Wholestory.com Classroom

Just Checking In!

2008-05-03T08:26:17Z

How is everyone? Any news? Any jobs? Anything to chit-chat about? Any issues???
Just wondering ....

Please, if you have your OLD NEWSPAPER on your email address for the site, be sure to change it to your personal....

Housecleaning and Farewell

2008-04-04T06:23:50Z

HOUSECLEANING AND FAREWELL

Folks:

First of all, see you in Nashville Sunday night! Can’t wait.

Between now and then, or, on your return from Nashville, please respond to this post.

Housecleaning:
-- Remember, you are responsible for at least ONE contribution to the Web site. Guidelines for story formats can be found in WATER COOLER. (Carlos has already done!)

--- Your scholarship checks will not be sent out until your Web assignment is completed.

-- Remember that the Chips site, http://www.chipsquinn.org, is a resource for you to read and to learn from— but also to contribute to as a “freelancer.” (There is no pay. Just psychic dollars, which tend to go a long way in this business.) But it offers a place for you to try out stories on career and industry and trends and personalities that could help build your clip portfolio. (See, perhaps, in particular, The Generations Project, http://tinyurl.com/28pky7).

Farewell:

-- This past 10 or so weeks has been a blast. You were pioneers in the use of this story coaching Web site. It didn’t exist before January. I would appreciate any and all feedback, either in your response post, below, or in private email to me, what you thought worked and what could be better about use of the site for future classes.

-- It has been my great honor and pleasure to be part of your professional development. And remember: Once a Chipster, always a Chipster. There is no such thing as a “former Chipster.” Or a “former career coach.” This is a lifelong deal.

Run with it.

WATER COOLER

2008-01-31T10:44:55Z

FOLKS:

I am making a new thread—WATER COOLER—for us to just chat about STUFF, not necessarily training or stories, but general topics, how we are doing, where we ate dinner, advice to each other on this and that. WATER COOLER is for us to visit, to hang, not necessarily to train.

Topics to throw out, just to get things started (throw out your own):

-- Finding good places to visit in off hours?
-- What’s your town like?
-- Do you feel like you screwed up? (oops --probably didn’t, but keep us posted so we can assure you… )
-- Meet anyone particularly interesting this week? Etc.

(Moving Argenis’s response to Mathtew to WATER COOLER as an example of what might go here… )

Matt Coop - 30 January 2008 03:59 AM

My major concern is what I will do after the internship. I want to continue to be in the newsroom and thrive, not just be a one-time intern and then go to work at UPS delivering packages to the newsroom. Getting a job after these ten weeks is major concern and goal.

ARGENIS SAID:
Hey Matthew, I think I used to have the same kind of fear you described. I used to think to myself, “Man! What if all this journalism thing (and college thing, to be completely honest) is all just a flash in the pants thing. Something I’ll do while in college but then not even use because I’m a Mexican living in America.” And then it didn’t help that most of my most cynical family members (who have never truly believed that college can improve people’s lives) telling me that I would end up right there with them working at Target or fishing for jobs in the corner with my illegal immigrant cousins.
This fear was heightened last fall when I was nearing my college graduation and hadn’t been accepted by Chips Quinn yet. I had gone to the nearest Target and gotten a job there certain that this was going to be my fate. Just like all my family and practically all my ancestors.
Well, at first I got all depressed, of course. But I think that it’s really not good to look at things like that. Personally, I’m not afraid of being poor. Shoot, I’ve been poor all my life. This internship they’re giving us here is at least an opportunity to do something which is more than my father ever got. I look at it as “Im gonna try my damn best to do this job and if I dont make it, you know, at least I tried my best.”

And, even if I end up picking up cans on the street, I’ll have a piece of paper and a pen in my pocket cause Im gonna be writing about that. No one can take writing away from us (thank goodness).

I dont know, man, that’s just how I look at things right now. I’m just going to give it my best shot.

SEE YOU ALL AROUND THE WATER COOLER....

FINAL DISCUSSION QUESTION! (Deadline, Wed Ap 2)

2008-03-28T07:38:37Z

Final DQ!

Name and Discuss TWO things you learned at your internship.
Be sure to include in discussion HOW you will take those two things forward with you as you move on.

(Notice the nice Spring color. Be sure to post in our other Threads as you see fit ... And remember, this space will continue to be open to you as you go out into the Big Wide World.)

See ya’ll in Music City!

Discussion Question #6: Creativity (Deadline: Sat Mar 22)

2008-03-18T13:22:11Z

Discussion Question #6: CREATIVITY

Folks—I just did a session down here in FLL on coaching for creativity and it occurred to me that you guys should be thinking about:

When is it OK to think outside the box? Have you done (or are you thinking about) an alternative/ more creative/ out-of-the-box way of doing a story? an out-of-the-box (a-typical/ new) story approach or idea? A headline (Hi, Sergio!) can be hugely creative (example, a while back someone did a story about the invasion of ants in a community and the headline was a scatter shot of words across the top of the page, Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants.

