Final Review Flashcards
Preferred verb?
“Said”
Technical guidelines to writing a lead?
30-33 words and 1 sentence long
Passive voice
The ball was thrown by John.
Active voice
John threw the ball.
Inverted pyramid
Commonly used for print & web
You can take stuff out of the story of it’s too long and it helps the reader read the most important stuff first
The 3 C’s in news writing
Clarity
Coherence
Context
Simplicity
Journalists use simple words and sentence structure
Elements of news
Impact Timeliness Prominence Proximity Conflict The bizarre or unusual Currency
Is it important to have a direct quote in a news story?
Yes!
When do you start with a “when” lead?
NEVER
2nd paragraph of a news story?
Goes into more detail about the lead
AP style numbers
Zero-nine are spelled out except for time and measurement
Facts and common knowledge
You don’t need attribution for them
Transition words
Furthermore
Therefore
Nevertheless
Do you include controversial facts in someone obituary?
Yes you include it
Why do people like to read courtroom trials?
Crime can be a matter of life and death to the people that are involved and it’s certainly an important issue for any community
To write well about a trial?
A journalists must understand the issues that are in question and must also know about legal procedures and the legal system
Reporters who cover trials?
Must be alert for the key moments and must be able to anticipate when those moments will occur.
Characteristics for the web
Immediacy-web is faster than print&broadcast Flexibility Permanence Capacity Interactive Mobility
What was the news event that established the web?
Sept. 11, 2001
Visual Logic means?
A visitor should be able to figure out a website quickly and easily. What the website is about should be clear at first glance as well as what it contains and who produced it.
Web surfers expectations?
Speed-fast Visual logic-know what it's about Simple organization & navigation Depth-enough info News- keep updated
Backpack journalism
A journalist that must acquire many technical skills and the variety of equipment that journalists must know how to use
What is the writers most important tool for writing for the web?
Text