Blog #5

In Heat & Light (pg. 138), we learn about the concept of the "element": "Each place you shoot or record for your story is called an element. Let's say you're shooting a story about a medical breakthrough. Your elements might include a hospital where the new breakthrough is being used successfully, the laboratory where it was discovered, and interviews with doctors and patients. You always try to have enough elements to do a wide-ranging and educational story." The chapter goes on to explain that longer stories require more "elements."

Question 1: Based on what you have learned from our class discussions and from your earlier interviews, what "elements" will to use to place and contextualize your story? To whom will you need to speak and where will you need to go to do this? This has a lot to do with what we call follow-up and verification interviews.

Chapter 5 really focuses on broadcast writing, but we can learn a great deal from it. You will recall (at least those of you that had my Feature Writing class) that some of my favorite journalists began their careers in the old days of radio news. These guys learned to write for the ear. Their journalism was like good prose--simple, clean, easy to follow, and made use of imagery. You may recall that I suggested that one of the tests for great journalism is to read it aloud to "hear" how it sounds.

Question 2: Taking the quotes and anecdotes discussed in the previous blogs (from your initial interviews), I would like you to write two to three paragraphs (in story form) that convey what was learned from those interviews. How would they look and sound in the stories that we are creating for the project? Be sure and discuss your writing in the context of the "element" and what you want the reader to take away.

Due: Sept. 30 @ 5 p.m.

Blog #4

By now you should have conducted at least one interview for our series. In Heat & Light, Robert Smith of NPR explains, "I want quotes that show passion, reflection, engagement, humor, or some emotion (p. 147)." What is the best quote from your interview? Why is it the best quote? What does it convey? What is the story/idea/point that could be built around it? Could it become the focal point of one of our articles in the series? Explain.

On the next page (p. 148), it talks about "logging" your interview. We can do this for a general interview as well. Make a transcript of the interview and highlight key ideas and points. Then summarize what information you think will be the most useful to us. Be prepared to discuss this in class.

Due: Sept. 28 @ 5 p.m.

Blog #3

Chapter 3 in "Heat and Light" talks about building rapport with sources as an important component of doing a good interview. For our project, we will be contacting many expert sources, most of whom you will be speaking to for the first time. Have you thought about how you will build rapport and get them to open up and speak with you? Please identify one of the sources you will be contacting and describe your strategy for building rapport. Next, review the kinds of questions you are likely to ask them. Which of these questions do you think will produce the best results and why?

Due Sept. 16 @ 5 p.m.

Blog #2

This time, I would like you to read the article, "Why reading by third grade is critical..." This is an interesting article and I would like you to do a couple of things for this blog: 1) What is the primary argument/problem/issue being addressed? 2) What key issue is at the heart of the solution(s) discussed? 3) How does this article present both sides of this key issue and how might this approach be applied to our project? 4) Note the type of sources used for this article. How is it a good mix of anecdote and fact?

Due: Sept. 9 @ 5 p.m.