Final project "This Economic Life"

This week, we start work on our final project, to be included in the WNPR series "This Economic Life." Some stories (especially if the sound quality of the recordings is very good) could end up in part, or in their entirety, on our air. All pieces will be included in a podcast version for wnpr.org. As we've discussed already, here's the project:

Find a story about how the economic downturn is forcing people to make changes in their lives. Maybe it's second jobs, or workforce training...maybe it's small businessmen finding new ways to attract customers...maybe there's an unintended positive consequence of this downturn. An example of this kind of story in print form was in today's Hartford Courant.

The story should include these elements:

1. 4 to 4:30 minutes long

2. At least 3 voices (or sources) in the story, to provide different viewpoints

3. At least one scene - where action, or an interview is happening in a place that helps to tell the story.

Some more examples of "campaign trail" reporting

WNPR's Nancy Cohen profiled 4th district Democrat Jim Himes, as he tries to upset incumbent Chris Shays.

Diane Orson takes the other side, exploring Shays' fight to keep his seat, in a bad year for Republicans.

More news on economy and election

Today, Tribune papers report on...well, what we've been talking about.  John McCain needs to focus on the economy if he wants to win.  

Lisa Burns on Economy, Education; Greene talks to voters

Here is the audio from our in-class interview with Quinnipiac Media Studies professor Lisa Burns.  She talked to us about the economy, and how it's playing out in the presidential race...and gave us some great soundbites for our election stories. 

I also wanted to draw your attention to a story by David Greene, NPR White House Correspondent, who's been traveling America, doing just this sort of reporting during the election.  Here, he talks to voters in Northeast Pa.  

Election Assignment #1 - The Spot

The latest polls are showing a lead for Barack Obama over John McCain that is just outside the margain of error - about 5.5 points - heading into tonight's debate. While that number has come down a bit in recent days, it shows considerable support for the Democrat as the financial crisis worsens.

This isn't too surprising...we've been hearing for weeks about how angry people are over the economy, and any attempt to link it's problems to McCain and the Bush administration have worked.



So, that's where we are just before tonight's class - and we've got to formulate a story out of this. It's a pretty typical assignment that an editor would give you:



1. We see a trend, either in the news or in polls.


2. We ask a reporter to go talk to people to get their reaction.


3. We bring in an analyst (or "expert") to put this news into context for us.

Last week, you gathered at least three "vox" interviews from people, getting their feelings about the economy and the Presidential race. We'll start by going over those, and finding some trends in the reporting that we can focus on.

Then, we'll talk with Quinnipiac Communications Professor Lisa Burns. She's an expert on how the media covers politicians, and we'll ask her questions in an informal "press conference" format. We'll see if she's able to comment on some of the trends we see - and some of the voices we've gathered. We'll record her, and post the audio to this space.

Then, you'll need to pick some "sound bites" or "actualities" from the interview with Burns, and from your "vox." You'll write a 1:30 story, complete with host "lead" - as though you were doing it for tonight's newscast, before the debate.

In a perfect world, the story would be formatted something like this:

1. Host Lead...this includes the "news" of the story. What's the "peg?" Why are we telling this story now?

Example: Barack Obama leads John McCain by more than 5 points in national polls heading into tonight's "town-hall" style debate. Polls also show that the economy is the major issue on people's minds, and as ________ reports, that's been good news for Obama.

2. Your story should include two pieces of "vox" tape - either from opposing points of view - or from different types of constituents giving the same point of view. You're not doing scientific work here...you're giving a sense of how people on the street feel, but this is backed up with the numbers you already have from the polls. For instance, if the news is that Obama is leading because people trust him with the economy, your tape should probably reflect that. But, what if it doesn't? Well, it could be a story to highlight some voters who are breaking with the trends.

3. Finally, your story should include one "actuality" from Professor Burns, our "expert" voice. She's here to put this in some sort of context - to explain why she thinks voters are thinking this way, or how the media might be influencing their thoughts.

