The document provides guidance for staff writers and editors at Touchstone Newspaper on basic journalistic principles such as original reporting, defining journalism, developing interactive content, evaluating sources, and making articles fun and engaging. It emphasizes the importance of original reporting, developing expert-based content through interviews, avoiding plagiarism, using engaging elements like multimedia, and outlines best practices for writing headlines, conducting interviews, and structuring articles.

1. Basic Journalistic Principles for
Staff Writers and Editors
Touchstone Newspaper
http://www.mvilletouchstone.com
© Danielle Travali, 2012

2. The Importance of Original Reporting
• There’s a lot of junk on the Web…stuff that’s
filled with unverified, non-credible information.
Bottom line? There’s a lot of crap out there.
• You’ve got to make sure everything you write is
original, meaning that YOU researched and
published it EXCLUSIVELY in the Touchstone
Newspaper.
• This is your #1 obligation and key to success as a
writer for any publication.

3. What is journalism?
• Think “journal”--a daily account of REAL LIFE
• An expression of everyday life in realistic,
human terms
• Writing about an event or issue and helping
other people to make sense of it
• Today’s journalists not only provide
information, but they give people the
opportunity to INTERACT!

4. What We Do: Interactive
Journalism for the Web
Not your mama’s journalism!

5. What is the point of Touchstone?
• The point of Touchstone is to write well-
informed, timely, relevant articles to help
Manhattanville students live understand more
about their campus community and the ethos
of its members.

6. Expert-based content
• In Touchstone, we expect only the best content because
we care about our readers! We want them to find only top-
quality articles on our site that capture the essence and
voice of our community. The articles should be well-
written, appropriate in tone, fun, engaging AND expert-
based (for example, when you’re writing about the health
benefits of chocolate you’d need to interview and quote a
health professional among others).
• If you’re not writing an editorial, column or opinion piece,
you need to interview and quote other students,
Manhattanville professors, and whichever experts may be
relevant to the piece you’re writing.

7. Make sure it’s YOUR OWN WORK
• Many people are tempted to simply “copy and
paste” things they’ve seen elsewhere on the
Internet. THIS IS A NO-NO. Not only is it an act of
theft, but it is also degrading to you.
• Would you want someone to steal your work?
How would you feel if someone copied and
pasted your ideas and put their name on it?
IF YOU ARE USING SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS OR
IDEAS, MAKE SURE YOU CITE IT!

8. What is plagiarism?
• Failure to attribute a quotation or work of writing
to the person who said it / wrote it
• Copying and pasting information from a Web
site, book, interview, or any other document and
putting it into your article without citing it
• Plagiarism is a CRIME
• You must ALWAYS be clear when using someone
else’s ideas or words by TELLING your audience
that these ideas came from that person

9. MOVING ON
• …because nobody wants to dwell on the
negative 
• NEXT, WE WILL TALK ABOUT NEWS AND
WHAT MAKES SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY.
CONTINUE TO THE NEXT SLIDE

10. Being a writer: doing your job
effectively
…and having fun in what you do!

11. What you need to know about
ARTICLE HEADLINES
• You should fill headlines with KEYWORDS that people
search for (visit GOOGLE TRENDS to see what people
are looking for, check out Twitter and Facebook to see
what your friends are talking about and writing about).
Read the news and be media-savvy! Know what people
want to learn about and read about. In this case, it’s
college students at Manhattanville, ranging from ages
18-21. Think about the things they want to know.
• Online headlines need not be filled with puns—in fact,
the more clever and “cute” they get, the less likely it is
that people will find them in search engines.

12. MORE about HEADLINES
• Headlines should include a verb or action
word, e.g. “Mville plans party for winning
hockey team.”
• Only capitalize the first word of the headline
unless you’re using proper nouns (names of
specific people, places or official titles).
Sample headline: “The president of the United
States delivers speech to Manhattanville
grads”

13. ORIGINAL SOURCES
• Original reporting includes original sources.
• Sources are PEOPLE!
• Journalism is about PEOPLE—talking to real
people and figuring out their take on life.
That’s what makes it interesting.

