A CLASS PLAN FOR A JOURNALISM COURSE IN, JUNIOR COLLEGES Thesis for the Degree of M. A. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY JUDITH LUCILLE BURKEN 1972. ABSTRACT A CLASS PLAN FOR A JOURNALISM COURSE IN JUNIOR COLLEGES By Judith Lucille Burken In junior colleges today many journalism teachers are drafted from the ranks of disciplines other than jour- nalism and told to teach a course that will provide student reporters for the college newspaper. This instructor has little or no educational background or professional exper- ience in the journalistic field and is not prepared to teach a journalism course. This thesis sets forth some suggestions and offers some materials to help this instructor teach a class in news writing. Included in the thesis are lists of films for class use and exercises to teach the principles of ob- servation, suggestions for selection of texts for the course, tips on the teaching of writing leads using the local newspaper as a guide, and the text and how to expand the story lead into the complete news story. Judith Lucille Burken Samples of student-written assignments and instruc- tor keys are included as well as sample tests to be given on text materials. An annotated bibliography is appended to the thesis. Accepted by the faculty of the Department of Journalism, College of Communication Arts, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree. A CLASS PLAN FOR A JOURNALISM COURSE IN JUNIOR COLLEGES By Judith Lucille Burken A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS School of Journalism 1972 This thesis is dedicated to all my former journalism students in the Clinton, Iowa, Job Corps who introduced me to teaching and who helped in the testing of much of the material contained herein. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks to Edgar Eaton, past president of the Junior College Journalism Association, for assisting me in preparation of this thesis, and my parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. O. Burken, for their words of encouragement. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES O O O O O 0 O I O O O 0 O O O O O 0 v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 A look at current junior college journalism programs; identifying the subject matter of the course to be taught; the newswriting course; physical facilities. CHAPTER II. THE NEWSWRITING CLASS SYLLABUS . . . . 14 A newswriting and reporting syllabus for a onevsemester course. CHAPTER III. PREPARING THE REPORTER . . . . . . . 22 Teaching the techniques of observation through carefully structured exercises and use of films. CHAPTER IV. SOME WRITING PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . 44 Selecting a text; writing the story; writing obituaries. BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 APPENDICES: APPENDIX A. TEACHING MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . 77 APPENDIX B. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . 80 APPENDIX C. GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 APPENDIX D. SAMPLE TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 APPENDIX E. SUPPLEMENT TO A.P. STYLEBOOK . . . . 94 vi Figure 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. LIST OF FIGURES Dual image picture . . Pet cartoon Correct geometric designs A and B Incorrect geometric design A . Incorrect geometric design A . Incorrect geometric design B . Sample copy preparation sheet Sample from Associated Press Stylebook with notation referring to supplement sheet Supplement sheet to Associated Press Stylebook . . . . . . . . . . . Sample story edited for publication The lead in a news story . Checklist for writing leads Police story A news story model Blank data sheet . . . Completed data sheet Obituary written from completed data sheet Completed data sheet Page 25 29 32 33 34 35 46 53 54 S6 58 59 61 65 67 68 69 71 Figure 19. 20. Guideline story . Student's story vi Page 72 73 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Junior college journalism today is like a river of flotsam and jetsam occasionally stirred by a national or state-conducted survey. The programs' merits and demerits are sorted, sifted, weighed, compared, and displayed in a report that is out-of—date as soon as it rolls off the printing presses. And the myriad journalism programs settle back into the murky depths of junior college academia and continue to stagnate. While many words are written about the current state of the junior college program, little is being done to change the existing stagnation into a fast flowing current of fresh, innovative ideas and teaching methods. It is the purpose of this thesis to help initiate some momentum in this direction. In 1967, a national study of junior college journal- ism was conducted by Lester Benz of the University of Iowa.1 The results of the Benz study were published in Journalism 1Lester G. Benz, "Journalism Teaching in the Junior Colleges," Journalism Quarterly, 44, No. 1 (Spring, 1967), 118—122. Quarterly and have since been widely quoted and printed in various journalism publications, providing a base for a num— ber of master of arts theses. Several of Benz's observations made in 1967 remain true today. He wrote that "junior college journalism is drifting aimlessly with little indication that many of the schools have planned programs to meet specific objectives." In support of this statement, Benz noted that in many junior colleges journalism courses served only to staff school pub- lications. A 1972 national survey of junior college journalism programs, conducted by Frank Deaver of the University of 2 Re- Alabama, concurred with the earlier findings by Benz. ferring to the Benz study and its findings that many course offerings in junior colleges served merely to furnish col- lege newspaper staffs, Deaver said. ”Although many junior college people took exception to what they thought too sweeping an indictment," his (Benz) findings and others--inc1uding this study--reveal that such is all too often the case. A Michigan study of junior college journalism pro— grams, undertaken by Neal Bandlow for his master of arts 2Frank Deaver, Journalism and Student Publications in American Junior Colleges, Researdh commissioned by Junior College Journalism Assoc1ation, University of Alabama, Au- gust, 1972 (Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Co., 1972). thesis in journalism at Michigan State University, further bore out Benz's contention.3 Bandlow reported that "83 per- cent of the junior colleges in Michigan offered journalism courses to help publish the college newspaper." Since national emphasis has been placed on produc- tion of a college newspaper by junior college journalism students, a look must be taken at the kind of program the journalism student is enrolled in and the qualifications of the journalism instructor. Deaver, in his study, reported that: journalism departments in senior institutions have noted that many junior college transfers, some having as much as twelve hours credited to them in journalism, still lack the knowledge that should be associated with the credits on their transcripts. They may also take note of junior college publications that bear their own testimony of limited journalistic instruction. And, upon further inquiry, they may find inadequately trained teachers assigned to instruct journalism, or pitifully inadequate funding made available for journalism. From his Michigan study, Bandlow concluded that "it is assumed that students in junior colleges may fulfill journalism course requirements by working with the college newspaper ."5 3Neal Bandlow, ”An Assessment of the Statures of Journalism Education in Junior Colleges in Michigan: A Sur- vey of Teachers and Administrators" (unpublished Master's thesis, Michigan State University, 1972). 4 . . . . Deaver, "Journalism 1n American Jun1or Colleges," SBandlow, "Journalism Education in Michigan Junior Colleges," p. 44. What does this mean to the junior college student who is thinking of taking some journalism courses and wants to transfer to the four-year college to receive a bachelor of arts degree in journalism? Deaver states that: It should be made abundantly clear that these dis- mal characteristics are not found in all junior colleges. Unhappily, however, there is enough evidence of such in- adequacies that senior institutions have reacted, in some cases, by questioning transfer journalism credits from all junior colleges. This poses an unfair burden upon these two—year schools--and their students--where quality journalistic instruction is the rule. For the senior institution, though, the task of separating valid from worthless journalism credits is virtually impos~ sible. If nationally it is found that junior college jour— nalism programs are not adequately preparing students for senior college programs, who is to blame? Benz in his sur- vey found that in 1967 "one-fifth of the junior college journalism teachers have never taken a journalism course themselves in college and nearly half have earned fewer than 15 semester hours of credit in journalism."7 Deaver's 1972 study stated: When journalism department heads in senior institu- tions discuss junior college journalism transfers, they inevitably complain that junior college journalism teachers in the two-year institutions have their highest degree from a field other than journalism. All too fre- quently they have little or no academic training or me- dia experience to prepare them for teaching journalism.8 6Deaver, "Journalism in American Junior Colleges," 7Benz, "Journalism Teaching,” p. 118. 