I’m teaching a class on journalism basics at Digital Journalism Camp here in Portland this Saturday, Aug. 1.
To get ready, I’m asking writers going to the camp, as well as WordCount readers and my crews on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to help me decide what topics to cover in the presentation.
I talk up the benefits of crowdsourcing in other aspects of freelance work, so I figured this is a good opportunity to practice what I preach.
The class is geared to entry-level reporters, writers and bloggers who’d like to learn some tricks of the trade from a old fart veteran. The class could also be helpful to freelancers or citizen journalists who’ve come to writing or blogging from a different career and need a better mastery of the basics, including doing research, finding sources, making corrections and prepping for interviews.
If you’re coming to Digital Journalism Camp, or will be reading the live blogs or tweets from conference sessions, what should I cover? Use this poll to tell me what you’d like to see. Feel free to provide additional feedback using the comments section.
If you can’t make it to the conference and don’t follow the tweets, I’ll be sharing some of my tips and tricks here in coming weeks.
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Michelle,
I just started a blog on this very topic a few weeks ago. Here’s one of my first blog entries…perhaps something you can use. Feel free…it’s all about educating the next generation!
By the way…found the link on LinkedIn!
Eric Thomason
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When you return from an event or an interview, what’s the first thing you do?
Chat with others in the newsroom or online? Take a well-deserved (in your mind) break? Check your Facebook page? Check email?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any or all of these, you’re likely in the majority.
I would suggest you move yourself to minority status in this regard. Don’t do any of those things.
Instead, sit down and write. Close your notebook and write.
If you paid attention during your interview, you should have enough information right on the top of your head to put together your lead and at minimum the first 6-8 inches of your story, including quotes. Of course you’ll want to verify the quotes later, but you should be able to get the gist of them on the screen.
Why do this? You are writing with the freshest information. You are writing with images and nuances in your mind that will surely be lost little by little the farther you are away from the interview. You are writing like you’re on a tight deadline, which frankly is when many do their best work.
And it will not allow you to procrastinate. It is my belief that the time lapse between the time you leave an interview or event and the time you sit down to do your writing is critical in determining the quality of your finished piece. That time gap isn’t the only factor, but it is important. The longer the gap, the more information you lose and the less the piece is written for your audience and not your editor.
So sit down and write. Write quickly. Write what you remember…everything.
Michelle,
I think Eric makes many good points in his comment above, and it sent me thinking in a different direction. I hope you’ll mention/demonstrate/remind your students that it’s good to have second day perspective, somteimes, even when you are wirting news of immediacy. Check your context as well as your facts, is part of what I’m suggesting there.
Looking forward to hearing how the teaching goes for you.