JOU 1000 March 30 2020 class

1. JOU 1000
Introduction to
Journalism
Professor Michael Rizzo
Director, Journalism Program
Division of Mass Communication
College of Professional Studies
March 30, 2020

2. JOU 1000
Introduction to
Journalism
Previous Class – March 26
Chapter 6 – Investigative journalism

3. JOU 1000
Introduction to
Journalism
TODAY’S CLASS
Chapter 8 - Engagement and
Relevance

4. RECAP
Different kinds of investigative
reporting – original is the most
common
Investigative reporting focuses on
larger issues that just events
Significant interviewing, research,
cases that show the problem, experts
who can analyze and an aim to right
wrongs are investigative hallmarks

5. Chapter 8
Engagement and Relevance
For March 30, 2020 class:
Read Pages 211-215 of the textbook
(you can end this portion of your reading with
the paragraph near the bottom of Page 215
that ends with the words Excel spreadsheet)
and Pages 224-231 of the textbook

6. Chapter 8
Engagement and Relevance
Journalism must make the
significant interesting and
relevant.
Quality [in reporting]…has less
to do with the seriousness of
the topic than its treatment.

7. Journalism is storytelling
with a purpose – make the
significant parts of each story
interesting.

8. THE FOLLOWING IS MATERIAL NOT
IN THE TEXTBOOK
Five steps to good engagement
1) Target Who The Story Is For
Talk to and get facts related to the
people affected by the news you
reporting on. This allows the
reader/watcher who is also
impacted by the story to relate to
the information and reactions.

9. 2) Invite Contributions
Use social media or your news
organization’s website to ask for
leads and details your story can
convey to a wider audience. Social
media can provide large
quantities of comments but it’s the
journalist who weaves it all
together with context and other
research into a story.

10. 3) Interact
Use all resources to reach your
audience – multimedia, social
media, discussion boards, videos,
interactive websites, translating
stories to other languages, audio –
that you can do to personally
connect with your audience.

11. 4) Support Citizen Journalism
Thank and credit the persons
contributing to your storytelling.
Journalists do not pay sources but
can acknowledge what people
have done to help all readers and
watchers get the information your
story conveys.

12. 5) Follow Up
People often ask – whatever
happened to…? Do a follow-up a
month, six-months, a year later –
whatever is appropriate. Listen to
your target audience. What has
changed or remained the same?
Update your story. Be responsive.
Report the new news of your
story.

13. The text mentions Syria Deeply which has
become News Deeply with specialized story
categories at https://www.newsdeeply.com/

14. This video is Lara Setrakian in her own words.
This video is in BlackBoard under the Content
Tab for our course.
Lara Setrakian, CEO, Co-Founder and Executive Editor, News Deeply

15. Watch the video titled LARA SETRAKIAN
under the Content Tab in BlackBoard
Then go to the Discussion Board THREAD
titled Engagement.
Based on Setrakian’s comments, propose
ONE action journalists and/or news
organizations can make to promote
greater engagement with readers,
audiences or followers.
Explain how it connects to Setrakian’s
comments

16. INNOVATIVE APPROACHES to
presenting your story
• What does the audience need to know?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• Change the 5Ws to characters, scenes,
settings, chronologies, causes.
• Turn a key in telling your story
• Use the concepts on pages 229-230 as
ways to convey your story

17. Writing your story
Apply narrative concepts. Build drama.
The HOURGLASS style begins with a
summary lede but then uses a chronology
and eyewitness accounts to provide details
and paint a picture of what happened.

18. This an example of an HOURGLASS style story:
This is also available under the Content Tab in BlackBoard

19. Observation is the key to finding detail.
He…”observed the detective remove his
glasses to rub his eyes. When he dropped the
glasses on his desk, the [temple tip] had a
deep groove cut
into it. [He asked about the groove.]
At murder scenes…the sergeant
[would view] the victim’s body and
take his glasses off, always hooking
them in his mouth.…his teeth clenched so
tightly on them that they cut into the hard
plastic…”
www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/makes-good-story/good-stories-use-detail/

20. It was a telling detail that opened up
a window into this man’s life [for
people to read and see in their
mind’s eye]. It said all that needed
to be said about his dedication,
motivation, and relationship to his
job.
www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/makes-good-story/good-stories-use-detail/

21. Assignments:
Make sure you submit to the
Discussion Board titled Engagement
Look for follow-up directions from me
for a further Discussion Thread and
the assignment for Thursday’s class
on April 2, 2020