8Deaver, "Journalism in American Junior Colleges,” p. 10. Bandlow's Michigan survey revealed that: two out of three teachers have not majored, mi- nored or taken a single course in journalism in college. Moreover 50 per cent of the teachers have taken less than ten credit hours in journalism. Seemingly, most journalism teachers gn junior colleges in Michigan are far from qua11f1ed." Other research in the area of junior college jour- nalism teacher preparation bears out these findings. They report that most junior college journalism programs are taught by instructors with little or no formal journalism education or experience qualifications in journalism.10 Thus the problem is stated. Nationally, junior col- lege journalism programs are shotgun efforts at best in edu- cating and training future journalists and the crux of the problem is the inadequately prepared journalism instructor. Next comes the question: Should an effort be made to upgrade the junior college journalism program? Will the media hire qualified, two-year journalism graduates? One answer to the question was provided by Paul S. Swensson, former executive director of The Newspaper Fund, in an ad- dress to the 1967 convention of the Association for Educa- tion in Journalism.11 9Bandlow, "Journalism Education in Michigan Junior Colleges,” p. 33. 10Fred A. Barfoot, "English Departments Run Most Journalism Courses," Journalism Educator, XXVI (Fall, 1971), p. 26. 11Speech delivered by Paul S. Swensson, Temple Uni- versity, at the 1967 convention of the Association for Edu— cation in Journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. Swensson said that many community newspaper pub- lishers cannot afford the salaries commanded by graduates of four-year colleges. Nor can they offer the more challeng- ing kinds of reporting that may be found in the metropolitan areas. As a result, Swennson said, employer pressure, par- ticularly from the community newspapers, would force in- creased offering of a terminal two—year college journalism program. In a survey of California newspaper editors, 80 per cent of the editors of weeklies and 77 per cent of the edi- tors of dailies said they would hire junior college grad- uates with Associate of Arts degrees in journalism. A ma— jority of daily and weekly editors said they would pay the same starting salaries to junior college graduates with sim- ilar ability as graduates of four-year schools.12 What kind of man or woman should the junior college send to the news editors? One theoretical answer was sup- plied by Carol Hilton, a journalism instructor at the Uni- versity of Washington, who suggests that the junior college Offer a two-year journalism program designed to pro- duce a sort of journalism technician equipped, if not to write political commentary or to cover foreign capitals, at least to perform yeoman service in some of the more 12Arthur Margosian, "The California Junior College Journalism Curriculum, 1969-1970," paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism convention, Washing— ton, D.C., Aug. 17, 1970, p. 2. routine journalistic assignments. Such a program ought to implement the career aspirations of would-be journal- ists who may lack the resources, financial or intellec- tual, to complete a journalism program at a four-year institution. It might, one would suspect, relieve the four-year institutions of many students who are unlikely to com- plete the baccalaureate program. And it should do a good deal to help meet the all but insatiable demands of the nation's newspapers for more staffers.1 The unfortunate aspect of the preceding answer is that it's only a good theory. Where are the tools and re- sources? Where is the advice needed to implement such a program in the average junior college? This is the dilemma facing most of the junior colleges across the nation. Stud- ies have pinpointed the weaknesses in the junior college journalism programs. Ultimate goals for better junior col- lege journalism programs have been presented. But where in that gulf between the problem and the goal lies the solu- tion? This study is one attempt at helping to find that middle ground called a solution. As a journalism instruc- tor teaching in a junior college of 2,300 students, the writer has encountered problems in organizing and teaching a journalism curriculum that are not unlike thousands of other journalism instructors. This thesis will attempt to 13Carol Hilton, "Journalism Education and the Two- Year College," (unpublished paper, University of Washington, July, 1969), pp. 12-13. set-up some guidelines and resource hints and examples for the teaching of journalism at the junior college level. The Junior College Journalism Association founded in 1968 is made up of men and women who have taught or are currently teaching journalism in a junior college. Among the organization's objectives is the upgrading of journal- ism in the junior college and the formulating of a set of standards for junior colleges to apply in their programs. The association's goal is to eliminate, whenever possible, the shotgun approach to teaching journalism in the junior college and to bring Carol Hilton's theory to full realiza- tion. To achieve its goals, the association offers the advice and counseling of its members, course outlines for a survey of mass communications, news writing and copy edit- ing. And in September, 1972, the association released its "Report of the Joint Committee on Standards and Evaluation for Transfer of Junior College Journalism Credits" in which are contained guidelines for adequate instruction, curricu- l lum, and resources. 4 But for all this, there still exists a gap between the journalism program consisting of one course taught by a drafted English instructor who also doubles as 14Junior College Journalism Association, Associa- tion for Education in Journalism, "Report of the Joint Com- mittee on Standards and Evaluation For Transfer of Junior College Journalism Credits," Carbondale, 111., Aug, 1972, p. 3. the college newspaper adviser, and the polished junior col— lege journalism program that meets the standards set up by the Junior College Journalism Association, and produces a student of the qualifications outlined by Carol Hilton. It is for that middle-of—the-road person in jour- nalism teaching that this thesis is written. A Beginning Since a majority of one-course journalism programs in junior colleges exist solely to provide a staff for the college newspaper, it should follow that the one course taught must be in news writing. For an English instructor turned journalism instruc- tor this might seem like the last course to be taught. A bachelor of arts degree in journalism and some professional eXperience may make the teaching of such a class easier; but with the right tools the class can be taught by an English teacher or any other teacher who draws the assign- ment. After all, isn't effective use of the English lan- guage in communication what American journalism is all about? The emphasis in this study, therefore, will be on helping the "non-journalist" journalism teacher prepare his or her one class in such a way that the college paper will have a staff and the student who wishes to transfer to a 10 four—year college and continue in a journalism program will receive a basic journalism reporting course and transfer— able credits. To insure transfer of the journalism credit, close coordination with a senior college journalism department on transfer requirements is necessary. Most junior colleges can pinpoint the four-year college or university to which the majority of its journalism students will transfer and in turn work with this institution on the transfer program requirements. A telephone call or letter will get the jour- nalism instructor the needed information in most cases. In Michigan, five senior colleges offer bachelor of arts degrees in journalism. They are Michigan State Univer- sity, The University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan Univer- sity, Central Michigan University, and the University of Detroit. In Bandlow's study of Michigan junior college jour- nalism programs, he found that fifteen of the twenty-three schools offering journalism instruction have a transfer- oriented program.lS One junior college offers only a term- inal or career program and seven of the junior colleges of- fer both transfer and terminal curricula. 15Bandlow, "Journalism Education in Michigan Jun- ior Colleges," p. 46. 11 After determining that a journalism course is to be taught and if in agreement that the course most likely to help put out the school paper and start the student on a journalism career is one in news writing, a course descrip— tion must be written. At Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, where the author teaches, the news writing course bears that title and carries three semester hours of credit. It has no pre- requisites. Its content is described as offering: The fundamental principles of gathering and writing news with emphasis on observation, organization, writ- ing and editing of materials for mass media. Lessons consist of writing from simple fact sheets to practice in news gathering techniques. Students have a variety of writing experiences in straight and feature news writing. Class members work on the Triad. The Triad_is the Kellogg Community College news- paper. No separate credit is given the student for work on the newspaper. Now that the course description is down on paper, the next step is to find and equip a room in which to teach the class. The course must be taught with the use of type- writers. The college's typing instructor may be switching to electric typewriters, as was the case at Kellogg, and the department may be willing to let the journalism instruc- tor have his discarded manual typewriter. The room in which the journalism class is to be taught should have typing tables and secretarial chairs. 12 Most will not. At Kellogg, long tables similar to those found in biology laboratories and straight—back office chairs are used. The same arrangement is found at Michigan State University in its news reporting laboratories. The Junior College Journalism Association offers as minimum suggested guidelines for furnishing a news writing laboratory the following: a. a phone in the newsroom (reporting/editing lab) for checking stories; one typewriter per student in each laboratory or newsroom reporting situtation. . basic references including dictionary, style book, thesaurus, campus directory, phone direc- tory, atlas, quotation source book. These ref- erences to be located in the area of the report- ing/editing lab.: representative newspapers for study and compari- son; in the event that copyreading and headline writ- ing are offered, wire copy should be available for student use; if photography is offered, cam- eras and enlargers should be available for weekly use by each student enrolled; basic requirements would also include a publica- tion outlet for student-produced news copy. 13 These are the ideal furnishings for the junior col- lege news writing room. The more realistic room setting for the junior college offering a journalism class might be a shared room arrangement with the business department. This was the arrangement at Kellogg for the first semester of this writer's teaching. Then came the switch to elec— tric typewriters and the gain of the manual typewriters, but the loss of the room. The dictionary may be of the pocket variety that retails for about ninety-five cents. A newspaper style book can also be purchased. It is discussed in Chapter IV. The other materials, if available, should be used, but are not necessary for the running of the class. Now, the next challenge must be faced, how to teach the course. CHAPTER II THE NEWSWRITING CLASS SYLLABUS The following syllabus for a course in news writing is designed for use in a semester consisting of thirty-four class meetings of one and a half hours each. While this thesis is based on the availability of news source material for the design of individual writing assignments and report- ing exercises, the use of a reporting workbook may be used. To present a workable syllabus for most users, work- book exercises from James Julian's Practical Newswriting Assignments for Reporters are cited in the syllabus. Other books referred to are Reporting Today: The Newswriter's Handbook, by M. L. Stein and Grammar For Journalists, by E. L. Callihan. More complete information about these texts is given in Chapter V. Discussion topics referred to in the syllabus may be backgrounded from Mitchell V. Charney's Reporting--des- cribed in Chapter V--or one of the texts listed in the an- notated bibliography in Appendix B. An optional first class exercise introduces class members to one another and provides the instructor with a biographical sketch of each student. The class is paired 14 15 off. Within the pairs the students introduce themselves and take notes on what they can learn about the other per- son. The students then write a paragraph or more about the person each has met. The papers are exchanged within the original pair, checked for accuracy, initialed by the reader, and returned. The two students are now paired with another two students who interviewed each other. One student intro- duces the person about whom he wrote the paragraph to the two new students and so it goes until each of the four stu- dents has been introduced. In writing the paragraph the students should be told to write it as they think a news story should be writ- ten. The paragraph will serve the dual purpose of provid- ing a character sketch of the student for the instructor and also give the instructor an indication of the writing abilities of the students. Also in the first class, the instructor may wish to introduce himself and explain his educational and pro- fessional background. This serves to acquaint the class with the instructor and establishes initial rapport with the students. These introductory exercises may constitute the first class meeting. The Syllabus: 16 Class 2: Sharpening the Senses Discussion: Handout: Film: Importance of use of senses by reporter and need of reporter and news source to have communication consensus. Use of dual image picture. (See thesis, Chapter III, p. 25, Figure 1.) Illustration of two men discussing a pet. (See thesis, Chapter III, p. 29, Figure 2.) "Specific Is Terrific”. (See thesis, Chapter III.) Class 3: Feedback Exercises Discussion: Exercise: Emphasize importance of giving and get- ting specific details. (See thesis, Chapter III.) Student gives directions to class on construction of geometric designs. (See thesis, Chapter III, and p. 32, Figure 3.) Class 4: News Source Credibility Discussion: Film: Assignment: The introduction of the texts to be used in class. Explain to students how personal involvement and biases af- fect individual's credibility. "Eye of the Beholder" Practical News Assignment text: pp. 7, 8, 9, 10. For assistance students should consult the text: Grammar for Journalists. Class 5: Grammar Exercises Assignment: Practical News Assignment: pp. 11, 12, 13, I4, 15, 16,417, 18. Grammar for Journalists should be consulted for help. May wish to divide exercise into class and homework. Class work should be corrected in class allowing students to correct errors in homework. Class 6: Test Assignment: Discussion: Assignment: Class 7: Copy Discussion: Assignment: 17 on Grammar Practical News Assignment: pp. 19, 20. Allow use of Grammar for Journalists. Copy editing symbols--their need and use. Text: Reporting Today: The News- writer's Handbook, p. 82, ”Copy Mark- ings." Practical News Assignment: pp. 21, 22. Handbook: read Chapter V, pp. 78-87. Symbols and Editing Importance of conciseness in news writ- ing. Use of Associated Press Style- book and Kellogg Community College sup- plement sheet. (See Appendix E in the- sis.) Practical News Assignment: pp. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Class 8: Grammar, Punctuation, Fact, Spelling, Appli— cation Assignment: Handbook: Practical News Assignment: pp. 29-30, 31, 32. Correct and discuss in class. Read Chapter III, pp. 27-46. Class 9: Evaluating News Discussion: Assignment: What is news, its qualities and charac- teristics? Practical News Assignment: pp. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39-41, 43, 44. Complete as many as possible in class and discuss. Others should be completed for homework. Class 10: The Lead Discussion: Assignment: Mitchell V. What is the lead in a news story? The inverted pyramid and its purpose. Var- ious kinds of leads. How to select the right lead. Distribute sample lead. (See Chapter VI, pp. 57, 58, "The lead in the news story,” and "Checklist for Writing Leads.") Practical News Assignments: pp. 47-52. Charnley's Reporting: Read Chapter XII, pp. 166-188. 18 Class 11: Leads (Con't.) Practical News Assignment: pp. 53-57; 61-63; 65- l67; 69. Handbook: Read Chapter IV, pp. 47-77. Class 12: Writing the News Story Lead Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 71. Write leads only for N65. 2 and 3. To be done in class. Discussion: Copy preparation. Handout: C0py preparation guide. (See thesis, Chapter V.) Discussion: Student written leads for Nos. 2 and 3. Handout instructor-written guideline leads. Class 13: Lead Writing (Con't.) Assignment: Practical News Assiggment: p. 72. Write leads only for Nos. 2 and 3. To be done in class. Discussion: Student leads Nos. 2 and 3 and handout instructor guideline leads. Class 14: Writing the News Story Assignment: Distribute fact sheet on house fire. (See thesis, Chapter V.) Discussion: Student's stories done in class. Hand- out guideline story. Assignment: Distribute fact sheet on dog show. (See thesis, Chapter V.) Class 15: Writing the News Story (Con't.) Discussion: Feature story and the straight news story. Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 71, Nos. 1 andl4. Read Chapter VI in Handbook, pp. 88-101. Class 16: Test on Lead Writing Distribute test on Chapter XXII in Charnley's Re- porting. (See thesis, Appendix D.) Discussion: Assignment: Class 17: News Discussion: Assignment: Class 18: News Discussion: Assignment: 19 Students' stories, p. 71, Nos. 1 and 4. Handout guideline stories. Practical News Assignment: p. 72. Write stories for Nos. 2 and 4. Story Writing (Con't.) Students' stories, p. 72, Nos. 2 and 4. Handout guideline stories. Practical News Assignment: p. 73, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Story Writing (Con't.) Students' stories, p. 72, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Handout story guidelines. Practical News Assignment: p. 74, Nos. 1, 3,44. Class 19: Writing the Simple Story Discussion: Assignment: Students' stories, p. 74, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Handout guideline stories. Practical Ngws Assignment: p. 75, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Read Chapter VII in Handbook. Class 20: Simple Story (Con't.) Discussion: Assignment: Students' stories, p. 75, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Handout story guidelines. Practical News Assignment: p. 76, Nos. 1, 3, 4. Class 21: Simple Story (Con't.) Discussion: Assignment: Students' stories, p. 76, Nos. 1, 3, 4. Handout story guidelines. Practical News Assignment: p. 77, Nos. 1, 3, 4. Class 22: Simple Story (Con't.) Discussion: Assignment: Students' stories, p. 77, Nos. 1, 3, 4. Handout story guidelines. Practical News Assignment: p. 78, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. 20 Class 23: Lead Evaluation Discussion: How to make news writing judgments. Students' stories, p. 78, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. Handout story guidelines. Assignment: Practical News Assignment: pp. 79, 80. Class 24: Quiz Assignment: Test on text Chapters III, IV, V, VI, VII. (See thesis, Appendix D.) Discussion: Lead evaluations, Practical News Assign- ment, pp. 79, 80. Class 25: Reporting Illnesses and Deaths Discussion: Acquaint students with the problems and ethics of writing about illnesses and deaths. Assignment: Distribute obituary data sheets and sample obituary. (See thesis, Chapter V.) Provide obituary fact sheet for Kathleen Lester. (See thesis, Chapter V.) Write story in class. Discussion: Students' stories. Handout story guide— lines. Class 26: Illnesses and Deaths (Con't.) Assignment: Practical News Writing Assignment: p. 83, Nos. 5, 6; p. 81, No. 2. Discussion: Students' stories done in class. Hand- out story guidelines. Class 27: Illnesses and Deaths (Con't.) Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 82, No. 3; p. 83, Nos. 7, 8. Complete stories in class. Discussion: Students' stories. Handout story guide- lines. Class 28: Illnesses, Deaths (Con't.)/Lead Evaluation Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 84, No. 10; (leads) pp. 85, 86. Discussion: Students' stories. No. 10 done in class and handout story guidelines. 21 Class 29: Lead Evaluation (Con't.) Assignment: Practical News Assignment: pp. 89, 90; p. 87—-select prEferred term; p. 91-- editing exercise. Do in class. Discussion: Students' assignments. Class 30: Clear Writing Discussion: Readability and how it applies to the journalist. Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 95, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Class 31: Clear Writing (Con't.) Discussion: Students' assignments, p. 95, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 96, Nos. 4, 5; p. 98, No. 4. Read Chapter VIII in Handbook. Class 32: Covering Meetings and Speeches Discussion: Introduce students to the techniques of covering meetings and speeches. Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 109, Nos. 1, 2. Class 33: Meetings and Speeches (Con't.) Discussion: Students' stories, p. 109, Nos. 1, 2. Handout story guidelines. Assignment: Practical News Assignment: p. 110, Nos. 3, 4. —Do in class. Discussion: Students' stories, p. 110. Handout story guidelines. Class 34: General Semester Wrap-up Discussion: General wrap-up of semester with ques- tion and answer session. Final Examination: Sample test is located in Appendix D. CHAPTER III PREPARING THE REPORTER This chapter offers some suggestions for preparing the student to gather information through the sharpening of his perception of the world around him and the people in it, and explanations of how these methods work in the classroom and some results. Any person who expects to have to report an exper- ience to someone else will usually try to be more observant than usual so as to answer any questions that might arise. An example of this would be the experience of a person se- lected to represent a group at a national meeting. Knowing he will be expected to give a report on what he has seen and heard, the representative will probably take notes, per- haps take pictures, and collect handout materials to bring back to the other members of his organization. The reporter is no different. He must use all his senses to help get all the facts about a story. The great- est aids to a newsman are, of course, his eyes and ears. Teaching the beginning reporting student to use these two assets to their fullest is the goal of several exercises. 22 23 Many students assume that everyone else perceives and shares thoughts just as he does. A second misconcep- tion is that the transmission of one's thoughts to other persons is a simple process requiring only a few words spoken or written. The student forgets that words have symbolic meanings for the listener or reader as well as ac- tual meanings.16 The problem of arriving at a consensus on the sub- ject to be discussed is one which two Michigan State Univer- sity professors in the Department of Communications are working. The two, Donald Cushman and Gordon Whiting, have written that In order for the participants in a communications system to engage in the transfer of symbolic informa- tion, they must achieve consensus regarding the symbolic patterning of information at one or more of the follow- ing levels of content rules (1) Consensus regarding the naming of a concept; (2) Consensus regarding the attri- butes of a concept' or (3) Consensus regarding the func- tion of a concept.17 An exercise to illustrate these principles for be- ginning reporting students is the showing of a picture of 16Kenneth Burke, Langugge As Symbolic Action (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966), p. 362. 17Donald Cushman and Gordon Whiting, ”An Approach To Communication Theory: Toward Consensus On Rules," (paper presented to the Rhetorical and Communication Theory Divi- sion of the Speech Communication Association, San Francisco, Calif., 1971), p. 11. 24 a woman18 (Figure 1) to the students and then asking them to write down at least three attributes or characteristics of the woman shown in the picture. Next the students are asked to write down what station in life the person repre- sented in the picture might hold. The picture represents two distinct women. One is old and typifies the old hag stereotype. The other woman is young and haughty. It all depends on how one views the picture. In classroom use, the students most consistently see the old woman first. A sampling of student responses in a class at Kellogg Community College brought responses to questions of characteristics as: masculine, downtrodden, unhappy, simple—minded, poor, tired, lost, lonely, and obese. The matching occupations included: scrub woman, chimney sweep, laundress, fortune teller, newsstand proprietress, cook, nurse, and pharmacist. Of those students who first saw the young woman, the adjectives they used to describe her included: haughty, ar— rogant, proud, uppity, rich, beautiful, and striking. Her station in life was denoted as a society woman, debutante, executive wife, playgirl, and woman's club president. This exercise is designed to illustrate the fact that the same situation can hold two completely different 18Picture used with permission of Dr. James Page, College of Education, Michigan State University. Figure 1. Dual image picture. 26 meanings for two persons. Before any communication about the woman can take place, the people involved must agree as to what they see. In other words, a consensus must be reached through the establishment of common content rules for the symbolic transfer of information. Cushman and Whiting point out that a minimum degree and level of consensus is needed in order to communicate-- much as when two acquaintances meet on the street and ex- change greetings and a comment on the weather--but as the need for effective communication increases so does the de— gree of consensus and the degree of formalization of rules.19 For example, a man in an airport control tower talking down an inexperienced pilot who is attempting an instrument land- ing must have a clear understanding of the situation, i.e., the weather, the airplane and abilities and attitude of the pilot, before he can coach the pilot in each manuever nec- essary to land the plane. For the reporter to accurately convey to his audi— ence the events that he sees, a high degree of coordination between news source and the reporter must exist. Again con— sider the picture of the woman to illustrate this point. After the students have compiled their list of char- acteristics to describe the woman they saw, the students are 19Cushman and Whiting, ”Approach to Communication Theory,” p. 14. 