Newswriting Assignments
Assignment 1: Storify it
Description of Assignment: Social media has forced journalists to rethink how they approach their jobs. The writing and reading now happen on both sides of the conversation, with readers and journalists often discussing issues through Twitter exchanges and Facebook posts.
There is a tool to help journalists tell compelling stories by putting social media posts into order and context. Turn what people post on social media into compelling stories. It’s called Storify.
Sign up for a free Storify account at storify.com. Then pick any event where you know people were microblogging or sharing to social media. It could be the fire department’s dramatic rescue of a cat in a tree, or it could be an outdoor music festival. Whatever--use keyword searches to identify and collect the posts and then use Storify to stitch them together with your own narrative.
Public Domain Source Material:
https://storify.com/
Assignment 2: Twitterstorm--A class assignment
Description of Assignment: Of all of the microblogging platforms, Twitter has become the dominant force for both disseminating and receiving short bits of information. Each tweet is sent to a group of followers the user has established.
Your assignment will take a few weeks to complete. The first step is creating a Twitter handle for a small group of newsgatherers, or one for the whole class. Give yourself a descriptive and accurate name, for example: Truman State News Group. Over several days, use that account to follow all of the movers and shakers in your community--the college administration, any professional journalists, or other prominent people. Chances are they will follow back.
When you finally have a healthy following of at least a few dozen, it’s time to report a story. Use a smartphone to cover a contentious city council meeting, or a football game. Share photos, short videos, and brief descriptions of what you experience. It’s OK to be somewhat informal, but write with a professional tone and steer clear of silliness or opinion. Follow the principles described in the textbook.
When you get back to class, use Storify (see above) to collect the tweets into a social media story.
Public Domain Source Material:
Twitter.com
Assignment 3: Blog it
Description of Assignment: The term “blog” is short for ‘web log.” In its purest form, a blog takes on a diary-style approach that demonstrates the writing style and mindset of the author in a way that is more personal than a traditional news article could. The most effective blogs are written in the first person, and loaded with insights into the author’s life and belief system. But an effective blogger cannot rely simply on personality. The best blogs have great reporting in them as well.
Here are four popular blogs:
- Gary Vaynerchuk’s blog about wine: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/blog/
- Pat Flynn’s blog about online money making: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/blog/
- The TechCrunch blog on all things tech: https://techcrunch.com
- Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician (a Syracuse University sports blog): https://www.nunesmagician.com/
What about the writing style and reporting in these blogs (or others) appeals to you?
Now take what you’ve learned from your text and work on a blog in a small group of classmates. You can either work separately or together. The blog item should be written as if it were to appear in a blog about campus life, with the audience being other students at your college or university.
Public Domain Source Material: (See above.)
Assignment 4: IG me
Description of Assignment: Instagram is a visually-based social networking tool that gives people the space to share photos from their phones or other mobile devices. Unlike other forms of social media, Instagram is almost entirely designed for mobile use--you can’t even post to Instagram from a PC.
Instagram is a place where words take a backseat to images, but captions are still important and help provide important context for the photo.
It’s a great tool for primarily print reporters to hone their photography skills. Using the principles behind the “rule of 3”--skim ahead in your textbook--spend 30 min out of class documenting campus life, finding beautiful or hidden scenes on campus that your audience will find interesting. Don’t forget to use the principles of interviewing you’ve already learned--make sure the people in your photos are identified in your captions and try to get a great quote for every picture.
Post three images and come back to class and compare you work with that of other students’. Which images were the most appealing?
If you have enough good images to document a day in the life of your college, feel free to use Storify to collect them all--and then use Twitter to tweet out the link to your Storify story.
Public Domain Source Material: