Fall 2020 JOU 1000 14th Class Presentation for week of October 5, 2020

1. JOU 1000
Introduction to
Journalism
Professor Michael Rizzo
Director, Journalism Program
Division of Mass Communication
Collins College of Professional Studies
Presentation for week of Oct. 5, 2020

2. JOU 1000
Introduction to
Journalism
Last class – Mid-term

3. JOU 1000
Introduction to
Journalism
Today
Profile stories review
Mid-term review
Continue Chapter 4

4. RECAP
The essence of journalism is a discipline
of verification.
Methods of Objectivity: Never add anything,
never deceive, be transparent, rely on original
reporting and exercise humility.
Avoid be a journalist who presents
“infotainment” and just “entertainment” and
misses the important functions that journalism
provides and news consumers want

5. Elements of Journalism
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its loyalty is to citizens.
3. Its essence is a discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain independence
5. It must serve as a monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism.
7. It must make the significant interesting and
relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and
proportional.
9. Journalists must exercise their personal conscience.
10. Citizens also have rights and responsibilities to the
news.

6. Profile stories review
Profile stories are not biographies. Biographies
are typically given many more than just 250
words to tell a person's life story.
Biographies are also typically chronological –
the story starts at someone’s birth and goes to
the present day or their death if they have
already passed away.

7. Profile stories review
Profile stories should focus on what makes this
person newsworthy and begin with something
much more current. It may not be something
at this moment but certainly a more recent thing
about them that makes them notable.
Don’t confuse notable for famous. Few of us are
famous. But, when doing research about people,
we can find that they have done notable things.
Then when we interview them, we need to ask
questions that draw out insightful comments
about those notable things.

8. Profile stories review
Don’t use any quote you get. Someone
answering “yes” to a question you ask is a
quote. But the better quote to use would be
when they revealed why they said yes.

9. Profile stories review
Resources have been available to you:
See the PowerPoint presentation for the week
of August 31 and its content about Finding
Your Lead. Also see handouts on Writing
Profiles that are in BlackBoard
Apply your creativity in telling a story. Writing
creatively does not mean making up facts. It
means telling a story right from the start
that draws the reader in.

10. Profile stories review
Leads in profile stories can often be a little
longer than summary leads (usually a 35-40
word sentence). Sometimes the lead sentence
is very short to build drama. The aim is to
engage the reader with something that
sparks their interest.
These types of leads do not:
John Smith was born on Sept. 1, 1970.
or
Jane Smith is a senior at St. John’s University.

11. The next slide has some suggested starts of
profile stories that that I wrote based on
your biographies. My stories would
continue with more facts and then quotes
I would use after I interviewed you.
I purposely used generic names for these
examples to provide privacy to the story
subject. In a story to be published, the
name would be accurate.
The facts are not generic and are based on
the biography submitted.

13. JOU 1000 mid-term review
1. Analyze a USA Today story on realism vs
objectivity.
2. Write a summary lead and nut graph for
the skydiving story.
3. Write a focus on the person lead with a
nut graph and quote on the Mona Lisa
story.
4. Analyze a USA Today story on one of the
tasks or functions of journalists.

14. 1. Analyze a USA Today story on realism vs
objectivity.
Some key concepts: …verification is what separates
journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction
or art (Page 98 of Chapter 4), [other words for
objectivity:] thoroughness, accuracy, fairness and
transparency (Page 101 of Chapter 4) Journalists who
select sources to express what is really their point of
view, and then use the neutral voice to make it seem
objective, are engaged in deception (Page 103 of
Chapter 4) and the methods of objectivity in my
Sept. 28 PowerPoint presentation.

15. 2. Write a summary lead and nut graph for the
skydiving story.
Key concepts: See my presentation for week of
August 31 and the handout The basics of journalism
writing skills in BlackBoard. The summary lead
provides the 5Ws in the first sentence, typically of 35-
40 words. The nut graph adds the why or if that’s
been told already in the lead then more context to
the story.

16. More key concepts: Also see the references and
handouts on applying AP style to your writing.
Very important for any writing:
Check and correct your work for misspellings,
incorrect punctuation, improper sentence structure,
using awkward words, phrases or language that most
people don’t ever use and any other errors you see
after your check that can be corrected (often easily).

17. My version (the words in CAPS are there for clarity):
Nine senior citizens (WHO) from the Querencia at
Barton Creek retirement home (WHERE) participated
in skydiving for the first time in their lives yesterday
(WHAT and WHEN) over San Marcos, Texas (MORE
WHERE) as part of the home's Can-Do Live Life
program (WHY).
The seniors ranged in age from their 70s to their
90s. They jumped from 10,000 feet in clear skies
while strapped to instructors from the skydive San
Marcos company. One minor hand injury was
reported but it was not specified if it was a senior
citizen or an instructor who was hurt.