27 told they will be graded on how many characteristics they have selected match those written down by the instructor. If all the students have selected the same image--old woman—-a verbal listing of the oppostie image—-young woman-- can be given. If a division in the selection occurs among the students, the instructor may pass out checksheets to the students listing the characteristics of the female image they did not select. In using the dual picture in the classroom, this writer found that no student will see the dual image without first being told about it. The student has assumed that he and the instructor saw the same picture. The student did not establish the degree of formal rules--making sure that he and the instructor saw the same image-~needed for this level of communication. In learning to be a reporter, the student must learn never to assume that what he senses about a situation is what the person to whom he is talking senses also. Assuming a fact is the capital sin of journalism. An individual brings to a communication situation a set of rules. Other individuals bring somewhat different sets of rules. The rules brought to the situation will depend on each person's background. Through an initial exchange of information-- questions asked by the reporter whenever a possible area of 28 confusion arises in talking with a news source--a set of common rules are developed and applied.20 Another example of the need of transaction in reach« ing a consensus is the attempt to spell names correctly. The funeral director might say the dead man's name is John Smith—~or was it Jon Smythe or Jahn Schmitt? If a consen— sus between the funeral director and the reporter is not reached, the wrong name will appear in the obituary. No reporter can expect his readers to unravel any thread of information from a tightly knit series of assump— tions, half truths, or unanswered questions. In teaching the student reporter the importance of making sure that he and his reader have a consensus, the 21 cartoon illustrating a discussion about a pet (Figure 2) can be used as a handout. It should be followed by the "22 This showing of the film, "The Specific Is Terrific. film deals with the importance of using details other than generalizations when trying to communicate. In the film, a young man in the Army writing a letter home is shown how much more interesting it becomes when specific details of 201bid., p. 17. 21Elaine Schuster, Innovate, An Experience Rgport on a Test of The Chicggo Tribune Reading Program (Chicago: Chicago Tribune Co., 971), pp. 122-123. 22Information on all films referred to in this Chap- ter may be found in Appendix A. Other audio-visual teach- ing related materials are also listed in this Appendix. ~ 4. "It is a dog.“ \fii "It is a St. Bernard." "Grown QR; a puppy?" {T "It is‘tu grown." "It '5 brown and white.“ ...':Why didn't you say you had a tun-grown. brown and white St. Bernard as a pet in the first place ?" ....".Why doesn't anybody under- stand me?" Figure 2. Pet cartoon. 30 his day are mentioned. A college freshman is shown why his English composition received an "F" and how easy it would be to make it an "A" paper by being specific in his attempt to verbalize the potential armed strength of the United States. The need to select the right word to project the image of which the person is thinking--a carnival ride be- comes a roller coaster-~15 also stressed in the film. Run- ning for twelve minutes, the film makes its point. In relating the need to give specific details to the journalism student, the instructor should note on the student's news copy each instance in which the student gen- eralizes or makes a blanket statement. Reminding the stu« dent of the film, when calling attention to the generaliza— tion in his copy, also reinforces the concept of being spe- cific in news writing. Another device to draw attention of the student to being specific in news writing is to ask for detail in the student's writing. When the student writes that the college president has an open-door policy for all who want to talk to him, ask the student if that policy means students may drop in to see the president at any time and for any reason. Is an appointment needed? Does this policy weaken the in- structor, department chairmen, college dean's chain-of- command in decision making and policy rulings? Can a stu- dent with a complaint by-pass all college personnel and go straight to the president? Make the student spell out de- tails in all his stories. 31 Communication researchers have developed another tool which proves effective in the training of reporters. As an experiment on feedback, the journalism instructor con- structs—-in advance—-a series of geometric patterns on either a blackboard or a piece of paper hidden from the stu- dent's view. Then a student volunteer is asked to view and describe the geometric patterns in detail—-still hidden from the other student's view—-to his classmates. From the de- scription given, the students attempt to recreate the pat- terns on sheets of paper.23 The sample patterns, designed by this writer, (Fig- ure 3) were used with students at Kellogg Community College. In using sample pattern A of Figure 3, students could ask no questions of the person describing the patterns. In one class with nine students participating, two were able to re- create the pattern and seven could not. Figures 4 and 5 show samples of the misses. When a free give-and—take between students and the volunteer describing the patterns was allowed, the instances of faithfu1 recreation increased. Of the nine participants five were able to recreate Figure 3B. Samples of the misses appear in Figure 6. In both sessions it took fifteen min- utes for the volunteer to give all the pattern directions to 23Harold J. Leavitt and Ronald A. H. Mueller, "Some Effects of Feedback on Communication," Human Relations (1951), pp. 401-410. 32 Figure 3. Correct geometric designs A and B. 33 A Figure 4. Incorrect geometric design A. 34 A Figure 5. Incorrect geometric design A. 35 Figure 6. Incorrect geometric designs B. 36 the students. For the free give—and-take discussion, the students' questions filled the time. On the no—feedback session, the volunteer took more time to give his direce tions, often repeating himself. The use of gestures was forbidden in describing the patterns. To relate this exercise to the training of the re- porter, the student is put in the place of the interview subject or news source who tries to create verbally a pic- ture of what he has witnessed. When the student reporter realizes from experience the difficulty in describing some- thing as stable as geometric patterns, he will recognize this difficulty his news source is having in attempting to accurately describe what he has just seen, i.e., an acci- dent, robbery or kidnapping. Unless the reporter looks around for corroboration he cannot be sure that he is draw- ing an accurate picture for his readers of what the witness saw. A reporter learns quickly that in all people there is a number of variable factors that will affect perception of an event. In describing these variables a sociologist, who has done research in the mass communication, said: The experimental study of human perception had re- vealed that the individual's values, needs, beliefs and attitudes played an influential role in determining how he selected stimuli from the environment and the way he attributed meaning to those stimuli within his acquiged frames of reference once they came to his attention. 4 7 24Melvin L. DeFleur, Theories of Mass Communication (New York: David McKay Co., 1968), p. 121. 37 To the reporter this means that two witnesses stand- ing next to each other and seeing at the same time the same incident, may give two very different versions of what hap- pened. To prove this point, the journalism instructor might show the film ”Fidelity of a Report." This six- minute film depicts a robbery which takes place while a woman is waiting at a bus stop. A man, also at the bus stOp, draws a gun and takes the woman's wallet. He, in turn, is held up by another man who escapes from the scene in a waiting car. There is one witness to the event, a man who ducks around a corner of a building as the second hold- up man enters the getaway car. In using this film as a teaching tool, the instruc- tor should ask a student to leave the classroom during the initial viewing of the film. When the film is completed, the student returns and members of the class are asked to tell him what they have just seen. The student, who did not see the film, asks questions of the students who did view the film and takes notes on what he is told. After the filmed events are recalled to the satis- faction of the class, the student should read back his notes of what took place. Details of what the participants wore, their mannerisms, and number of people involved, especially with the eyewitness, who is never spotted by the viewers the first time the film is shown, should be noted. Many 38 students will miss the eyewitness in the second viewing. Even the sequence of the action and certain key details such as, was a man shot, are garbled in retelling. The Kellogg Community College students who partici- pated in the feedback sessions with the geometric patterns, viewed "Fidelity of a Report" during their next class ses— sion. Two students left the room during the initial view- ing of the film. Upon their return, the students divided into two groups with each group relating its version of the film's action to one of the students who had not seen the film. Both students had difficulty because they were given contradictory versions of what was seen. However, more de— tail, such as the headline of the newspaper the woman was carrying, was included in the retelling of the filmed events by this class. In previous film showings, where the stu- dents did not work with the feedback exercises prior to the viewing of the film, much detail was omitted from the ex- planation of what occurred in the film. Use of the