For those of you who weren’t there (and for those of you who were), here are the points I covered in Tuesday’s chat:

Assignment

Don’t think of it as a ‘story’ — you are merely describing the scene. One rule: You can’t write in the first person (no ‘I’ of ‘me’).

This is an exercise to work different writing muscles and observation. Describe what you see, notice, hear, in three paragraphs that are nicely (and tightly) written and grammatically fine, and you’ll have no problems. You are welcome to describe the entire scene, or just one thing you notice. You just can’t use yourself as a point of reference… (i.e. …three feet away from me, a man…)

Not: I smell roses in the air.

But: Roses fragrant the air.

Rules of good grammar and succinct writing still apply. You will receive an in-class grade for this assignment, but I only will be grading on grammar and clarity/brevity of writing (not using 10 words when only three words will do) 

Feature story

You can’t be in the story, nor an immediate family member (father, mother, sibling)

No first person writing

Remember, you must have quotes from at least three different people (which is to say YOU MUST INTERVIEW at least three people – maybe more)

You must provide the names, phone number and e-mails of your sources

Deadline to review drafts – Friday April 20

IMPORTANT – tell your sources you will likely be back in touch with them the week of April 22^nd

Quotes taken from other publications do not count. (If you do quote from other publications, please remember to attribute – otherwise its plagiarism).

You do not require headlines or photos for the story (unless they help you with the reporting – but rather you spend the time writing, editing stories)

Labs

The labs for the next two weeks (April 17 and April 19; April 24 and April 26) are not mandatory. I will be there to answer any questions you have on your features in progress.

 MONDAY CLASSES WILL STILL MEET (and are more important than ever, so be there!)

Feedback on your first out-of-class assignments can be found here.

Details for our news budget meetings and presentations can be found here. Some examples of newsroom presentations are here.

-Kevin

The slides on interviewing can be found here. Also a summation of interview notes from Chapters six and eight here.

-Kevin

Here is the list of books I suggest should be on every non-fiction writer’s nightstand.

Best, Kevin

Here is a copy of the guide I sent you on preparing for and covering a live event.

Will discuss more on Wednesday’s class.

Best, Kevin

The slides from attribution and quotes can be found here.

Also useful. The Associated Press guides on attribution and quotes.

Questions? Let me know.

-kevin

Reminder we do not meet this Wednesday. However, have an assignment for you.

Find five hard news stories that follow the 4-step story structure for news. Copy the stories and break them down for me as shown in the example below. Be sure to include the URL of the original story.

As I’ve mentioned (and will continue to pound away at), reading and developing a habit of analyzing news stories is crucial to your developments as writers. When looking at these stories, take time to peer deeper into them: Why did the writer start with this information? How do the next few sentences logically flow? How does he or she use quotes to tell the story?

A reminder of the 4-step story structure can be found here. The breaking story example I showed you of the falling satellite – which is a good example of 4-step story writing in action – and a few other examples here. A break-down of the Bali bombing story in 4-step story structure can be found here.

Send the five stories to me by 11:59 p.m. Friday

Subject line: 4-Step Stories Week 5  (YOUR NAME HERE)

Send: kevinvoigt@netvigator.com

Questions? Let me know.

-Kevin

Greeks Move to Slash State Jobs for 30,000

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

Published: October 2, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/world/europe/greeks-move-to-slash-state-jobs-for-30000.html?_r=1&hpw

1) Lead

ATHENS — After marathon talks with foreign auditors, the Greek government said Sunday that it had reached a deal on how to slash its unwieldy public sector by putting 30,000 workers on a scheme that would lead to early retirement for some and dismissal for others, in a bid to meet conditions set by foreign lenders for the release of crucial emergency loans.

2) Elaborate on the lead

The government also completed a draft budget for 2012, which is expected to be presented in Parliament on Monday and voted on by the end of October, and conceded that it would miss a deficit-reduction target of 7.6 percent of gross domestic product. The deficit is projected to equal 8.5 percent of G.D.P. this year. The deficit shortfall had been expected because of delays in carrying out reforms and a deeper-than-expected recession, with the Greek economy forecast to contract by 5.5 percent this year.

