Keeping current

You'd be smart to make sure you know the answers to these questions before class tomorrow.

1) What are believed to be Al-Qaida terrorists detonated a truck bomb outside a Marriott Hotel, killing 16 people and injuring scores more. In what country did this occur?

2) What do investigators think may have been a contributing factor in a commuter train collision near Los Angeles that killed 25 people?

3) Sen. John McCain says he wants to postpone the first presidential debate, scheduled for Friday. Why?

4) Kaimin reporters and photographers have been barred from dorms on campus without the express permission of the head of Residence Life. What is UM's stated reason?

5) What famed baseball stadium had its last game there this week?

Identification (and why are they in the news)

Antonin Scalia

Merrill Lynch

David Petraeus

Clay Aiken

Joe Biden

Link to the homework assignment

In case you didn't copy the link correctly, here it is. Listen to, and take notes on, all answers from each of the three gubernatorial candidates, Brian Schweitzer, Roy Brown and Stan Jones. Then decide on the strongest news element and use that for your lead. Be sure to follow up your lead with details. If you can't say more about it than the single sentence in the lead it's probably not the most newsworthy item.

It's a good idea to take notes, then go back to the audio and compare what you've written as direct quotes. It will give you a chance to hone your note-taking skills.

You should write the story to the length you think it deserves. You don't have to cover every question in your story, just those you think are most newsworthy. You're writing for a Missoula audience.

Want access to the building on weekends?

If you think there are times when you will want to get into Don Anderson Hall after 5:30 weekdays or at anytime on the weekend, go to Room 201 this week and ask Judy for an access code. Using your Griz Card to get inside, you can then get into labs by punching in the code.

When Twitter works

Yesterday we talked about the Rocky Mountain News "twittering" the funeral of a 3 year old. I think most of us concluded that it wasn't a good use of the social networking site that limits posts to 140 characters.

But here's a story about Columbia University students twittering a presidential forum. I like this idea. Why? Because the students were in essence sending out new story leads as the news developed. It's a good way to sharpen your news judgment, critical thinking skills and concise writing. And, it gives readers constant updates. I'm betting we'll see more of it.

A good news story is...

Accurate
Its spelling, names, dates and facts are all correct.
(If you read the Missoulian today you saw this lead and graf 2:)
HELENA - Republican John McCain has taken a double-digit lead over Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential race in Montana, a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows.
Obama leads McCain 53 percent to 42 percent, according to the telephone poll of 700 likely Montana voters taken Monday.) Oops...
It is not misleading; facts are not stacked or given undue importance
It doesn't editorialize
It warns readers when stated facts are in doubt

Clear
It is understandable; readers don't have to puzzle over its meaning
It presents facts as simply as possible; it shows the reporter understands the facts
It avoids jargon; if the reporter must use technical terms, they are defined
It is organized logically; unrelated facts are not joined in a single sentence

Interesting
It shows reporters have weighed the information and used critical thinking skills and news judgment to present the information
It has an "energy packed" lead that draws readers into the story

Complete
It leaves no gaps or unanswered questions
It does not leave readers hanging or confused by omitting important details
It delivers what was promised in the lead. (If you say the meeting was heated, back that up in the story by direct quotes that show just that.)
It includes essential background information to provide context, but it does not begin with the background
It is specific in important details


Swift moving
It generally uses short sentences and paragraphs, but the sentence length is varied to provide rhythm and interest
It does not get bogged down in unimportant details
It uses good quotes that add color

Leads homework

A clarification on homework for Thursday: Once you have completed the two leads you can either email them to yourself or load them on a thumb drive that you bring to class. I'll have you post them to a folder on the school server so that we can project them for class discussion.

So that you can get individual feedback from me, please also bring to class a printed, double-spaced copy of the leads. Don't forget to put a slug on the upper left corner of your printed copy.

News, or piling on?

Today's New York Times has three stories at the top of the Web having to do with the announcement that Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Take a look at them here, here and here.

Do you think those stories are legitimate? How would you cover the issue of whether the McCain campaign had thoroughly examined Palin's background before she was chosen to be the Republican VP nominee?