Thompson makes illegal immigration issue once again

For those of you following illegal immigration as your "issue" story, some interesting news just out from one of the leading Republican candidates, actor Fred Thompson. I guess somebody DOES want to make this an issue...

As so often happens, one candidate decides to make a campaign statement, and now others need to keep up. Rudy Guliani's campaign was ready for Thompson's immigration plan ahead of time.

By the way, this David Greene piece on NPR gives a good example of political issue reporting.

Some interesting "issues" stories from Sunday papers...

...especially for those of you writing about religion or values issues.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on how so-called "values" voters are approaching the 2008 election. Meanwhile, in the Washington Post, Rudy tells conservatives they have "nothing to fear" from him. The New York Times take on the "straw poll" of conservatives is that it raises more questions than it gives answers.

McLean Interview

Have a listen to Quinnipiac Poli-Sci professor Scott McLean talking about issues in the 2008 Presidential Election.

First part of writing...the "vision"

Story "visioning" is an idea I heard about from a fantastic radio reporter named Melanie Peeples. In her training seminars she talks about this idea, which is really a more complex version of a story outline. Before we get into her visioning idea, let's listen to a recent political story she did for NPR, called Republican Leads Race for Louisiana Governor.

Here's the story visioning worksheet that Melanie has so generously allowed me to borrow from:

Questions for Story Visioning...before you start

1. What is this story about?
2. Who stands to win/lose in this story? Who are the stakeholders?
3. What is my focus statement? (A short description, no longer than a few lines)
4. Who do I need to interview: Side 1, Side 2, Real Person, Expert, etc.?
5. What is this story REALLY about? What's underneath it all?
6. Where should I interview the subjects? What does the place look like, how can I describe it?
7. What questions should I ask?
8. What more do I need to learn before I start working on this story?

Now, for our political reporting project, we've already jumped over some of these hurdles...we've given you some of the questions, we've picked some of the stakeholders...but the same ideas apply. These are good questions to be asking as you jump into any reporting project.

Listening, and getting ready to write...

Writing for broadcast is really a two part process...what you write, and then how effectively you edit your own work. You should be a very critical editor at all times in the process, from when you first formulate a theme for your story, to just before you hand it over to another editor to get his or her take. So, it's a good idea to have a vision for your story...we'll go over that in a bit.

Before we get too deep into the idea of "story visioning" - it's important to know what to listen for in your own work, and in the works of others. You have a chance to model your work after a story you admire, and use some of the same techniques a favorite reporter uses. So, how to listen?

Here's a very handy guide to listening...it's called:

Questions for Listening

Courtesy Andrea DeLeon, National Public Radio

What is the specific focus of the piece...what's it about?

Did the piece make us care?

Are the stakeholders all here? Are their points balanced?

Is there too much information? Not enough?

Is the piece written for the ear...you know, to be listened to, not read?

Are there scenes in this piece? Visuals? Can you see what's going on?

How could more sound and more scenes improve this story?

Could it be made simpler?

Is the structure of this story the best it can be?

Ask yourself these questions as you listen to stories being told, and you'll be teaching yourself to think like an editor.

Talking about the issues....

At this early point in the 2008 presidential campaign, South Carolina's African-American voters get special attention from the Democratic presidential contenders. Churches, hair salons and barber shops are sure venues to stump for votes. NPR's Audie Cornish has this report.

President Bush’s popularity is still low in New Hampshire. According to the latest poll from the UNH Survey Center, only 29 percent of NH adults says they approve of the job the President is doing. How those numbers will translate into support for Republicans in the upcoming election is unclear. But a recent Wall Street Journal poll shows GOP backing within the business
community is eroding. And as New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman reports, many Republican business people in the Granite State are not happy with their choices.

Doug Schwartz Interview

Here is the interview that our "Writing for the Ear" graduate journalism class conducted with Quinnipiac Poll Director Doug Schwartz. So...

• What themes does he discuss that could make a good "issue" story about the 2008 Election.
• What "sound bites" or "actualities" does he give us that could help illustrate an expert point of view?

