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
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."
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.
