Interviews and Profiles

A few notes from this week...

First, here are the resources about interviewing, including the NPR story with the link to the full beaver interview if you want to hear how the drama ended:

http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/john_sawatsky_and_the_power_of_simple_questions.php

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5625218

http://poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=1190

Additionally, I mentioned you will be writing a profile/obit based on an interview conducted in class. I want you to base the kind of obit you write on The New York Times Portraits of Grief. I would recommend you read some of the featured ones on the main page so you get a feel for the kind of piece I am looking for.

Finally, be sure to submit your headlines by 5 p.m. Thursday in the comments area of this post.

See you Friday.

Interviewing and a Long Weekend

Hi all,

Good work these first four weeks. There have been a bunch of assignments and a fair amount of work, so enjoy Monday off... You've earned it.

For Wednesday check out this story from NPR about interview techniques and make sure you have the Interviewing, Quotations and Attribution sections of "Reporting Basics" chapter.

Story time in 270

Hi all,

Time again to get those headlines in for your top local, national and international stories of the week. You have been doing a good job these first two weeks, so keep it up.

Also make sure to get your localization or sidebar feature in as well.

See you Friday...

LaHood in the House

Hi all,

A couple of things about this week. First, I have uploaded PDF versions of the lectures I have given in this class up on the Blackboard site for 270. When you log into Blackboard, you should be able to access them now.

I am also copying and pasting the details for Wednesday's faux press conference below:

WHO:          Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation

WHAT:        A visit to the University of Montana to speak with journalism students.

WHEN:       Wednesday, February 16 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE:    Don Anderson Hall Room 306

WHY:         To make an announcement in response to the explosion in Allentown, Pa. and to take a few brief questions

Your first assignment:  Write a short preview story (200 words) about the visit. You will need to do research to provide some brief background information on Mr. LaHood and the explosion in Allentown – the who, what, when, where, why and how. (Due Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. MT emailed to me)

Your second assignment: On Wednesday, you will attend the news conference during class. Your second assignment is to write a 400- to 500-word news story about the event, with quotes. Your deadline for filing the story by e-mail is midnight on Wednesday.

This week's headlines

Hi all,

I am knee-deep in editing your bus stories, which we will be going over on Friday.

Also, be sure and submit your top stories of the week as well as a localization or sidebar pitch. Go ahead and do that on this post and remember to either sign in or submit it as "Anonymous."

Those headlines are due by 5:00 p.m. Thursday.

See you Friday.

Assignment for Wednesday

As I mentioned, you all have a story due Wednesday in class.

I will paste the details from today's handout in this post and then your story should be double-spaced, print out and between 300 and 350 words. Bring the completed paper to the beginning of class on Wednesday.

Basic story lab

JOUR 270

Write a news story based on the following. Assume that the story will run statewide in tomorrow’s newspapers.

The Montana Highway Patrol reported the following today:

• There was a school bus crash early today on U.S. Highway 91 near Judith Gap, Montana.
• The bus was heading to the State B and C wrestling tournament in Billings.
• The accident was discovered by a bus of Fairfield High School wrestlers, who were on their way to Billings for the tournament.
• Some parents of the wrestlers were following the bus and they arrived on the scene early, too.
• Fergus County Sheriff Tom Kilham was among the responders. He said the coaches did a pretty good job of keeping people calm. “The coaches had things pretty well in hand by the time we showed up.”
• Warmer conditions had covered the snow-packed roadway with a watery glaze.
• Uninjured wrestlers were taken by a bus from Lewistown to the wrestling tournament.
• Trooper Kelly Mantooth, the investigating officer for the Montana Highway Patrol, said four people were injured.
• The 49-passenger bus carried 16 people: a driver, two managers, three coaches and 10 high school wrestlers from Cascade and Simms high schools.
• Two of the injured were wrestlers, one of whom was flown by helicopter to a Great Falls hospital with a possible neck injury. He was later discharged. The other wrestler suffered minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to a Lewistown Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
• The accident was attributed to slick roads and high winds. The driver lost control about nine miles south of Eddies Corner.
• The other two injured people were a coach who suffered a broken arm and an unidentified person who had a minor head injury. The coach was treated and released at Lewistown. The other person was treated and released at a hospital in Harlowton.
• The bus spun clockwise, slid off the road, went through a ditch and a fence, and then rolled onto its left side.

Keep in mind structure and write a strong lead.

Good luck.

This week's stories

This is our first week of news editing duty. You are the editor of a weekly newspaper serving Missoula. Your job is to pick out the top local, nation and international stories to feature in your paper. Be sure and write a headline and include a URL to the story.

Secondly, be sure to submit a sentence or two pitch for a sidebar or localized feature you would propose to do about one of these stories.

All of this is due by Thursday at 6:00 p.m. MT.

Michelle and Alan, you should meet before class on Friday to choose your best stories and pitches and be ready to discuss during the first 10 minutes of class on Friday.