Latest news on 2008 polls

Today's Hartford Courant has an article by David Lightman about Hillary Clinton's strength in the Northeast.

The Washington Post's Election Blog has info about the role of women voters in the 2008 election. It coincides with the latest Post-ABC poll that shows strong support for Clinton. Their GOP shows a much less clear picture, with Rudolph Guiliani in the lead.

Getting Political: The assignment

Okay, the "Writing for the Ear" class has done a great job writing short newscasts. I know...not very creative. Using someone else's words (in wire copy) to fashion a newscast gives us only a small sense of what broadcast writing is all about. Now, we've started to take our reporting outside the newsroom to find our own stories...focusing on the very important 2008 Presidential election.

We've done a series of interviews with people we've met on the street, and some "officials" about the issues that are most important to them. Now, we'll start to craft this information into longer, "feature" radio stories.

First things first: You've transcribed all of these interviews. Please post them as comments on this blog. That way, everyone can see everyone else's interviews. We'll share the info we've collected, and pick out soundbites that will best help us tell our story. So, what is our story, you may ask?


For a good example listen to the stories by NPR's Linda Wertheimer in the previous post. Her reporting uses some of the same voices we will:

1. The voice of a "real person" - meant to illustrate a trend or idea

2. The voice of a "stakeholder" - an official person whose work affects us all
3. The voice of an "expert" - meant to uncover truths, point to trends, debunk myths

The basic outline of the story will let us identify an idea: "Many people are talking about the 2008 election, but they aren't talking about the issues."

We'll get to solve a problem: "So, we wanted to find out what issues are important to people."

We'll ask for expert verification: "Political scientist X says that national polls are clear. ____ is on the minds of most voters."

We'll get real people to address this basic premise: "I agree that ___ is the big issue." Or, "What really matters to me and my family is ___."

The stakeholder might have a different take, based on her profession: "As a schoolteacher, I really thing the next President needs to address ________." You get the idea...

So, here's the assignment for next class (October 9):

1. Listen to the Wertheimer pieces.

2. Please make sure you post your transcribed interviews, along with the person's name, town and occupation (if important) as comments on this blog entry. Please post these soon, so that we can all have a chance to peruse the interviews for trends, ideas...and great soundbites. During our next class, we'll go over these, and start to come up with ideas.

3. We'll also have a special guest. Doug Schwartz of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute. He's an expert on political polling, and has a better idea of what voters are thinking than most voters. Given your previous interviews, and the transcriptions of others interviews, and the regular newspaper reading that you're doing, it will be easy to come up with some questions for Mr. Schwartz. Please prepare at least two questions pertaining to the 2008 elections. Try to focus your questions on the issues, not the "race." Example: "Do most Americans consider immigration to be a major issue in this upcoming election?" We'll record our interview with Doug, and use it in our story. Next week, another expert will join us, political scientist, Scott McLean.

Some sample political reporting...

NPR's Linda Wertheimer is one of the network's longest-serving reporters. In her latest role there, she spends a lot of time covering politics much in the way we are right now. She does pieces where she mixes analysis by experts with the voices of everyday people, talking about their concerns. Here are three stories to listen to that might give you ideas about how to format a similar radio feature.

1. Iowa's Republicans have factions, like everywhere else. Right now, what unites them is a deep foreboding about their party's chances in Iowa in 2008. But there are different kinds of Iowa Republicans. One thing they differ on is how to proceed in Iraq. A new Pew Research poll for shows 53 percent of Americans want the U.S. to start bringing its troops home now. That has cast a pall over the GOP in other states that vote early in 2008.

2. Sen. Hillary Clinton is the first woman frontrunner for president in either party. But right behind her looms Sen. Barack Obama, the most competitive black candidate for president ever. What conflicts might this pose for black women in Democratic primaries?

3. Groups of Democrats gathered last night to watch candidates for their party's presidential nomination debate in Manchester, N.H.