14. How to evaluate your sources

15. What’s a “source”?
• Sources are PEOPLE—human beings with
pulses and reflexes. Not blow-up dolls, not
robots and NOT Wikipedia.
• Sources are BOOKS and JOURNALS—published
medical, non-fiction books and scholarly
articles written by credible professionals
(doctors, nurses, therapists, or someone who
has spoken to several professionals and cited
these people in their references page)

16. Where do I find sources?
• The yellow pages (call people and businesses in your
local community / town to get interviews!)
• The Internet (be careful, though. Visit Government-
regulated sites and trusted organizations)
• Through friends and family members
• Through networking events (get people’s business
cards and LinkedIn account information!)
• By asking people where you can find reputable sources
(talk to librarians, college professors, anyone you
consider trustworthy)

17. How can I interview a source?
• Face to face (this is easy when you need to interview a
fellow student for a profile piece)
• Skype (if the student is a commuter and can’t be on
campus)
• On the phone
• Via email
• Via Facebook / Twitter or Tweet chats / Blogs
• THE BEST WAY to interview someone WILL ALWAYS BE
FACE TO FACE! You can’t always trust an email or Facebook
interview. How do you know who’s really answering your
questions on the other end? You don’t!

18. How to interview someone
• Research the person you’re going to
interview. Read as much about that person as
possible
• Write down your questions in advance
• Don’t ask “yes” or “no” questions
• Be friendly and put yourself in the position of
the other person
• Write a “thank-you” note after interviewing
someone

19. Evaluating a Web site source for
credibility
• WHO AUTHORED THE SITE?
• DOES IT LOOK PROFESSIONAL?
• WHEN WAS THE ONLINE SOURCE PUBLISHED?
• Is it a .org, .com, .net? WHO IS THE WEBMASTER?
Search www.whois.net to find out.
• Is the information timely, well-cited and well-
researched?
• Are there a lot of errors on the page?
Misspellings and incorrect punctuation? Bad
grammar?

20. How to make your articles fun,
unique and engaging
HINT: You should have fun reading
your own work!

21. Find the best angle
• Do your research. If someone on the Web has covered a particular
topic in one way, think of another way to look at it. There are
hundreds of different angles you can take! Make your story exciting
and new. Make it fun!
• If someone has written a good article, don’t re-write the same kind
of information, but instead, LINK to it! Karma will assure that others
will link to your writing if you link to theirs!
• And guess what? Karma will also assure that if you steal someone’s
writing, someone will eventually steal yours to show you how bad it
feels. But if you do good, the good will be returned to you.

22. Interactive Media: What is it?

23. Interactive media includes:
• Video (e.g. your own or a shared YouTube video relevant to your
article)
• Photos and photo galleries (www.vuvox.com, www.slideshare.net)
• Audio clips (.wav, .mp3, .aiff)
• Text Graphics (e.g. www.wordle.net)
• Timelines
• Slideshows
• Charts / Graphs
• Document sharing (www.scribd.com)
• Quizzes / polls (www.quibblo.com, PollDaddy)
• Maps are useful when pinpointing a location…especially in
restaurant, bar or entertainment venue reviews
(www.maps.google.com)

24. Interactivity…continued
• BOTTOM LINE: Make your articles / columns
ENGAGING. People should be able to click on
different things—they should WANT to stay
on your page!
• People want to be able to DO SOMETHING
other than read plain text! Let them in on the
conversation by giving them a reason to
comment.

25. How to make content fun and
engaging
• Think about how the topic is relevant to
people’s lives
• Google trends
• Facebook
• Digg, Technorati, Twitter, TweetChat
• Google Groups / Chats

26. Making the content engaging
• Shorter paragraphs than something you’d find
in a physical newspaper / book / magazine
• ONE IDEA per paragraph
• Visually pleasing, colorful photos
• Slideshows (VUVOX or Slideshare)
• Photo galleries
• Videos (Embedding YouTube videos into your
document)

27. Make it easier for people…
• Use bullet points when appropriate
• Bold key words and provide links to words
people might not understand
• Always have a relevant photo

28. Putting your story together
• Rich Hanley, director of the graduate
journalism program at Quinnipiac University,
says to make a “DECISION TREE”:
• Outline the focus of the story
• Your topic
• Your sources
• Your ideas
• How you’re going to present the information
• How you’re going to make it engaging

29. Always ask if you’ve got a question or
concern!
• Visit the Writing Center at Manhattanville College or
consult your editor if you are having trouble with writing or
interviewing. Someone will always be able to help you if
you are willing to put in the effort.
• A special thanks to Marie Shanahan, veteran reporter who
taught me all I know about Web journalism. She’s fabulous
and must be recognized for her “fabulosity.”
• Thanks to Professors Rich Hanley and Kenn Venit for their
mentorship and great advice. They’re always teaching me
something. Learning is a never-ending process. Remember
that.