Click on the link below to go to SlideShare to see a UPIU’s lecture on Writing for the Web.
http://www.slideshare.net/hgondo/writing-for-the-web-4908812
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Talk to strangers. Make freaky friends. Ignore important people. Give everyone your phone number. Work holidays. Sound intimidating? Scary? Hard? That might be true. But those tips for finding great stories are among 20 offered by 2009 Pulitzer Prize feature winner Lane DeGregory, who reports for the St. Petersburg Times. (Read the rest here) I’m going to add another tip: READ. A LOT. The very best news stories can send chills down your spine, force laughter to bubble up through the deepest part of your gut, and send you for a box of tissues to mop up your tears. They’re as good as novels, and better than whatever is playing at the local movie theater. The best news stories burn images into your head – images that never go away. The bad news: Writing is hard work. The good news: Good writing is a skill that can be learned. And one of the most effective ways to learn is to study. If you’re an aspiring news writer, you should be on a constant look-out for the best stories. Notice similarities. How do writers develop characters? What do they quote? What do they paraphrase? How is the story structured? Take notes. When you discover techniques that work, incorporate them into your own stories. Here’s one of the best in recent memory to get you started. Lane DeGregory earned the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for this piece, a haunting tale of a forgotten little girl.
More sources for good stories: Where do you go to find good news writing? Tell us! Leave a comment below. What should you do when you can’t find the people you’re supposed to write about? Keep looking until you find them. That’s what UPIU writer Rajneesh Bhandari had to do when he accepted a UPIU assignment to write about autism in Nepal. When he first called a few autism centers, he had no luck.  Photo by Rajneesh Bhandari “’They used to stay here a year ago,’ ‘This is not their number,’ ‘I don’t know much about them,’ were the general answers I got,” said Rajneesh, who is studying journalism at Nepal’s Tribhuwan University. But he didn’t give up. “I finally got one care center that was working,” he said. Rajneesh set an appointment to visit the center. When he arrived, he found a group of autistic children working on art projects. The center provided Rajneesh with anecdotes for his story. Over the course of nearly two weeks, Rajneesh scrambled to find out more about autism, but there was little he could verify.  Rajneesh Bhandari “The saddest part is there is no official data that tells how many children in Nepal are living with autism,” he said. “Parents were hopeful that they will be able to network with other children (with) autism and support them.” Rajneesh found that Nepalese parents aren’t satisfied with the government’s current lack of services for their autistic children. They told him they want to make the government more aware of the growing rate of autism. Rajneesh usually writes about politics, poverty and war. It was a challenge for him to write about autism, a disease that many countries around the world don’t even recognize. But now, Rajneesh has a new area of expertise to add to his list of topics he can cover. Are you interested in writing about autism in your country? Contact Anna Young, UPIU’s Community Manager, to find out more. You can read her story about autism in the U.S. here. If you can’t answer that question before you begin typing, you need to do some more thinking, and probably some more reporting. It’s easy to throw words onto a computer screen without much thought of what you’re trying to achieve, but that’s probably not the most effective way to write the news. Before you begin writing, ask yourself: “What is the goal of this story?” Do you want to:
There are different types of news stories to fulfill each of those goals. Here’s a sampling of the most common types of news stories:
Once you decide the type of story that is most appropriate to your topic, think about the type of reporting you need to conduct. Do you need to talk to public officials? Do you need to find average people to interview? Where should you go to get your information? The reporters with the most successful stories think carefully through each question before they begin reporting. What makes a news story? What makes an opinion column? How can you tell the difference? Before you turn on your computer, pick up your notebook and pen or even begin making calls to set up interviews, think for a moment about the type of story you’d like to write. Is it a news story? Is it a column? If you’re not sure, review this quick summary: A news story:
A column:
A word of caution: If you’re struggling to find enough sources for a news story and you’re thinking about just writing a column instead, don’t. Most news writers only write news. Most columnists only write columns. If a news writer also writes columns, that writer’s credibility is questionable. Choose what you want to write, and do that – only that. Most columnists spend years as news reporters before they make the switch. Why? Because a column can be much tougher to write than a news story. A column should be much more than one person’s rant. A columnist must choose topics of general concern, instead of personal pet issues. A columnist must write to engage the public and spark dialogue. A column should invite people to join a discussion, not exclude readers through anger, vitriol or unreasonable arguments. Want to know more? Check out the news vs. opinion section of this post from NewsTrust.net. Sharing a two-bedroom apartment with five other people. Taking a six-hour bus ride home for the holidays because you can’t afford a car (or a parking space, for that matter.) Typing up crime briefs and local swimming pool schedules. Is this why you endured four years of journalism school? If you’re a recent college grad who just wants to get a little experience, you might be in the wrong place. Sure, New York City and Washington, DC sound like dream locales for those of us who grew up reading about New York’s newspaper wars and watching “All the President’s Men,” but prime beats in those cities are hard to come by. Don’t overlook smaller news organizations, says Mike Kilian, managing editor of the Observer-Dispatch newspaper in Utica, NY. “Smaller newspapers are where you’re going to meet the cops and argue with the mayor who barely finished high school,” Mike says. “It’s where you’ll be bored to tears at some lunch function yet you’ll come back to the office with some great tips for future stories. And it’s where you can learn to sharpen your questions and your writing and win awards and get a heck of a lot of satisfaction.” Utica is a small city in New York State’s heartland. It was once a luxe getaway destination for New York City’s mob bosses (the paper won a Pulitzer in 1959 for its mafia coverage) and has evolved to become home to thousands of refugees and immigrants from around the world. The city struggles with poverty and crime, but is also home to people who know how to transform abandoned blocks into warm neighborhoods. There might not be much nightlife in Utica, but there are more stories than an eager reporter could dream of tackling. Mike has hired more than his share of new grads – they make