Sunday, October 21, 2007

Potential news story 2

1) Slug: Girls tennis team makes state

2) Section of newspaper story would appear (no Op-Ed): Sports

3) What are the most dominant news elements in the story? Explain in-depth:

_________________________ Why?
News element#1
Proximity. Again, this event is happening in our own school, to known students. Students are bound to be attracted to events happening to people they know.
_________________________ Why?
News element#2
Timeliness. This is happening now, and is going to make a better story then something that happened a week ago because of that.
_________________________ Why?
News element#3

4) In a few sentences, describe what the story will be about: This peice would be extremely similiar to the peice on the girls soccer team making state. It will interview the coaches and key players on the team, and cover what they hope to accomplish during state.


5) Specifically, who will you interview or contact? Why those people?

_________________________ Why?
Any and all coaches (unamed) of the girls tennis team, to talk about their different techniques for motivating his players, his hopes for state, and to obtain contact information for key players on the team. I will locate the names of various coaches via the school directory.

_________________________ Why?
Any key players would have to be interviewed, in order to get their perspective on nearly everything, from plays to scheduling to general ideas about the tournament itself. The players are as of yet unamed, however, I would obtain ideas about which players to interview from the aforementioned coaches.

_________________________ Why?
A coach and/or from the opposing team, to see if he/they believe Edina will be any threat, why or why not, and what players they are keeping an eye on.

6) What information do you need to gather before you begin interviews?
Contact information for potential interviewees, a rough draft involving potential interview questions, and time when each interviewee would be available.


7) What questions do you definitely need answered in your interviews? Why?
What do you hope to accomplish during state? What pushed your players to become good enough this year? Do you think you can do it again? What do you think of your chances? All of these questions give readers insight into each interviewee's thought process, and depending on their responses can inspire hope or gloom. Either way, their definately questions worth asking.

8) What photo opportunities are available to go alongside this story (give names, places, times, etc.)?

9) Who should a photographer contact to set up photographs?

10) What concerns or problems do you foresee in getting this story together?
Their is always the possibility that I will be unable to get a hold of someone, or someone will not talk to me for his or her own reason.

11) Other information?
There may be a section for random quotes from some of the players, words of encouragment from friends and family, or some such thing.

Potential news story 1

1) Slug: Girls Soccer at State

2) Section of newspaper story would appear (no Op-Ed):Sports

3) What are the most dominant news elements in the story? Explain in-depth:

_________________________ Why?
News element#1
Proximity-This event is happening within our own high school, to students many of us know. It is logical, therefore, to assume that many people would be interested to learn about this.

_________________________ Why?
News element#2
Timeliness-Simply put, this happened recently. Because of that, people are bound to be more interested then if, say, it had happened a week and a half ago.

_________________________ Why?
News element#3

4) In a few sentences, describe what the story will be about:
The article would interview key members of the girls soccer team, and talk about their journey to state. It would also cover what they hope to accomplish.


5) Specifically, who will you interview or contact? Why those people?

_______________________ Why?
The coach, Simon Whitehead, to get phone numbers for other members of the team, as well as to question him about his team's success.


_________________________ Why?
I would interview the team captain, Kelsey Moir, Natalie Pastor, and any other teammates that they (highly) reccomended.

_________________________ Why?
The opposing team's coach, too get an opposing point of view, assuming he has one at all.

6) What information do you need to gather before you begin interviews? Contact information for each potential interviewee, as well as what questions I may ask during the aforementioned interview.


7) What questions do you definitely need answered in your interviews? Why?
What do you hope to accomplish, certainly. It would give the reader's an idea of the team's hopes and aspirations, and give them an idea what to expect in terms of effort. Possibly a question about practice schedules, to once again showcase the effort being put into training for State.

8) What photo opportunities are available to go alongside this story (give names, places, times, etc.)?

9) Who should a photographer contact to set up photographs?

10) What concerns or problems do you foresee in getting this story together?
The coach, or a key player may not wish to speak to me for various reasons of his or her own.

11) Other information?
It's possible there could a section for quotes from players, or words of encouragement from friends or family.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Journalism attributes

I think the most important attribute a journalist can possibly have is courage. In fact, I would go so far as to say that without courage, a journalist has no chance of making it. Not every contact you have will be easy. Indeed, several contacts will be very powerful people who could likely make your life miserable if they wanted. If you did not have courage, how on Earth could you expect to get that story? But more then that, courage gives a journalist a tough outer skin. Lets face it, not every story you write is going to be a smashing success, and not all of them are going to sit well with the public. With a tough outer skin, you can take that criticism, learn from it or ignore it if you so choose, and then move onto your next assignment. Indeed, courage is truly a necessity.