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Brites

Brites. A featurette : generally odd or amusing nuggets R elief from the hard news of the day Ledes are fun, designed to draw you in... not inverted pyramid Need a nut graf after your clever lead. So you want to write like a journo. So you want to write like a journo.

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Brites

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  1. Brites • A featurette: generally odd or amusing nuggets • Relief from the hard news of the day • Ledes are fun, designed to draw you in... not inverted pyramid • Need a nut graf after your clever lead

  2. So you want to write like a journo

  3. So you want to write like a journo • Passive verbs… kill them! Watch out for “is,” “were,” “was” • “The students were taught by Mr. G.” NO!!! • “Mr. G taught the students.” YES!!!

  4. So you want to write like a journo • Jargon • Every sport, profession, government and religion thrives in its own world • Our job: translate the jargon so all can understand “Christians are sanctified through the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb.” “Jesus died for your sins.”

  5. So you want to write like a journo • Clichés: Generally don’t use unless in quotes • Thousands of clichés around, carefully check your copy to be sure you avoid them like the plague, 24/7 or you’ll be up the creek without a paddle!

  6. Think outside the boxWhen the rubber meets the roadHit the ground runningA perfect stormConnect the dotsLight at the end of the tunnelIt is what it isThrow under the busMission-critical
stakeholdersDrink the Kool-Aid
Reinvent the wheelTo cut a long story short
Let’s cut to the chase
Beating around the bushRead my lipsLow hanging fruit


  7. So you want to write like a journo • AP Stylebook

  8. AP stylebook • Most newsroom use some variety of it • But most newsrooms and sites have their own deviations • Wall Street Journal and New York Times have unique styles, for example

  9. Deadlines

  10. Features

  11. Features • So far we’ve focused on breaking, hard news and brites • Almost always requires an inverted pyramid lede or a nut graf that does the same thing • But much of journalism lives outside of that construct… although our pal the nut graf lives on

  12. Features • The rules change for features

  13. Features • The rules change for features • Loosen up, be dramatic, use adjectives

  14. Features • The rules change for features • Loosen up, be dramatic, use adjectives • Can use more than past tense… often in present tense so readers can feel what is happening now “Sophie glides over the slick golf-course grass, passing gasping runners one-by-one.”

  15. Features • Seek out details to put your readers at the scene

  16. Features • Seek out details to put your readers at the scene • Can use feature techniques – if time and space are available – for car wrecks, tragedies, political conflicts, even a routine meeting

  17. Narration • Simply telling a story, using characters, scenes, anecdotes and dialogue... mixed in with chronology • Seen in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and online

  18. Narration • Simply telling a story, using characters, scenes, anecdotes and dialogue... mixed in with chronology • Seen in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and online • Analogous to a movie or a novel: you usually don’t get everything in the first two graphs • Take your reader right to the scene... and then get out of the way!

  19. Vivid scenes • Capture the color of the situation and the characters

  20. Vivid scenes • Capture the color of the situation and the characters • “We should all try to make readers see, smell, taste and hear”

  21. Vivid scenes • Capture the color of the situation and the characters • “We should all try to make readers see, smell, taste and hear” • Develop your senses for the details that make the story

  22. Dialogue • People talking with one another

  23. Dialogue • People talking with one another • Ideal when two or more people are talking, especially in conflict

  24. Dialogue • People talking with one another • Ideal when two or more people are talking, especially in conflict • Where would the Bible be without dialogue?

  25. John 14:5-7 remix JERUSALEM -- In a meeting with his disciples on June 13, Jesus of Nazareth said he was the only way to salvation, a controversial claim roiling the combustible Galilee religious scene. Jesus made the statement after Thomas, one of his followers, asked: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Sources told the Nazareth Gazette that Jesus then said. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus continued by comparing himself to his father, who he declined to directly identify. However, the Gazette has learned that his father was Joseph, a carpenter who died in the year 18 from unknown causes.

  26. John 14:5-7 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”   6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

  27. Profiles

  28. Profiles • An entertaining, informative piece on a person (or occasionally a group)

  29. Profiles • An entertaining, informative piece on a person (or occasionally a group) • Depends on how well you can coax the subject into revealing details of their private life

  30. Profiles • An entertaining, informative piece on a person (or occasionally a group) • Depends on how well you can coax the subject into revealing details of their private life • Also should talk with their friends, colleagues, relatives, critics

  31. Profiles • Get them to tell lots of stories (anecdotes) • The anecdotes make the reader relate to subject

  32. Profiles • Get them to tell lots of stories (anecdotes) • The anecdotes make the reader relate to subject • Have strong opening and closing

  33. Assignment 11/12 • Review pages 120-121

  34. Assignment 11/12 • Review pages 120-121 • Write a 500-word profile on a grandparent, uncle/aunt or other relative (not parent) • Everyone has a story to tell! • Interview at length, sift through your material, and craft a fascinating, informative piece • Use color, scenes, anecdotes, quotes, narration, anecdotal lede w/ nut graf

  35. Assignment 11/12 • Review pages 120-121 • Write a 500-word profile on a grandparent, uncle/aunt or other relative (not parent) • Everyone has a story to tell! • Interview at length, sift through your material, and craft a fascinating, informative piece • Use color, scenes, anecdotes, quotes, narration, anecdotal lede w/ nut graf • Have a strong opening and closing… complete package

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