A turn of phrase/ a way of describing something/ a different/ surprising element in the story can mean the story has creative touch.

Have you done? If yes, please post url. If not, why not? Can you post something hugely creative from your paper, if you don’t have?

Important thinking question (please answer): What do you have to have in order to do something creative?

(Notice the St. Paddy’s Day display. V. creative.)

DEADLINE SATURDAY ...
And—don’t forget to post to story ideas, storytelling, and The Place Where Everybody knows Your Name, Water Cooler.

p.s. See you in Music City!!!!!!

MISTAKES HAPPEN

2008-02-07T22:21:33Z

Well the inevitable happened. I made a mistake. How do I know? I received two e-mails: one from a reader, and from the coach. Both were pleased with the story but it was obvious that the error stuck out to them. I but the bullet, apologized and told my editor.

“It happens man, just keep doing your thing,” he said.

That’s all I can do. Of course I find myself calling coaches a third time now, but it’s in the interest of getting the information correct. Unfortunately I didn’t do that. It hurt knowing I gave a high school player the wrong classification, and forgot to mention she was a co-captain, rather than a solo captain. Especially when you talk to them but somehow, someway you end up messing up the next day.

Four stories later it still bothers me, but it’s a cruel reminder of how a silly mistake can ruin a story for a reader or someone close to your interviewee. Eventually it will wear off, but until then I walk with it over my head.

Funny and ironic side note: The story I wrote was about how a girl had her name misspelled by her coach as Merry Christmas. Her name? Mary Crit Smith. Go figure.

Here is the link in case anyone wanted to see it.

Maclay’s Smith grows into leader

Anyone else made a mistake or do something of note? I just had to get this off my chest.

Discussion Question #5: Storytelling. Deadline Thurs Mar 13

2008-03-08T20:46:42Z

DQ #5: Storytelling

At orientation, in your goals, and in various places in these Threads, you guys have talked about Telling Stories. News writing, certainly sportswriting (and copy editing, hi, Sergio!) is informational at its core, but the heart of it is, or has potential to be, storytelling.

For DQ #5, Please read (below) these very brief examples of daily news story tops that use a storytelling approach. Either comment on them, or tell us about an example of storytelling—even a few phrases or grafs here and there in a news story—that you have been able to do—or that you would like to do.

Thinking questions:
-- What do we need to turn a news story into a storytelling story?
-- Can we do this with daily local news stories? (Obvious answer from examples below, yes!… but HOW? What do we need to think about? Find? Try? Overcome?)

Ex. 1: Story on long-time postal worker retiring: Chips Quinn intern Cindy Santos, Summer 2006:
After nearly a half-century of delivering letters, Walter Benson on Wednesday turned in his mail satchel for the last time.
“This is it,” Benson said, handing over his U.S. Postal Service identification badge, keys and government-issued credit card to Salinas Postmaster Irma Solis-Smith.
“An era is gone,” Solis-Smith said.

Ex. 2: Top to story about funeral of a firefighter killed earlier in the week when a gunman opened fire at a Wendy’s restaurant: Jerome Burdi, South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Here’s how to remember Lt. Ray Vazquez: He was married to a woman who stole his heart, his children adored him and a league of firefighters considered him an inspiration.
The funeral for the Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue lieutenant Friday at Cruzan Amphitheatre brought more than 1,000 firefighters from across the state to say goodbye to the man who kept a human touch in a job filled with a succession of car crashes, medical calls and fires.
So remember him for that, speakers at the funeral said, not for his untimely death when a man shot him in the back for no apparent reason Monday at a Wendy’s restaurant west of West Palm Beach.
“Today we are here to celebrate life,” Lt. Mark Knickerbocker said.

Ex. 3: Top to a court sentencing of a 16 year old girl who pleaded guilty to shooting a classmate: Anne Saker, Oregonian:
This summer, Pauline Sue Brooks became a felon.
Then she gave birth to a daughter.
On Monday, she went to prison.
On Wednesday, she turns 16.
Brooks of Southeast Portland received a five-year sentence in Multnomah County Circuit Court for a gang-related shooting last November in which Brooks fired a gun into the chest of a 13-year-old girl. Her long hair knotted on top of her head, her body clad in shapeless black sweats, Brooks faced Circuit Judge Alicia Fuchs to accept a punishment negotiated with the district attorney.

DEADLINE: Thursday Mar 13!

