ENGL 295 - Sarah Proctor

 These chapters discuss ways to successfully write a story about government and statistics, crime and punishment, and weather and tragedies. When writing about government and statistics, the journalist should always explain the changes and state the significance. It is important to use a hard lead and always include who is impacted by it and how. Stories about crime and punishment can have a soft or hard lead depending on how serious the case is. It is important to use full names and include all information about the people involved when it is necessary. When writing about weather and tragedy, it is important to seek stories that people would be interested in. Journalists need to be descriptive and use quotes to make the story more personal and interesting.  The type of writing about these types of stories can be very similar. Each story should answer the who, what, where, how, and why and discuss the impact the topic has on people. On stories about budgets, a journalist will ...

     There are specific guidelines and organization techniques a writer should follow when writing a profile or an obituary. Profiles should not be in chronological order and should contain elements, such as the main focus, a theme, background, age and physical description when relevant, and visuals. Obituaries are profiles of people who passed away and focus on the importance of facts. While covering stories on speeches, meetings, and news conferences, your observations and scripted comments from the speaker are important parts of the story. Reporters should act as watchdogs for the public because meetings and conferences are where officials make decisions that affect the public.     Writing for a profile, obituary, speech, meeting, or news conference requires a lot of the same writing techniques. It is important to research your topic for all of these styles of writing. Ask people that they often come in contact with the subject or find news clips or videos ab...

      It is important for journalists to interview and report on subjects with sensitivity and care about certain issues. Gender, race, and age are all pieces of information that should not be identified unless it is relevant to the story. Journalists should f ollow gender-neutral language that does not specify male & female roles. For example, a writer should say a firefighter instead of a fireman. It is also essential to know your audience when you are describing specific groups. Just because people are the same color or look similar, does not mean they like to be addressed the same way. Overall, the best way to go about writing with sensitivity and care is to simply ask the source how they prefer to be addressed.     This chapter can also relate to the chapter on ethics. If a journalist does the right thing from the start, they will avoid any backlash from the public. It is important to b e aware of the current definition of a descriptor; some that w...

     It is essential for journalists to understand the laws of the media, so they can be protected. They need to know when to not invade privacy whether it is through intrusion, private facts, false light, or using a person's name or photo without permission. There is a difference between online and printed legal issues and what can be posted. Corrections can only cover the journalist but so much. Not only do journalists need to be aware of the laws, but they also need to follow some sort of ethics. A journalist should proceed with caution when dealing with sensitive cases and realize when they have conflicts of interest when it comes to the story or certain people.       Journalist are protected under certain laws like the Federal Sheild Law where a journalist can not be forced to reveal a source when called to testify. It is important to not reveal the sources that wish to stay anonymous, making sure what you are posting is accurate, and continuing to mak...

The main focus is on the different types of social media and how news is published on each platform. It is the shift from people only being receivers of the media to the readers becoming contributors. Because of social media, there are so many sources; however, it can be difficult to verify how accurate those sources are. Reporting through the media is different than reporting on a traditional newspaper. There are specific techniques to use when publishing something through multimedia. People view articles differently when using different devices. Chapter 12 continues the discussion on how to write for web media and the different ways to make your article interactive and viewed on the web. All of the chapters relate to each other by discussing the different ways media has reshaped the news industry. Journalist write differently depending on where they are publishing there news. Just because a website or article looks good on a computer, does not mean it will look the same when someone ...

      Chapter nine goes over the different story forms and which one is best used for different styles of writing. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages that come along with each style of writing. Different styles of writing may also require different types of leads. The next chapter mainly focuses on narrative writing. It provides helpful hints on how to successfully write a story in this style. It is important to observe carefully, take notes, and ask detailed questions. The theme, descriptive writing techniques, and narrative writing techniques are the most important part when it comes to storytelling.      Both of these chapters go into detail on the proper structure of writing a story and the different techniques a writer can use to draw the readers in. There are many different ways you can go about writing your story. It is important to know when to use a lot of detail and when to be straight to the point. The way a journalist lays out a ...