Pittsburgh area; or, if you choose, a local broadcast from your hometown — wherever that is).
I would prefer that you tune into a live broadcast, but WTAE-TV offers a link to live-streaming the local TV news to play on your computer. The link should show you live broadcasts weekdays at 4:30am, 6am, 12pm, 5pm, 6pm and 11pm; or, if you visit when a live show is not airing, you’ll see a recording of the most recent broadcast.
Plan to monitor a full half hour program.
The log for a TV news program might go something like this:
:00 Opening theme music.
:05 Anchor: Fire on 66 (coming up).
:15 Politics, Steelers, and fashion (coming up)
:30 Reporter: Live from fire on 66
1:00 Citizen daschcam footage shows 66 crash
1:30 Witness interview 66 crash
2:00 Anchor thanks reporter.
2:15 Anchor and weather guy chat.
2:30 Weather guy: “Coming up, we’ll let you know whether you’ll need that umbrella.”
3:00 Lawyer commercial
3:30 Optometrist commercial
[And so forth, for the full half hour.]
When you are finished, tally up the amount of time the news broadcast actually devoted to news. (Giving a brief teaser and saying “We’ll have the full story later in the broadcast” doesn’t count. )