Also, don’t forget to KEEP UP WITH (and contribute to) Ledes, Quotes, Story Ideas, and, of course, our Home Away From Home, where you are always welcome, no matter what you wear, or what you feel like, etc. etc., no matter what the cat says, .....WATER COOLER!

Discussion Question #4: Almost Halfway Home (Deadline, Sun, Mar 2)

2008-02-27T07:47:16Z

DISCUSSION QUESTION #4: Almost Halfway Home

Folks—we are fast heading toward the halfway point in your internships/ Chips training. (Maybe some of you have already arrived at halfway). Given that fact, please think for a few minutes about ONE THING YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH before the end of your internship/training/.

Go back to the Goals you wrote out during orientation, and use that as a springboard. This is NOT A REHASH of the goals, but a very concrete achievement you want to nail—a particular story (a couple of you have mentioned things, like Ana and farmworkers, Argenis and Grandma)—could be a particular KIND of story (multi-media; narrative; column, etc. etc.). Could be anything (getting on the front page, etc.)

AFTER YOU TELL US WHAT THAT ONE THING IS, please tell us what steps you plan to take to make it happen, and how we, here in the threads, or me, via email, can help you get there!

Deadline: Sunday.

DON"T FORGET TO VISIT THE OTHER THREADS—keep the good story-idea discussion going in STORY IDEAS. Keep the good ledes coming in LEDES. And of course, root for your home team (and each other) in WATER COOLER!

DISCUSSION QUESTION #3: STORY IDEAS! (Deadline, Saturday 2-23)

2008-02-19T12:39:33Z

DQ #3:
EVERYTHING STORY IDEA:

-- How do you get a good one?
-- Anyone come up with one? (post url, pls)
-- Are there “regular” (run-of-the-mill dailies) stories that you turned into something special/ different?
-- If answer to above is NO, what’s preventing you from finding/ mulching?

Let’s also use this Thread as a place to offer up advice on how to turn an assignment into an idea, to just bat around good ideas.

-- You guys first....
(Aside to Sergio ... did you edit a cool idea? What about it was cool/ different?)

Don’t forget to check into WATER COOLER, and to post good ledes in LEDES and good quotes in QUOTES!

Writing Basics

2008-01-22T13:38:45Z

WRITING BASICS

“First you have to know the subject.
Then you have to know how to write.
Both take a lifetime to learn.”
—Hemingway

We only have 10 weeks, 12 at most.
So let’s get going.

Point 1: Writing is the tool we use to express ideas in print.
—Simple trumps complex.
—Short trumps long.
—Clear trumps muddled.
—The above is harder than it sounds. It requires vigilance.

Point 2: The primary job of people who write the news (along with accuracy and fairness) is to clarify, sometimes even translate, for a mass audience.
-- Clarifying a complex idea or bureaucratic mouthful requires that the reporter understand what’s going on.
-- One of the biggest mistakes beginning reporters make: Trying to write something they don’t fully understand.
-- Don’t ever be afraid to ask a source (no matter how “important"): “Can you please explain that in terms that a fourth grader could understand?” Eighty percent of the time they won’t flinch at the question. The other 20 percent ... well, that’s their problem. Just ask them again. Remember: It’s not their name that goes on the story.

Point 3: Adhere to the basic laws of organization:
-- Keep the stuff that belongs together, together.
-- Follow the basic laws of chronology: First this happened, then that, then the other, and then the following summer, this other.
(You would be astounded to know how many beginning reporters write the journalistic equivalent of, “I went to the store. I made breakfast. I woke up. I bought some eggs. I came home,” instead of the chronological, “I woke up. I went to the store. I bought some eggs. I came home. I made breakfast.")
-- Use quotes, examples and anecdotes as illustrations of a summary statement or main point. Put the quote/ example AFTER the summary/point so that the two become a complete informational unit. Otherwise, the quote/ example will just hang in the air like a bad burrito.

Point 4: Adhere to the laws of how the human brain processes information.
—In general, start sentences with the subject of the sentence rather than with an introductory phrase or clause. ("The dog bit the cat” versus “After what seemed like an unending standoff between the two domesticated animals, the dog bit the cat.") Your reader’s brain will thank you.
—In general, use basic subject-verb-object sentence structures.
—In general, place elements in a sentence where they would be if you were speaking. ("On Tuesday, the commission voted against the measure” versus “The commission Tuesday voted against the measure.")
—In general, break up long complex sentences into separate sentences. Again, your reader’s brain…

Final Point: In my view, the Internet and digital communication is the best thing to ever happen to people who write the news.
—It forces us to pay attention to style matters that we should have been paying attention to all along: concision, brevity, getting to the point, strong simple sentences, bullet lists and bits of information, logical groupings for quick and easy review, etc.

Comment, using the posting tools below, on at least one of these points for discussion.