up about half of all the reporters he’s hired, he says. He looks for young journalists who have a handle on time management and accuracy. Most of all, Mike says he looks for grads who can “see” a story. “Far too often, a young journalist is pressing up against a deadline with a notebook full of quotes, but with little understanding of what the point of the story really is,” Mike says. Whether you’re working for a tiny daily in Alaska or the New York Times, young journalists should determine one or two questions a story should answer BEFORE reporting and writing the story. “If a county were hiring a new public health director, such a key question could be, ‘How will this person address the most pressing needs in the county?’” Mike says. “And that will force the reporter to both keep the story real by focusing on specific healthcare issues, and to keep the interview with the new person focused so that you don’t wind up with ‘I’m happy to be here’ lame quotes.” Critical thinking is the real key to solid journalism, Mike says. “Journalists are not stenographers, passively taking down details of what’s occurring,” he says. “Instead, they’re asking the ‘Why’ questions and trying to put events into a useful context for readers.” When job-hunting, look for news organizations that value basic journalism skills. Find editors who, like Mike, encourage new reporters to focus most on reporting and writing. Social media is critical to the news industry, but real reporting and interviewing skills are the bedrock of journalism. “Information is more critical to our society than ever, particularly because it moves rapidly through the world, nation or a single community,” Mike says. “Yet 10,000 Tweets don’t necessarily add up to accuracy. The people who do know how to conduct interviews, read documents and follow story leads will likely be more valuable than ever.” Even in a fast-paced, social media world, Mike says, “there’s always enough time to get the story right, so don’t cut corners in your reporting.” Abhirup Bhunia, a journalism student in India and UPIU contributor, was “totally frustrated at one point,” he says. When he submitted his first story to UPIU, he thought of himself as a decent journalist. “Writing was never a problem for me, I thought,” he says. But the story came back again and again, each time with notes from the UPIU senior mentor. Abhirup had to review his story for opinion and poor word choice. He had to do more reporting than he initially thought necessary, and was told he couldn’t take quotes from other news sources. “It was real slogging, but it did pay off,” he says. Abhirup found that the fastest way to a UPI byline is to listen closely to mentors and take their critiques seriously. “Perseverance is the key,” he says. “Working on the language to hook the reader is a must. Knowing whom to interview for a story and what to ask, and thus providing relevant quotes, always helps. “ Since then, Abhirup has earned four UPI bylines, and a fifth is pending. (Read his stories here). Not bad for an aspiring journalist who found UPIU through a Google search. Have you ever been discouraged during the writing or reporting process? Do you have any questions for Abhirup, or advice for UPIU’s aspiring journalists? Comment below.
We were really excited to start UPIU’s Going Global program with student journalists from Beijing’s Peking University. The students of Professor Kun Li’s English News Writing course joined us in a video conference during their weekly class session. Over the course of one week, nearly two dozen students submitted stories that were fresh, fun and informative. The stories revealed a China that many non-Chinese readers don’t hear enough about. Some interesting stories that the students posted:
Xixi, Charis, Jie and other students had a chance to discuss their stories during a wrap-up video chat our Senior Mentor, Krista Kapralos, conducted with the class last Wednesday. A major discussion topic was the use of anonymous sources, which were included in most of the stories from Peking University. Krista explained that anonymous sources are rarely allowed in many U.S. publications, and Peking University students shared that it’s difficult to get people to talk on the record in China, where fear of the government is an everyday concern. Krista and the students agreed that the old rules of American journalism don’t always work in other countries. Look for more courageous stories from Peking University on UPIU.com! Rob Curley spoke to students at the recent Associated Collegiate Press conference in Phoenix. He told students that the best way to prepare for the future of journalism is to write well. Here are a few ideas to help any journalist follow his advice.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife The “Hyper-local hero” told his audience that they needed to be able to write copy in real-time. He predicted that reporters increasingly will be required to work without a net. If you can’t write well on your own and under stress than you will be in trouble. Curley also noted that there is nothing more important than a willingness and ability to learn. Listen to his entire response on the Innovation in College Media blog. We have a few tips on how to follow Curly’s advice. This list of was written by UPIU mentor Beth Potter for journalists interested in submitting to UPIU.com. However, these are great tips for any journalist. Top Ten Elements of a Good Story1. Your lead must be catchy. If your friend’s eyes glaze over when she hears it, it’s not catchy enough. (TIP: Say the lead out loud to yourself. If it’s hard to say in one breath, it’s probably too long. In general, leads can be up to 35 words but remember,”Brevity is the source of wit.”) 2. Your story must be unique. New studies, new decisions, new trends, are just a few of the things that can make for good hard news stories. Features and profiles should be about unusual and/or new information or people. Readers will not be interested if you write about things they know already. 3. All stories must have at least two sources. A good story should have three or more sources. Quotes from your sources should say something more interesting than just factual information. (For example: “Michigan has cold winters,” is not a good quote because the information is something everyone already knows.)
Image by churl via Flickr 4. “Write tight, write bright.” Brief stories are almost always more engaging than long stories. Many hard news stories are 350 words or less. Features and profiles can be 400-800 words. On the Internet, especially, shorter is better. 5. Attribute as much information as you can. This makes your story more credible to readers and keeps their attention. 6. All sources must include both first and last names. Ask your source to spell his or her name and title when you do the interview. If you do not include a source’s name in your story, you MUST explain why. Some examples could be: an underage child, a rape victim, etc. Your story is not credible and cannot be published if this basic rule is not followed. 7. Answer all questions! If a quote might raise a question in a reader’s mind, you can either a.) not use it, or b.) explain it. Cut anything that seems ambiguous. 8. DO NOT, under any circumstance, give your own opinion in a story. Factual background information is OK. Opinion words are not. |
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