18. 3. Write a focus on the person lead with a nut
graph and quote on the Mona Lisa story.
Key concepts: See the handout The basics of
journalism writing skills in BlackBoard. The
focus on a person lead: Give details on the
person in the story to put “a face” on the issue
the story is about. Also see my presentations on
What makes news?

19. Just summarizing the announcement by the
Mona Lisa Foundation does not reflect a focus
on a person lead for this story.
The story makes news because it is unique –
how often is there a claim of an older version of
the Mona Lisa? – but it is also controversial –
there is one person in the story who has doubt.
That’s a good person to focus on.
You can, and should, mention the broader issue
of the story early on but draw readers in
because of the person you focus on in the lead.

20. My version (the words in CAPS are there for clarity):
Martin Kemp is the Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at Oxford
University in England. His reaction was one of skepticism yesterday
after the Mona Lisa Foundation claimed it had found what it said is an
earlier version of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting.
The Geneva, Switzerland based foundation called the painting the
Isleworth Mona Lisa because it was found in the home of a nobleman in
Isleworth, England, not far from London, in the late 1800s. The
foundation said it has been studying the painting for 35 years.
Kemp said if the painting was by da Vinci, it would be invaluable.
But he doubted the foundation’s claim.
"I would briefly preface my reaction by saying I've seen a very high-
resolution version of the picture - I haven't seen it itself,” he said and
added he had only seen a book the foundation printed about the claim.
His conclusion about the claim was brief.
“Come off it! It doesn't stand a chance,” he stated.

21. Another note:
Don’t just write something as a fact just because it is
available to you to add.
The facts of the story mention the foundation doing
regression tests on the painting.
What is that? If you don’t know, look it up and then
provide an explanation to your reader.
I researched this on the internet and could not come
up with an understandable answer.
So, I would not put that word in as an additional fact
when I would provide more details later in my story.
I would write that the foundation said it did testing
that confirms it’s claim but I would not write
something that would confuse my reader.

22. 4. Analyze a USA Today story on one of the
tasks or functions of journalists.
The tasks and functions of new journalists and
what citizens require are all written about in
the textbook on pages 27-28.

23. Mid-term grades are simply that –
grades for your work up to the
midpoint of the semester including
the mid-term and your assignments.
If you see a 0 grade for an assignment
it means I don’t see anything there.
If you submitted something, email
me and we’ll resolve the issue of
the missing work.

24. Let me know if you have questions
about the mid-term exam or any
assignment for our course so far.
Email me at rizzom@stjohns.edu
to set up a time when we can chat
by phone or WebEx.
The course outline has my office hours
but I can make other arrangements
if you are busy during my office hours
schedule.

25. Continuing with Chapter 4:
Journalism of Verification

26. Propaganda tries to manipulate you.
Journalism should not be propaganda.
Watch this video posted on BlackBoard with this
PowerPoint presentation and see what the
interviewee, a former CBS News 60 Minutes
reporter, says about journalism.

27. "You need at least two first-hand sources for
something, right?" she said. "Those things help
keep your work to a certain standard. Those
standards are out the window. I mean, you read
one story or another and hear it and it’s all
based on one anonymous administration official,
former administration official. That’s not
journalism. That’s [expletive]. Sorry. That is
absolute [expletive].
https://mikeritland.com/mike-drop-podcast/

28. Techniques of Verification
Edit with Skepticism
Accuracy checklist
Assume Nothing
The Red Pencil
Anonymous is not always best

29. Avoid anonymous sources and ask:
Is the info essential?
Is it fact?
Does the source really know?
Are there other sources to
confirm the information?
How can you describe the
source?

30. NY Times editor’s guidelines for
anonymous sources:
How much direct knowledge does
the source have?
What, if any, motive might the
source have for misleading [you]?
Reporters still had to be transparent
about why the anonymous source
was cited.

31. “…the source, who has seen the
memo, said…”
“…the source inside the
Governor’s office…
Two other rules:
Never use an anonymous source
for opinion.
Never use an anonymous source
as a first, or lead, quote

32. Other questions to ask BEFORE
using an anonymous source
Is the info essential?
Is it fact?
Does the source really know?
Can other sources confirm the
information?
How can you describe the source?
Page 135 in the textbook

33. This is the only presentation for
the week of October 5, 2020.
We are following the course outline so
for next week there are two assignments:
• Read pages 129-136 in Chapter 4
• Complete the assignment in BlackBoard:
Infotainment-Entertainment analysis

34. STAY WELL
AND
STAY SAFE