In comments made late on Sunday after a cabinet meeting, a government spokesman, Ilias Mossialos, said Sunday’s deal was the result of “long and difficult negotiations” with foreign auditors and that it constituted the “gentlest possible scenario in terms of social repercussions.”

According to the text of the draft law distributed to the local news media, 30,000 civil servants — or 3 percent of the public work force — would be put on reduced salary by the end of the year. The majority, some 23,000, are at least 60 years old and essentially would be forced into early retirement. The remainder would lose their positions through the merging and abolition of dozens of government agencies. Mr. Mossialos said the plan would save the government some 300 million euros, or $400 million, from the public sector wage bill in 2012.

3) Background

The Greek government is in a race against time to convince representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, known as the troika, that it will make good on pledges to put its financial house in order. Without the release of about $11 billion in aid — part of a 110-billion-euro bailout agreement reached last year — Greece could run out of money this month and face a default that would shake the euro zone and global markets.

The decision on whether to release the cash is expected to be made on Oct. 13 at an extraordinary meeting of European finance ministers, but it will depend on the troika officials, currently in Athens, issuing a positive report about Greece’s efforts at fiscal overhaul. A chief source of frustration for foreign auditors has been the delays in carrying out reforms and an apparent reluctance by the government to reduce the country’s public payroll.

4) More elaboration of the news, in descending order of importance

There is vehement public opposition to the new reforms, which come after a wave of tax increases and cuts to public sector wages and pensions over the past year. In total, the new measures expect to save nearly $9 billion this year and in 2012.

Civil servants, who have called 24-hour general strikes for Wednesday and Oct. 19, last week blocked several government ministries to prevent the troika officials from collecting data. A sit-in on Friday at the national statistics office, Elstat, prevented the authority from finalizing debt and deficit data for 2010.

There are also rifts within the ranks of the governing Socialist Party. The divisions pose a threat to the administration of Prime Minister George A. Papandreou, which is governing with a fragile majority of four in Greece’s 300-seat Parliament. The government managed to pass a new property tax in Parliament last week, indicating that Mr. Papandreou was still able to rally wavering lawmakers. But the civil servants’ bill might be tougher to pass as it strikes at the heart of the government itself.

Opening Sunday’s cabinet session, Mr. Papandreou indicated that the priority should be guaranteeing Greece’s solvency and position in the euro zone.

“Important decisions, which need to be taken on a European level, depend first and foremost on us,” Mr. Papandreou said. “We need to show we are dedicated to achieving our goals.”

The slides from Wednesday’s lecture on Fairness and Balance in reporting can be found here.

The breaking story example I showed you of the falling satellite – which is a good example of 4-step story writing in action – and a few other examples here.

A break-down of the Bali bombing story in 4-step story structure can be found here.

Common mistakes from the Week 3 assignment can be found here.

Important things to remember when covering speeches or meetings (which most of you will soon do) can be found here.

Cheers, Kevin

A reminder your two stories are due 11:59 p.m. Friday. Please send on a word document. Both word document title and subject line in the email should be: Week 3 stories – YOUR NAME HERE

Send to kevinvoigt@netvigator.com

The review of last week’s lead exercises from the start of class can be found here. The powerpoint on accuracy and clarity is found here.

The basic facts of the SARS story is found here. The fact sheet for the Bali Bombing story found here. (Remember with the Bali bombing story start your lead with the dateline: Bali, Indonesia — )

The four step story structure note I sent to you are here.

As I mentioned, I STRONGLY encourage that when you have a draft of your stories done, pull out those two two story examples analyzed with the four-step process I sent you (found here and here) and compare to what you have written. Ask yourself — is the style of my writing consistent with what I see here?

Questions? Let me know.

-Kevin

Reminder your assignment: Write lead and first one or two paragraphs based from information found here. Example of what we did in class is here.

Remember: What is the NEWS here? What is the LATEST development? Lead with that.

Lecture slides can be found here.

Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Friday

Subject line: Earthquake (YOUR NAME HERE)

Send to: kevinvoigt@netvigator.com

Questions? Let me know.

-Kevin