PHOTOJOURNALISM REVIEW Dr. Kristen Landreville Mon. 9/27/10.

PHOTOJOURNALISM REVIEWDr. Kristen LandrevilleMon. 9/27/10

Photojournalism Review

Sports Action Tom – “Feet up, head down” Anna – “Defense”

Sports Feature Bailey – “School Spirit” Bailey – “Gameday Pride”

Feature Dyann – “Just Waiting” Tom – “Trespassing for music” Adrienne – “Free Bird”

Portrait Tom – “Wind in the hair” Courtney – “Girls’ Best Friend”

WEB REPORTING PROJECT

Website Template

Home page: http://www.klandreville.com/report.html Discipline page template: http://www.klandreville.com/arts.html Story page template http://www.klandreville.com/

template.html

Example

http://www.jou.ufl.edu/pubs/communigator/index.php?id=146 Troy Elias Moon Lee Clay Calvert

What’s different in your project: 650-850 words Need “chunks”

Reminders of how to write good news stories.

News Writing Basics

Characteristics of News Stories

Short, concise Sentences are usually only 15 to 35 words long. Paragraphs are usually 2 to 5 sentences.

Use quotes every 3 to 5 paragraphs

Interesting language and style, yet clear.

Strong lead to grab readers’ attention.

Steps to Good Writing

1. Identify the focus or main idea from notes What are the basics? How would you tell a friend?

2. Locate the material that supports, explains, amplifies the main idea

3. Organize the secondary material in order of importance

4. As you write, make sure the separate elements are linked with transitions and transitional quotes.

Steps for Good Writing

5. Read the completed story to make sure you have explained the lead.

6. Read the completed story for accuracy, brevity and clarity

7. Read the story for grammar, style and word usage

8. If steps 5 through 7 indicate problems, rewrite

Personality Profile Basics

Personality Profile Excerpt

A student reporter wrote this:Don Sheber’s leathery, cracked hands have

been sculpted by decades of wrestling a living from the earth.

But this year, despite work that often stretches late into the evening, the moisture-starved soil has yielded little for Sheber and his family.

Sheber’s hands tugged at the control levers on his John Deere combine last week as rotating blades harvested the thin strands of wheat that have grown to less than a foot high…

Personality Profile Writing

Find a theme Show people doing things Set a scene Let them talk Let the action and the dialogue carry the piece Keep the piece moving Weave strong quotes throughout

Personality Profile Writing

Use concrete details rather than vague adjectives Observe or ask questions involving all your senses Not in chronological order You can tell a story like a plot (with a beginning,

middle and climax) Use foreshadowing Insert biographical information (e.g., age,

residence, hometown) where and when they make sense in the story

Kicker sometimes ‘wraps up’ the story and ties back with the lead

Your Job!

No such thing as an uninteresting person! Your job: Research and interview the professor to

obtain most interesting tidbits Present to readers a ‘snapshot of a life’

using interviews, observations and creative writing

Convey importance and uniqueness of professor

Personality Profiles – Leads

Can be more than paragraph

Should reflect the theme

Can be anecdotal—a memorable story that represents the professor

Can be a scene describing a setting that reflects the professor

Avoid beginning with a quote unless it is very powerful

Personality Profiles – Format

The story can be organized in many ways:1. Time frames: Start with present, go to the

past, go back to the present, and end with the future.

2. Chronology: Don’t write the whole story in chronological order, but some part of the story is OK

3. Sections: Sectioning into specific aspects of the person’s life may work.

Personality Profiles - Hints

Include a quote every three paragraphs or so

Don’t bury quotes in the middle or end of a paragraph.

Use active voice

Have you answered the readers’ possible questions about this person?

End with a strong quote or paraphrased statement that reflects the person well

GOAL Method

The secret to writing a good profile is getting to know the person

Use the GOAL Method G = Goals

What were your original goals? What are your next goals? O = Obstacles

What obstacles did you face in accomplishing your goals, and what new problems loom?

A = Achievements What pleasure or problems have these achievements

brought? L = Logistics

What background (logistics of who, what, where, when) led to your current situation?

Example Interview Questions1. How did you get involved in this…?

2. What made you decide to…?

3. What’s been your best experience?

4. What’s been your most difficult, disappointing, upsetting experience?

5. Explain a typical ______ (insert theme of story).

6. What advice would you have for someone who is interested in…?

The Word Still Dominates

Storytelling for the Web

Writing Style for Headlines

Entice readers Reflect the overall story for search engine

optimization Use conversational language If you use a catchy headline, be sure to

include a literal secondary headline Can use concise bullet points with main facts

Example: Do-Re-Mi promotes a feeling of ‘we’

Music can encourage children to cooperate

Writing Style for Online Stories Still newswriting, but with these

exceptions…

We don’t read, we scan. Include short subheads that “chunk” the story

Hybrid Writing Tight, punchy, and colorful like broadcast

news Subject > Verb > Object (active voice) More detail like newspapers

Examples

Good Science Story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10711202

Good Technology Story http://chronicle.com/article/Mixed-Signals-About/

124607/

Bad Example http://chronicle.com/article/The-Secret-Lives-of-

Big/124335/

Linking

Purpose of Links Background and related information to professor

Example: Former universities (Colorado State University)

Where you got your story information or sources Example: UW faculty member’s homepage

Web sites of people or organizations you mentioned in the story Example: UW faculty mentions a professional

organization (National Communication Association) News stories published about faculty member

Example: Laramie Boomerang quoted this person or did a story on them before

Linking Issues

Be specific about your links Within the story, highlight the word or

phrase you want to link to (not the whole sentence)

Ensure the word or phrase is exactly what the user will expect to appear

Limit linking to a handful of VIPs Don’t want to lead users away from your

story

For Next Time…

Dreamweaver Basics