Today

1. Today • Storytelling Exercise • Let’s see the WP sites! • Lecture on service/inverted pyramid/writing dialogue • Discuss stories/Peer edits • Marty Marko exercise (maybe)

2. Class in 2 weeks • Write a 200 word bio. Post with a photo of yourself. Include two links. • Investigative/Service story due! • Read 5 NYT stories. • Email me your WP site.

3. Investigative Story: due next class • Between 600 and 1000 words. • Format is up to you and may be a combo news/list (but doesn’t have to be). • Must include art or multimedia • Must have a source list with names, titles and contact info. • Needs at least 3 sources. • Must have 5 hyperlinks, 3 tags, SEO headline • Watch out for bias!!!!!

4. One quick interview tip! • Consider using a combination of open and close ended questions. • Closed ended: Do you like the proposal? • Open ended: What are the strengths of the proposal?

5. Story Format • You’ve collected your data, now what? • Lots of ways to tell a story • Recommend an inverted pyramid style coupled with a service sidebar. • Service sidebar could be a Q&A or a list with subheads.

6. Service Sidebar • Your story should include information your reader may find useful. • This is sometimes called service journalism. • Service journalism is action journalism. It should move your readers to do something with the information

7. Story format • Inverted pyramid puts all the most important info at the top. • Who what where when where why how? • Maybe also: So what? And What’s next?

8. First, write your lede. The lede is important because it helps people decide if they’re going to keep reading. • Your lede tells people what the story is about. • (Always attribute opinion.)

9. After the lede • Follow the lede with information you weren’t able to include. • Weave in your quotes and additional details.

10. Does your story begin with a solid straight news lead, one that meets all five of our criteria? • Is the story free of unattributed opinion? • Are the paragraphs arranged by order of importance? With background material generally relegated to the bottom? • Are there adequate quotes? from clearly identified sources? Punctuated properly? • Do the transitions work between each paragraph?

11. Inverted Pyramid • The most important (and most recent) information goes on top. • Progressing through the story, the information gets less important and older. • Sprinkle in a key quotations from your sources. • Most important info, supporting info, background info.

12. Example • http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/pope-benedict-xvi-says-he-will-retire.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=print

13. Writing Dialogue • Each speaker gets his or her own paragraph; a return and indent. This mimics real conversation, indicating pauses and so forth. • Attributions (“He said, “She said” and variations) should be used, but not too much • They can be used at the start of quotes, in the middle, or at the end. When attributions are overused, they get in the way; the key is that the reader should always know who’s speaking. • For interior dialogue, use italics.

14. When I was eight, my father dragged me into my bedroom after I lit a folded pile of his shirts on fire. I sat on the edge of the bed, not looking up, my hands folded mannerly in my lap.            “What’s wrong with you?” he asked.            “Nothing,” I said.            “You lit my shirts on fire? Where’d you learn that?”            “Daycare.”            “What? Daycare? You learned how to light shirts on fire at daycare?”            I froze and looked up the ceiling, trying to backtrack. I actually learned how to light matches by watching him light his pipe, but I couldn’t tell him that.            “A kid brought matches one day. I told him matches were bad.”            “I’m calling your daycare.”            “No,” I said. Okay, I screamed it, and he scowled at me.            “Tell me the truth.”            I took a deep breath and let is slide out: “I hate your shirts, Dad.”

15. More on dialogue • http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/fashion/modern-love-three-mothers-one-bond.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

16. Beware • Do not use this format: I then asked Fat Joey if he thinks the Army Corps of Engineers should build new jetties. Find a way into your quotes that adds to the story. Fat Joey doesn’t think the Army Corps of Engineers should build new jetties. “Jetties are too expensive. Plus, they’re a major liability for the city.”

17. Don’t Double Up • Make sure your quote set up isn’t redundant with your quote content. • DON’T: Fat Joey doesn’t think the Army Corps of Engineers should build new jetties. “Jetties are a terrible idea.”