Week 7: Journalism 2001

1. Week 7: Journalism 2001 October 22, 2007

2. Announcements • Congratulations, Travis! • Letter to the Editor published in Duluth News-Tribune

3. Review of last week’s news • Hard News: (murders, city council, government, etc.) • Major local stories • Major national/international stories • Major sports stories • Soft News: (retirements, school programs, human interest) • Local stories • National/international stories • Sports stories

9. Oops!

10. Hard News 1 Reporting Stories • Interesting meetings! • A lot of red marks: Next story will be easier… • Hopefully constructive criticism that will help you write your next story • Watch style errors • Dates, titles, numerals, percents, dollars, City Council • Many used quotes effectively • High up in story, direct and indirect • Need full names of sources, source list! • One sentence summary lead the strongest • Need attribution or reads as fact/opinion • Punctuation inside quote marks • “Blah blah blah,” she said.

11. Poverty is a huge issue in Duluth, and mayoral candidates Don Ness and Charlie Bell discussed the problems and solutions at a candidate forum on Tuesday. In an effort to reach out to student voters, mayoral candidates Charlie Bell and Don Ness were at the Kirby Rafters Tuesday to discuss issues relating to poverty in Duluth. Mayoral candidates Don Ness and Charlie Bell answered some difficult questions from the citizens of Duluth Tuesday about the economy and poverty in the town at the latest mayoral debate. Mayoral hopefuls Charlie Bell and Don Ness attended a forum on poverty at the University of Minnesota’s Duluth campus Tuesday to address questions posed by an audience of students and other concerned citizens.

12. After two hours of impassioned debate last Tuesday the City Council finally agreed to support the American Indian Housing Organizations proposal to fund 29 homes in the YWCA of Duluth. Duluth, Minn. – The city council held their weekly meeting Tuesday night in front of a full audience, most of whom were concerned over an affordable housing resolution for Native Americans. The Superior City Council voted down a request to amend city code Tuesday during a heated discussion about conflict of interest and codes of ethics. The resolution to exercise special assessment powers to blacktop certain alleyways in Superior was motioned Tuesday night at the City Council meeting. During their meeting on Wednesday, the Duluth Human Rights Commission grappled with ongoing harassment problems within the city, and discussed ways to get the Duluth City Council more involved with human-rights issues.

13. Important to check spelling of names • Where to find city council names: • Rusell Stuver? • Rodger Rienert? • Where to find UMD faculty members: • Debra Peterson-Perlmen? • Thom Issbel? • Where to find Duluth citizen names? • Rob Hermansen? • Eric Hermanson?

14. What would make this lead stronger:St. Louis County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday to review the wording of the country’s smoking ban that is in the process of being passed. They want to ensure that both the public and law enforcement will clearly understand the new ordinance. • OK as is • Combine into 1 sentence • Add sentence

15. Let’s fix a style error:The St. Louis County Board of Commission met on the morning of February 20, 2007, to discuss a number of proposals, but mainly focused on Ordinance No. 60, Smoking in Public Places. • February 20 • Feb. 20 • Feb. 20, 2007

16. Let’s rewrite the leads!

18. Chapter 16: Broadcast Writing • Radio Station Organizational Chart

19. Television station organizational chart

20. National television networks • CNN: • http://www.cnn.com/ • CBS: • http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/home/main100.shtml • ABC: • http://abcnews.go.com/ • MSNBC: • http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ • Fox: • http://www.foxnews.com/

21. Local television stations • KBJR/KDLH • http://www.kbjr.com/ • WDIO • http://www.wdio.com/ Successful alumni/students - Amy Rutledge

22. WDIO-TV Tour

34. Dan Rather • Dan Rather stepped down as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News March 2005, 24 years after his first broadcast in that position. His last broadcast as anchor was March 9, 2005, the 24th anniversary of when he assumed the position from Walter Cronkite.

35. Rather’s impact on television news

36. Who replaced Dan Rather as the permanent CBS anchor? • Peter Jennings • Katie Couric • Sam Donaldson

37. Broadcast Style • Numbers • Simplify complicated numbers: approximately, more than, about, almost • Vary wording to help announcer, listener • Spell out numbers under 12 • Use a hyphenated combination of numerals and words to express thousands • Use round numbers: • $2,001,894.46: slightly more than two million dollars

38. Broadcast writing websites • Newswriting for Radio: • http://www.newscript.com/ • Writing for Broadcast: • http://www.udel.edu/UDWI/other/writing_for_broadcast.html • National Association of Broadcasters • http://www.nab.org/ • Radio-Television News Directors Association & Foundation • http://www.rtndf.org/

39. Checklist for broadcast writers • Write the way you talk • Write simply • Use short words and short sentences • Use active verbs and sentences • When in doubt, leave it out • Don’t raise questions you don’t answer • Put attribution before quote

40. Writing for radio • “Wrap” • Reporter wraps words or sentences around one or more major soundbites • Also called a donut, with news story around the “hole” where the story is placed • Blind lead-in • Introduces a taped excerpt from a news source • Does not signal that a soundbite follows • Wrap-up • Signals end of story

41. Writing for Television • Getting video and conducting interviews • http://www.udel.edu/UDWI/other/writing_for_broadcast.html • Harmonizing words and pictures

42. Broadcast journalism checklist • Understand technology • Learn to perform • Keep soundbites short and frame them appropriately • Emphasize the last sentence of a story • Approach television as a unique medium • Learn to think visually • Make sure that the words match the pictures • Approach radio as a unique medium • Strong appeal to the imagination

43. Broadcast newswriting characteristics • Immediacy • Use present tense as much as possible • Avoid yesterday’s story; update yesterday’s story • Conversational style • Write the way you talk • Tight phrasing • Conversational style without being wordy • Clarity • Write simply, OK to repeat words

44. Radio websites • Live radio broadcasts from around the world • http://www.broadcast-live.com/radionews.html • KDAL • http://www.kdal.am/

45. Ethics Case Study Strange Bedfellows: Federal agents in a TV newsroom • http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/aiding-law-enforcement/strange-bedfellows/

46. Would you let the federal agents into the news editing room? • Yes • No

48. Chapter 17: Multimedia Journalism • Storytelling on the Web • Print, broadcast journalists inevitably online journalists • Internet explosion: 7 out of 10 surf in 2005 • Established in 1969 by Department of Defense (not Al Gore) • Shovelware: text, photos, audio, video from other sources

49. What’s the difference from print? • Multimedia stories: • Linear or nonlinear • Unlimited background, space • Less formal – snappy, conversational, edgy • More active with searchable databases, blogs, games, polls, surveys, quizzes, etc. • Needs to be constantly updated

50. Multimedia story structure • Inverted pyramid • Linear stories best on scrolling pages • Screen-size chunks for nonlinear stories • Readers rule: Each chunk independent National Geographic: http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/