Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Discussion Topics - Chapter 3, 4 and 5

Post one topic to discuss in class from chapter 3, 4, OR 5... 

6 comments:

Vader said...

Caleb Young

Chapter 3 provided some good informtion on how a reporter should write a lead. Chapeter 4 did a good job on explaining why not to use words like "suspect" and "apparently." However, in Chapter 5, i would like to understand why reading between the lines is ann important element for a reporter.

Jill said...

I'd like to talk about leads.(Ch.3)
Writing for print, we've been taught to use facts in the lead. Should you always have nonfactual leads? Why or why not?

Nikkie said...

For chapter three, I think that something we should talk about would be why repetition is important and how to effectively use repetition without, well, repeating yourself. I think this is most important for hard news stories.

For chapter four - I thought learning about the word suspect was interesting. It made me laugh to realize that you have to have an identity to have a suspect. It was so simple and logical, but I guess I hadn't thought about it.

For chapter five - I think it is important to talk about active listening. Active listening is extremely important for many different reasons. 1) It will help you respond thoughtfully with follow up questions you may not have considered. 2) Like #1, it will help keep your ears open to "surprise" elements in the story you may not have thought about. 3)It can help put the readers at ease who might be nervous and gain their respect because you are interested in their story. 4)It will help you read between the lines because people DO lie. 5) Sort of with #2, I think active llistening can help break down bias by REALLY considering someone else's thoughts and opinions.

Alyssa said...

I'd also like to talk more about leads. Mostly because I'm not very good at writing them!

I was also a little surprised the statement in Chapter 3, The best broadcasts leads might contain no specific facts at all.

I also liked the paragraph that states writing a the lead of news story should sound like you're telling your mother about it. A stiff and boring lead will not grab anyone's attention.

Anonymous said...

a leads only as good as you want it. but why not facts? if your writting like in New York TImes and you want to grab a person attetntion that works as a broker couldnt you put some facts in there, their looking for facts arent they??



David Arterberry

Lak said...

I'd like to talk about the words "Apparently and "Undetermined" in chapter 4. These are two words that are commonly used but are worthless in the television world