Cutlines

Obama wants change in Pennsylvania

Sen. Barack Obama(D-Ill.) ignites a crowd while speaking at a town hall meeting in Reading, Pa. Both Obama and Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-N.Y.) have been campaigning in the state before Tuesday's presidential primary. (Reuters photo by Bradley Bower / April 20, 2008)

Chapter 14

Objectivity is the ability to stay neutral while writing a story. The writer must write without showing his or her opinion or attempting to sway the opinion of the reader.

Thoroughness is a technique that the writer should work hard not to leave any important details out. The reader should finish a story and have all of their questions answered.

Accuracy is key to news writing. If a writer is not accurate in his or her facts, the wrong ideas may be presented in the story.

Fairness is important in order to make sure that the subject of the story is treated fairly. Unfair writing will jeopardize the writer's credibility and may provide wrong information about the subject.

Transparency is the idea that all writing should be open and honest. If the writer tries to hide information, he or she will lose credibility and readers.

Personally, I feel that the principle of objectivity is the most important aspect to writing a story.

Seeing as the public turns to the media for their information, it is crucial that writers present raw information without any bias in order for everyone to be able to form their own opinion.

Photography principles

These images illustrate four principles of taking a great (or not so great) photograph:

Tells a story


Does not tell a story


Fills the frame


Does not fill the frame


Shows action and emotion


Does not show action and emotion


Candid


Not candid

Interviews and rough lede

I spent the remainder of last week attempting to reach everyone Ms. Mayhew provided the contact information for. Apparently, Thursday and Friday were very busy days for everyone at IHS. As I returned home for the weekend in the lovely state of New Jersey, I was unable to interview anyone else for my feature story. I will get up early tomorrow to try to contact the other participants in the loan repayment program and will hopefully have all of my interviews completed for the due date of the assignment.

As for a feature lede, I want to really tie in the angle of how much participants actually receive and how unique the program is. I was contemplating starting the story with:

Every year, thousands of students across America graduate from college with two consequential items: a diploma and debt. Whether accumulated through endless bar tabs, outrageous bookstore purchases or especially tuition, student debt is a prominent and growing problem.

The Indian Health Service (IHS), an organization dedicated to ensuring that American Indians and Alaskan Natives have access to personal and public health services, has a stellar loan repayment program. For their two-year service obligation, IHS will pay up to $20,000 per year to pay off undergraduate student loans.

Covering crime stories

In order to cover a local crime story in the Towerlight, I would need to collect basic information to inform the students of the situation. While there are no victims, I would make the point that campus police uncovered the plot before anyone was hurt. I would write that the investigation was still proceeding, as the evidence was only discovered the previous evening.

As for suspects, I would not mention the student's name and information until he or she was charged for the crime, but I would discuss if an arrest had or had not been made. If the police were searching for a suspect, I would be sure to release the appearance information in order to facilitate their search. In order to obtain such information, I would try to get in touch with students who lived in the residence hall where the bombs were found. Also, interviewing residence life staff or campus professors may provide needed information.

I would provide the readers with as much detail about the crime as possible, hopefully straight from the police report. I would also release the punishment given to the suspect if they were to be convicted, including jail time or fine.

Due to the seriousness and severity of the event, I would face difficulty writing the story without emotion. I would struggle to portray the facts but keep from scaring the student body more than they already will be.

For multimedia angles, I would provide links to Towson's security statement on their web page. I would also feature a video on what it takes to build a pipe bomb and video interviews of students expressing their feelings about the situation.

Feature Interview

After finally getting in touch with the Loan Repayment Program for Indian Health Services, I was able to speak with Sylvia Mayhew, Director of Bachelors and Associate Degree Physicians. Due to her busy schedule, I was only able to interview her over the phone.

I had a few general questions prepared but the interview turned into a casual conversation. I took notes on everything we discussed and thanked her for her help. We spoke for about 20 minutes and she gave me a couple names and contact information to help me with the story, promising to help me with anything else I needed.

The interview was very successful and Ms. Mayhew was extremely pleasant and helpful. I found it was easy to have a conversation and find out general information about the topic but probably need more practice getting my source to say the quote I desire.

Any advice? :]

Washington Post Trip

The sound of my alarm at 8 a.m. on Friday morning triggered one main repeating thought in my groggy mind: "Why on earth did I sign up for this trip?"

After returning home later that evening at 7:30 p.m., I had a couple answers to the morning question.

About 15 Towson students, mostly members of MCOM407, piled onto a bus and headed into DC on an overcast Friday morning around 10 a.m. We arrived at the Washington Post and after being scanned into the building, we took the elevator to a room containing and delicious lunch spread (there were even vegetarian sandwiches for people like me!) and a long table with comfortable chairs. Rob Curley, our host, arrived once we all started eating and began the presentation.

Overflowing with personality, Curley showed an impressive interactive slideshow of projects he has been part of in the past. Listening to him for 3 hours was like watching an exciting, educational, and downright comedic television show. Personally, I was touched by his conscious effort to ensure that every day people of the community were highlighted in almost every project he participated in. My favorite, OnBeing, was an archive of short interviews of random individuals from the DC area. The videos are extremely touching and I recommend watching all of them!

Curley gave our group a lot of insight into the field and some powerful words of wisdom to take with us. We left the Post and headed to Virginia for a quick tour of the WashingtonPost.Com newsroom, which proved to be interesting and fun as well! We said goodbye to Curley, but not before promising to friend him on Facebook, and boarded the bus to head back to Towson.

Noelle, Danielle, Professor Lieb and myself then proceeded to spend a half an hour of our trip discussing our idea of a new Towson Blog- complete with a directory of all things Towson, news stories and interviews, and awesome photography. Inspired by a day with Rob Curley, we will hopefully get the ball rolling soon and prove to the University how crucial blogging can be.

Thanks for a great time, Professor Lieb, Professor Spaulding and Rob!