feedback exercise with the geometric patterns makes the student aware of the importance of giv- ing specific details when he wants to put an idea across to another person. By following up this exercise with the film ”Fidelity of a Report," the student, remembering his own ex— perience of trying to describe or reconstruct from another's description the geometric pattern will now be more aware of the details of what he has seen and will try to include 39 every detail in the retelling of the film's action. This will also carry over into his story coverage. Keeping in mind the importance of details in constructing the geomet- ric designs, the student will seek specific details from his news sources in order to write a complete news story. Communication researchers have discovered some re- vealing facts about how people handle the retelling of a story they have heard. Results of these experiments are listed under three headings: levelling, sharpening and 25 All have appeared in classroom discussion assimilation. of the film "Fidelity of a Report." Levelling is defined as the dropping of certain de- tails from the story. As rumor travels, it tends to grow shorter, more concise, more easily grasped and told. In successive versions, nger words are used and fewer details are mentioned. In retelling the film version, most students omit- ted many details of dress of the robbery participants. (Exceptions were the students who participated in the feed- back exercises prior to the viewing of the film.) Sharpening or highlighting of certain original story details by students is described by researchers as: 25T. M. Higham, "The Experimental Study of the Trans— mission of Rumour," British Journal of Psychology) XLII (1951), pp. 42-55. 26Ibid., p. 47. 40 The selective perception, retention and reporting of a limited number of details from a larger group.2 All students viewing the film saw two men and a woman involved in a holdup and the use of one gun and a getaway car. In explaining the causes of levelling and sharpen— ing, the researchers cited the process of assimilation. By assimilation is meant the way in which items are sharpened and levelled in accordance with the attitudes, interests, habits, and so on of the individual subjects. Some forms of assimilation are fairlg simple, but others suggest deeper needs and prejudices. 8 How many people are in the film "Fidelity of a Re— port?" It's a question no student has answered correctly in the eight showings of the film at which about a hundred students and this writer have been participants. When asked by this writer for a description of what they have witnessed, students quickly report seeing a woman and man at a bus stop, and a second man with a gun. Most catch a glimpse of the driver of the getaway car--at least at his hand--but to date not one student has seen the eyewitness standing at the cor- ner, in front of the robber's car. Why? Because the stu- dent is conditioned to follow the line of immediate action-- the gunman fleeing toward the car. When the man reaches the car, the student looks no further along the street down which Z7Higham, "Transmission of Rumour,” p. 50. 281bid., p. 51. 41 the gunman has been running. Instead, when the man stops at the car, so do the eyes of the students. As the car takes off, the students follow the car's path and again miss the eyewitness stepping around the corner of the build- ing. The findings of the communication researchers apply to any eyewitness situations. People see what they are con- ditioned to see. Ordinarily the action of an event moves and stops with the participants of the event. Thus the hu- man eye is trained to follow the participants. It is un- natural to look ahead of the fleeing gunman, ahead of his car, to the end of the block and spot the eyewitness at the corner of the building. Two other findings of the communication researchers are of interest to the reporting student. They are: l. The amount of personal involvement in a given story is likely to have some effect on the amount of the story retained, in that more of it will be retained, more accurately. 2. It is suggested that the names in the various stories serve as useful anchorage points' around which the story is constructed. 9 For the reporter, the first point tells him to seek out participants in an event first for story details. Sec- ondly, the reporter should note all names involved in a story as a checklist for comparing several versions of the same incident. 29lbid., p. 52. 42 To prove the theory behind these statements, the film, "Eye of the Beholder," should be shown. In this film, a twelve—hour period in a man's life is discussed by five persons with whom he interacted during the time. Each per- son saw only one segment of the man's day and each person gives his impression of the man based only on that one meet- ing. The result is five entirely different pictures of the man. Divided into two parts, the second portion of the film tells of the man's day through his own eyes and according to how he lived it. Between the first and second segments of the film, there is a break during which the students are invited by the instructor to give their own opinions of the man. Their conclusions are drawn on the testimony of the five persons who viewed the man individually. A listing of the students' traits as attributed to the man are written on the black- board. Some typical comments this writer has received from Kellogg Community College students viewing the film include: "mysterious,” "artist," "unbalanced," "inconsiderate," "moody," ”involved," "psychopath," "rude," "tempermental," "ladies' man,” "hood," and "murderer." With the checklist completed, the second half of the film is viewed. After the man has told his own story, the class is asked to review the list of characteristics on the 43 blackboard to see how many still hold true. In the listing of characteristics given by the Kellogg students, only "art— ist" and "involved" remained. With completion of the second half of the film, the students quickly see that the five persons judged the man and his actions in light of their own personal experiences. As a result, a true picture of the man was denied the viewer until the subject himself recreated the events of the day in his life. In putting this all together for the students, the question must follow, "how do you know whether the student is getting the point of all the films and exercises?" There are no tests as such, unless a quiz is given following each film and exercise. A quiz might ask the student for the principles of communication in which he has participated or has seen demonstrated. But the real test of the student's comprehension is in his application of the communication principles in his writing. The student should be encouraged to question all hiw news sources, even those fact sheets pro- vided him in class. A student who lists at the bottom of his story several unanswered questions he found in the fact sheet, will be likely to ask those questions when he parti- cipates in a live interviewing situation. CHAPTER IV SOME WRITING PROBLEMS For the non-professional journalism instructor one of the most difficult tasks to face is organizing and teach- ing the news writing class. Even the instructor with an ed- ucation for journalism and professional experience back- ground, preparing to teach the news writing class, can pre— sent the problem of "where do I begin?" Writing the lead would seem the most logical start— ing point. But as this writer and many of the students found out, this is an advanced point at which to begin the news writing course. In class evaluations submitted by Kellogg Community College students at the end of each semester, many beginning reporting students noted that they felt the need for more work on spelling and grammar. The college reporting students are not alone in see— ing the need for a review of English grammar before getting into the business of news writing. In a June, 1972 seminar on, "Education for Newspaper Work," held at the University of South Carolina, journalism educators and newspaper editors 45 got together to talk about journalism education. John Emmerich of the Houston Chronicle asked the educators, "Whatever happened to freshman English?"30 Most of the educators admitted that the college Eng- lish course has become almost exclusively literature-oriented and no longer emphasizes grammar or composition.:51 Before a word of copy is typed, the student must learn the rules of copy preparation. Does the reporting stu- dent put his name in the left or right corner of the copy paper? What is the slug line and where does it go? Why does "30" or # or —end- follow the last sentence in the re« porter's story? These are a few of the copy questions that the student must be able to answer and understand before ever writing the first lead. Samples of the copy prepara- tion sheets given students at Michigan State University are on pages 46-47. Instructions are found in the body copy of these pages. The "slug line" is defined in the glossary in Appendix C. Next come the style procedures. When does the stu- dent write out a numeral and when does he use numbers? Whether to use last night, yesterday or tomorrow instead of the day of the week is a problem for the student writer. Is 30Lloyd W. Brown, Jr., "Editors Critize J-schools' Curricula at Symposium," Editor 8 Publisher, (June 24, 1972), p. 10. 