J132: No class this week, get your blogs in order by Friday TAGS: class announcements | journalism instruction | writing instruction Friday is the deadline for revising the stories on your blogs. I will evaluate the stories on your blog to determine 60 percent of your final grade. We will not …Continue reading →

J130: Your final assignment TAGS: essay | journalism instruction | journalists | last assignment UPDATED: We will not meet as a class this week. You may use the blog to set up individual conferences with me. Also, you may contact me by phone or …Continue reading →

J130: If a corporation owns it and a white man edits it, can you still call it a black women’s magazine? TAGS: african american media | black media | essence magazine | magazines Many people weren’t happy when Time Inc. picked a white man to edit Essence magazine. Those same folks may be saying “toldja so” now. That white male editor has been …Continue reading →

J130: Jobs outlook for J-school grads better than you’d think TAGS: careers in journalism | employment | journalism graduates Despite the deluge of depressing news in recent years about the financial state of the print journalism industry, a new study shows that recent journalism graduates fare better than average …Continue reading →

J132: Quotes are important TAGS: conducting interviews | journalism instruction | overcoming shyness Get lots of quotes for your stories. Good quotes are crucial. They inject emotion into your stories. The inclusion of voices other than your own also make your stories more …Continue reading →

J130: Black media coverage of Trayvon Martin TAGS: african american media | black media | black newspapers | black voices | the griot | the root | trayvon martin You just completed assignments about the African-American media. A couple of you talked of writing papers on how the African American media has covered the Trayvon Martin case. Here is …Continue reading →

J130: You’re not in English class TAGS: essays | journalism instruction | writing instruction Too many journalism students write stories that read like essays, according to this article on About.com. The author, Tony Rogers, argues – rightly – that there is no room for …Continue reading →

J132: Writing stories about events TAGS: african ape | chimpanzee | chimps | conservation | disney | disneynature | earth day | jane goodall | movie premiere | wildlife documentary Here is an effective and efficient event-story lead. It opens both with an image and with a contradiction. The story is about how Jane Goodall and other conservationists hope a …Continue reading →

J132: Here are two more ideas for stories TAGS: journalism instruction | story ideas Anyone still looking for story ideas? You could cover a panel discussion Friday at the law school about sports drug testing. There also is a tree-planting event being held on …Continue reading →

J132: Use ‘color’ to enliven feature stories TAGS: color | maya angelou | story leads | storytelling | writing description “Color” is journalese for description. Use your powers of observation and description to bring your feature stories and news features alive. We didn’t talk much about description earlier in the …Continue reading →

J132: Stories are everywhere TAGS: finding stories | journalism instruction Some of you say you’re having trouble finding stories. Stories are everywhere. I asked you to present me with story ideas because I would rather you write about subjects that …Continue reading →

24-year-old reporter wins Pulitzer for Penn State sex abuse story TAGS: penn state sex abuse scandal | pulitzer prize | sara ganim At 24, Sara Ganim is one of the youngest reporters ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. She won it Monday for her coverage of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. …Continue reading →