FINAL EXAM PREP

  • Quotes and attribution

  • Soft news (feature) stories (What soft news is and the elements and how to write it)

  • AP style (How to format numbers, dates, etc (apply))

  • Feature stories – leads and topics (How to write leads)

  • Planning a feature (topic, who to quote, where to get the info from and what angle)

  • Formatting a story for online (do’s and don’ts)

  • Difference between soft and hard news stories (similar to midterm)

QUOTES

Four categories to consider when choosing an interviewee:

  • Eyewitness - Find the authentic eyewitness. Let them tell you what happened.

  • Experts on the topic - Someone who knows the area very well.

  • Persons affected - The person directly attacked or identified in the story. 

  • Someone who is part of a trend - What if a brand of car tires was being recalled? Who do you use as a interviewee?

    –You should seek a car with that particular brand of tires and ask how this affects him.

Three rules to get good answers:

  • Listen to the answer - Repeat the question if the interviewee is rambling or drifting away from the question. 

  • Ask tough questions - “some people have you aren’t up for the job of being manager, how do you respond to that?”

  • Don’t ask yes or no questions - Ask how or why. 

- Don’t ask “Have you been an effective principal?” ask “How does Papaya rules benefit your drivers, when you only prioritize one car”

ATTIRBUTION

The inclusion of source identification to establish credibility or doubt in the story.

They pose two questions for broadcast writers:

  • Where should it be placed?

  • When should it be used?

Attribution should always be done in the beginning of broadcast and in the end for newspaper. 

Shorten attribution or eliminate it altogether - 

Newscast = short time → it’s best to either shorten or not mention. 

Long government titles are often shortened to official or authorities. 

Example:

Newspaper:

THE UNITED STATES AND FRANCE WILL SOON MEET ON THE NEW NEGOTIATIONS OVER THE GATT TRADE AGREEMENTS, ACCORDING TO A HIGHLY PLACED STATE DEPARTMENT SOURCE. 

Broadcast:

A STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL IS SAYING THE US AND FRANCE WILL MEET TO DISCUSS TRADES. 

When to always use?

In crime stories. Make a point of using attribution to demonstrate that you are relying on authoritative sources. 

APA STYLE 

The rulebook for newswriting 

Part dictionary, part textbook, part encyclopedia.

Created to give accurate and consistent presentation of the printed word.

Ex.

At an E.U. summit yesterday, President George W. Bush spoke to the twenty-seven leaders about United States policies in the Mideast. 

There’s about six mistakes above. But let’s get ahold of the rules first.

Numbers:

  • One through nine is spelled out

  • 10 and above is written in numerals.

  • A percentage is always written in numerals followed by the word percent

  • Ages are expressed in numerals.

  • Money is expressed in numerals.

EX. $15 million 

  • Addreses are expressed in numerals. 

  • Street, Avenue, and Boulevard are abbreviated.

  • Dates expressed in numerals 

  • Months from August to February are abbreviated when used with numbered dates. 

  • March through July are never abbreviated.

  • Oct. 15 / July 12 / November 

  • Job titles are capitalized when they appear before a person’s name, but lowercase after the name. 

Ex. President George Bush. George Bush is the president. 

  • Film, book, and song titles are capitalized and placed in quotation marks.  

(Not to be quoted for refrenced books or the name of newspaper/magazines)

Ex.

At an E.U. summit yesterday, President George W. Bush spoke to the twenty-seven leaders about United States policies in the Mideast.