3libid. ’ .2”..-- 46 John Doe Journalism 112 11/10/72 Slug Begin story approximately 10 lines below the slug line. Indent five spaces for paragraphs. Triple space between lines. At the end of the first page if the story needs to be continued on another page, write the word -more- and then continue on to the second page. -more- Figure 7. Sample copy preparation sheet. 47 add l/Doe/Slug At the close of the story indicate the end by typing -30- If you make mistakes in the story DO NOT ERASE. Just xxxxxx out the word you want to eliminate. Then with your pencil go over the xxxxxx's and cover them. Read the COPY READING handout for instructions in marking your copy. On the second page of your c0py you write at the top, left sec- tion of the paper....add 1. This indicates that this page is the first addition to your story. A second page would be marked....add 2 and so on. Next write your last name. This is protection against your copy being separated and the editor or typesetters not knowing where to find the rest of your story. Finally the slug line appears to further aid the editor or type- setter in correctly matching the first, second, third pages of your story. Remember always xxxx out your mistakes....DO NOT STRIKE OVER THE LETTERS WITH OTHER LETTERS. -30- Figure 7. Continued. 48 it Rev. Jackson, the Rev. Jackson or the Rev. Mr. Jessie Jackson? These questions must often be answered by the re- porting student as he writes the lead to a story. When the student can make these judgments correctly he is ready to learn about writing the news story. Selecting a Text The selection of text and materials to teach news writing is a most important part of the teaching process. A number of reporting texts are available. Selection of the right one for the class depends upon how much the instructor wants to cover in the course and personal preferences for an author. This writer has found two texts that work well in the news writing course. ReportingToday: The Newswriter's Handbook is by M. L. Stein, chairman of the Department of Journalism at New York University. (A detailed annotated listing of some journalism texts dealing with beginning news writing is in Appendix B.) The Handbook has twelve chapters that cover news gathering and writing, accuracy and ethics, libel, feature writing, and covering speeches and other spe- cial events. The Handbook also includes a bibliography of newswriting and editing texts, and reproduced in its Appen- dix is material reprinted from the Associated Press Style- book. 49 The other text is Mitchell V. Charnley's Reporting, Reporting has nineteen chapters, a glossary,32 copy prepara- section and a newsman's style sheet. Its chapter on leads is particularly well written and if the text is not to be used in the classroom, assignment of the chapter as outside reading is worth consideration when teaching lead writing. The chapter covers the writing of various lead playing each element available. It discusses weak leads and gives exam- 33 ples of all. Reporting, published by Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston, is being used by the School of Journalism at Michigan State University in its basic news writing course. A stylebook should also be a part of the course texts. A popular style guide—~also used by MSU—«is the Associated Press Stylebook. (For a copy of the Associated Press Stylebook write: Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10020.) The main sections of the book are reprinted in Stein's Handbook. Next, a grammar book should be in the student's book bag. Many are available, but two have served this writer well. Grammar For Journalists, by E. L. Callihan is published by Chilton in hard cover and in paper. Written 32If a text without a glossary is selected that can be given to students, a sample glossary, adapted from Mitchell V. Charnley's text, Reporting, is contained in Appendix C. 33A suggested test to be used as a follow-up on this Chapter is contained in Appendix D. 50 by a journalist, the grammar cites examples from news c0py. Each chapter contains exercises for the student to complete as well as their answers. Also available is an additional exercise and test workbook and an accompanying instructor's manual. The second grammar book to be considered is the Harbrace College Handbook. An instructor's manual is avail— able upon request. Indexed for fast and easy use, the Harbrace College Handbook is concisely written and grammat- ical rules are shown in red for easy reference. Compiling practical assignments for the students in the news writing class can prove a tedious job for even the most dedicated journalism instructor. Finding the exact news story to illustrate a point or making up a news story that will incorporate the right information to challenge the student to write a good lead is easier to suggest than to do. Several beginning news writing workbooks are available. Three are: Nicholas N. Plasterer, Assignment Jonesvillei A News Reporting Workbook, (Second Edition), published by Louisana State University Press; Edward F. Mason, Covering Yourtown, published by Journalistic Services of Stillwater, Oklahoma; and James L. Julian, Practical News Assignments for Student Reporters, published by William C. Brown, Co., Dubuque, Iowa. Plasterer and Mason jump right into the writing of stories from fact sheets. All three provide mock city 51 directories for students to check story facts and find mis— sing information. Plasterer's book also provides a street listing, city and county maps, and clippings from the news- paper morgue. Julian opens with four chapters offering a review of grammar and editing. It also offers exercises on news evaluation, lead polishing, and filling news voids. Next the student is given fact sheets from which stories about campus events, obituaries, illnesses, spot news, meetings, speeches, interviews, fires, and accident coverage are to be written. This writer has chosen the Julian text for class use because of its preliminary exercises and its pro- grammed format. The drawback of all the workbooks is the absence of an instructor's manual. Writing the Story Beginning in Chapter V of Julian, fact sheets are provided for the student to write his first story. Prior to the introduction of this section to the student, the in- structor should attempt to present the student with the most realistic news writing situation as possible. The in- structor should set standards much the same as the real news- room and make the student meet these standards. Some of these include meeting writing deadlines--either do not ac— cept late assignments or penalize the student by taking off 52 one grade from the work—-following copy preparation rules and observing news style rules. All student work should be carefully read by the student before submitting it to the instructor. Unclear sentences and misspelled words should be penalized in grading the paper. While the Associated Press Stylebook covers the general style rules of news writing, there will always be local situations not covered. The journalism instructor should compile a localized style sheet for distribution to the students. A sample of this style sheet is found in Appendix E. Originally prepared by George A. Hough, III, Associate Professor of Journalism, for use in his Michigan State University journalism classes, the sample was modi- fied for use at Kellogg Community College. Used as a basic guide, the style sheet could be modified for any college. The topic division and the numbering system of the supple- ment style sheet corresponds with the Associated Press book. The students can be directed to mark in the Associated Press book the appropriate numbers in the sequential order they appear on the supplement sheet. When the students are look- ing up a style question, the supplement numbering system will quickly tell them that they should check the supple- ment sheet for additional style information on that partic- ular subject. See Figures 8 and 9. If there is an objection to the Julian workbook, it is that the fact sheets are many times overly dramatic 53 NUMERALS IV In general, spell below 10, use numerals for 10 and above. 4.1 Numerals are used exclusively in tabular and statistical matter, records, election returns, times, speeds, latitude and longitude, tem- peratures, highways, distances, dimensions, heights, ages, ratios, proportions, military units, political divisions, orchestra instruments, court districts or divisions, handicaps, betting odds and dates (Fourth of July and July Fourth acceptable). Use figures in all man or animal ages. Spell under 10 for inani- mates: four—mile-trip, four miles from the center, etc. Exceptions Fifth Avenue, Fifth Republic of France (See 1.25, 2.4), Big Ten, Dartmouth eleven. The forms: Seyear«old girl, the girl is 3, 5 feet 2, f-foot—Z trench, Washington Zon, 6-3; $10 shirt, seven-cent stamp, eight-hour day, five—day week, 60 cents (See 4.6), .38-caliber pistol. 6:30 p.m. or 6:30 o'clock Monday night (never 6:30 p.m. Monday night, or 6:30 p.m. o'clock). (See 6.15) The vote was 1,345 for and 1,300 against. The ratio was 6 to 4, but the 6-4 ratio. It is 20th century but Twentieth Century Limited (train). In series, keep the simplest related forms: There are 3 ten-room houses, 1 fourteen—room house, 25 five-room houses and 40 four-room houses in the development. $4 million but four million persons-~the $ is equivalent of second nume I1. Al 8) OJ 0) E) F. 4.2 Numerals: 6th Fleet, lst Army, 2nd Division, 10th Ward, 22nd District, 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Arabic numerals for spacecraft, missiles, etc. 4.3 Casual numbers are spelled: A thousand times no! Gay Nineties (See 3.14). Wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole (but: The flag hung from a lO-foot pole-~an exact measure). 8.3 A 4.4 Roman numerals are used for personal sequence, Pope, war, royalty, act, yacht and horse: John Jones III (some may prefer and use 3rd), Pope John XXIII, World War I, King George V, Act II, Shamrock IX, Hanover II (Sec 3.11) Figurezs. Sample from Associated Press Stylebook with notation referring to supplement sheet. 54 NUMERALS IV 4.1A When three or more numbers appear in a series, either use all Arabic figures or spell out all numbers, but follow the rule for the largest number in the series: 204 bags, 57 dresses and 3 boxes nine dogs, seven squirrels and four cats 4.18 Figures are used for street addresses: 1492 Columbus Ave. 1145 E. Irving Park Drive Arabic figures are used in ages: Mary Brown, 4, who. Smith, 60, was. 4.1C When a number is used at the beginning of a sentence write it out. If this is awkward, rephrase the sentence: Seventy-six trombones led the big parade. 4.1D In news writing avoid the use of symbols for cents, degrees, inches, feet, number, per cent and so on. Always write out in words. The only exception is the dollar sign: 5 feet 2 inches 11 per cent $1.50 1.6 inches 4.1E Dates are expressed in Arabic figures: May 19 Jan. 12 April 11, 1965 Feb. 28, 1964 4.1F Plural dates are indicated by figures and a lower case E: Note use of the apostrophe: the 19605 the '905 the 18505 the '205 4.3A References to decases which have acquired names are spelled out: the Gay Nineties the depression-ridden Thirties Figure 9. Supplement sheet to Associated Press Stylebook. 55 in presentation of material. Also the fact sheets tend to dwell on campus situations. Both of these problems can be easily remedied with the selection of news stories from the local and area newspapers. Jumbling the facts of a local story presents the student with an actual news account to rewrite. The student's completed story can then be checked against the original as it appeared in the newspaper. An example of this follows. This jumbled fact sheet is given to the student from which to write a story. For example: August 5 is set as the date for the All Breed Dog Show and Obedience Trail. The show is sponsored by the Battle Creek Kennel Club, Inc. Entries for the show must be received by noon on Tuesday, July 25. Mail entries to Roy J. Jones, Superintendent, P. O. Box 307, Garrett, Ind. 46738. There were 1,035 dogs entered in last summer's show, and local club spokesmen say at least that many entries are expected this year. Ninety- eight breeds of the 116 recognized by the AKC breeds were represented. The dog show will be held from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Springfield High School, 765 Upton Ave. Local exhibitors may obtain entries from Mrs. W. D. Lepley, corresponding secretary of the Battle Creek Kennel Club. For out-of-towners attending this year's show, parking space will be available the pre- ceding night for campers and trailers. The article as it actually appeared in the Battle Creek newspaper on July 22, 1972, appears in Figure 10. The student's version of the dog show story can be compared with the original copy which appeared in print. Besides any in- structor's comments on the student's story, the student has the opportunity to size up his story with the one edited for publication. 56 DOG SHOW SCHEDULED AUG. 5 AT SPRINGFIELD The Battle Creek Kennel Club, Inc., will host its 26th All Breed Dog Show and Obedience Trial on Saturday, Aug. 5, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Springfield High School, 765 Upton Ave. The show will be held under the auspices of the American Kennel Club and will be held on school grounds. Tents will provide shade for spectators and exhibitors, and refreshments were be available all day. There will be an "early bird" breakfast of free coffee and rolls until 9 a.m. Local exhibitors may obtain entries from Mrs. W. D. Lepley, corresponding secretary of the Battle Creek Kennel Club. Entries must be received by noon on Tuesday. They must be mailed to Roy J. Jones, Superintendent, P. 0. Box 307, Garrett, Inc. 46738. There were 1,035 dogs entered in last summer's show, and local club spokesmen say at least that many entries are expected this year. Ninety-eight breeds of the 116 recognized by the AKC breeds were represented. For out-of—towners attending this year's show, parking space will be available the preceding night for campers and trailers. Figure 10. Sample story edited for publication. 57 In news writing the lead is most important. It is the lead's job to pull readers into the story. Two hand- outs, Figures 11 and 12, composed by this writer, are de- signed to aid students in writing leads. They follow on pages 58-59. The newspaper is a ready made guide for practice in writing leads. Just take a story from the paper, scram- ble the facts and give the fact sheet to the student. Af- ter making your own comments about the lead, give the stu- dent a copy of the story as it appeared in the paper for his own comparison. The paper can also be used to show examples of poor leads. The following lead came from an Associated Press story: OMAHA, Neb. (AP)--Omaha Police were searching Fri- day for a woman who was seen carrying a baby out of the east entrance of Clarkson Hospital in Omaha Thursday night in connection with the kidnapping of a two-day- old baby girl from the hospital nursery. The infant, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Goetz of Omaha, was reported missing from the nursery about 8:40 p.m.3 A word count of the lead sentence shows the writer used forty-two words. Long even by an English teacher's count. The class problem--shorten the lead. The teacher's guideline for the corrected lead might be: 34"2—Day-Old Baby Girl Kidnapped at Hospital," Clinton (Iowa) Herald, June 24, 1970, p. 1. 58 Every newspaper story has two main parts: 1. Lead 2. Body The lead is a summary of the whole story. It gives the reader a quick glance at the most important facts in the story. The body of the story gives the less important facts of the story in descending order of their importance. In determining the important facts of a story for the lead, most or' all of the following questions (called the five W's and H) should be answered. 1. Who. .is the subject of the story? 2. What. .has happened? 3. When. .did it happen? 4. Where. .did it happen? 5. Why. .did it happen? 6. How. . .did it happen? Another important "W" is the "WHAMMY." The WHAMMY tells what makes this story different from all other stories. Let's look at a story. Two men, Joseph E. Hastings, 24, 1119 Woodhue Blvd., Centerdale, and Dominic Tucci, age unknown, of Elmira, New York, were killed at 4:30 a.m. today at Fourth Street and Skystone Avenue, when a tire on Hastings' car blew out and caused the car to overturn on the occupants. Figure 11. The lead in.a news story. WHO: Hastings and Tucci (named and identified) WHAT: two men killed in an accident WHEN: 4:30 a.m. today WHERE: Fourth Street and Skystone Avenue tire blowout car overturned on occupants WHY: HOW: 59 In writing straight news leads ask yourself: —-Does my lead contain the main facts of the story presented in a concise, accurate, and unbiased manner? --Have I selected the lead facts that will be of the most in- terest to the majority of my readers? —-Does my lead answer some, if not all, of the w's and h ques- tions of who, what, when, where, why and whammy and how? —-Is my lead cluttered with details that belong in the body of the story? --Does my lead present any facts or figures that I do not or cannot support or explain in the body of the story? --After finishing my story, have I reread the lead to see if it is the best lead? 15 my lead an accurate summary of the story? Figure 12. Checklist for writing leads. In“ ‘ 60 Omaha Police are searching for a woman who was seen carrying a baby out of the east entrance of Clarkson Hospital in Omaha Thursday night. Hospital officials reported that a two-day—old girl was missed from the nursery about 8:40 p.m. The kid— napped child is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Goetz of Omaha. In the guideline model the first sentence is cut from forty-two words to twenty-five. The two sentence, two paragraph original story opening becomes a three sentence, two paragraph opening using all the facts contained in the first version. And the original sixtyéthree words in the two sentences become fifty-seven words in the revised three sentences. Use of the local newspaper is valuable in teaching the student how to write a summary lead. Summary leads can usually be found in police stories, meeting coverage and feature stories. The police story appeared in the Clinton (Iowa) Herald for May 29, 1972 (Figure 13). In thirty-three words the reader has a clear, concise picture of what occurred when a robbery attempt failed and the police chased the would-be thieves into a road block where they were captured. If the reader put the paper down at that point, he would still have an excellent idea of what happened. 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