4. Your conclusion - as with any story - should move things forward. What's next? Well, since your story is written to air before tonight's debate, you can peg it to that. But, another interesting way to end a radio story is to save something interesting for the finish. What's the one thing that you heard on the street that really sums this all up? What's the thing that Prof. Burns said that wraps this story up? Listen for these things - not to use as soundbites, necessarily, but to put into your own words at the end of a story.

Heading toward election time...and the issues

As we head into our first election assignment, it's kinda funny... I was going to have you ask people what issues are most important as they make their voting decisions for November - but from the polling info we have today, it's pretty clear that people really, really care about the economy.

To this end, we want to find out how people are feeling, and what they want to hear from their lawmakers as they head to the polls. Some sample questions:

"What issues are important to you during this Presidential Election year?"
"Are the candidates addressing these concerns?"
"Is the media talking about economic issues enough?"
"Do you think one candidate or the other has a better plan to help fix the economy?"
"Does the state of the economy influence how you'll vote in November?"

What other questions do we want to ask?

For next week, you'll need at least 3 vox (or "man on the street" interviews) fully transcribed, with first and last names, and the town where the subject lives. You should get enough vox to make sure you have at least two "contrasting" points of view.

Then, next week (October 7th) - Professor Lisa Burns will be here to talk about media coverage of issues, and how she views the messages about the economy coming out of both camps - and Congress. We'll interview her - press conference style - basing our questions on the issues that our interview subjects raise.

We'll write our stories for the following week - and produce them in class on Pro Tools.

"It's the price of living in paradise..."

Some people just know how to "get tape."  John Burnett is one of them.  Listen to this story, as people try to clean up from Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas.  It's clear Burnett is trying to paint a picture of people's lives - and what it's really like after the TV crews have left.  His choices for "actualities" are startling, funny, gross, and above all ear-catching.  

Where We Live in the news...twice

We'll go through periods in our business where other media seems to pick up quickly on what you're doing.  We had one of those weeks.   The New Haven Advocate was doing a story about Governor Rell's radio appearances, and asked how often she'd been on to take calls.  "Never," I said.  So, they wrote about it.

And, the New London Day picked up on our interview with 2nd district congressional candidate Sean Sullivan.

Keeping up with speeding particles

David Kestenbaum is the NPR science reporter I talk about often in class. He's always cited by public radio people as an example of a great storyteller, who often works with less than compelling source material. As we debated whether to include the story about the Hadron particle accelerator in our mock newscast, I got to thinking that if Kestenbaum was telling the story, I'd definitely want to hear it. Here's a story he did back in April, as the project was just getting revved up.

Compact Flash Cards and Olympus Recorders

Tonight, QU tech wizard Nancy Hall gives our class a tutorial on how to record sound using the Marantz digital recorders, and how to get that sound on ProTools for editing. We'll need to learn how to use ProTools to produce our projects in class, and the Marantz is one of two approved ways to gather sound.

If you want to use the Marantz in class - remember that Quinnipiac has 48 hour sign out rules. You'll also need to purchase a compact flash card to keep your sound on. Newegg.com is a great place to find cheap computer stuff. You can get compact flash cards for as little as $8 on the site right now. By using the Marantz, you'll be able to use the audio you've gathered directly on ProTools.

There are more steps involved if you want to use your own machine. Newegg.com also has the preferred Olympus recorder for about as little as you're likely to pay (if you look hard, you might save $5). If you decide to buy the Olympus, you'll need to download a file converter onto your home computer, to turn the WMA file you've recorded into a WAV file to use in ProTools. You can easily download dozens of these, but Download.com always works. You'll then need to get that file into ProTools, by thumb drive, cd or some other means.

"Sound Reporting" and an intro to AP

Tonight, we really get to tear into this great new Jonathan Kern book about radio news called "Sound Reporting." I want to focus on the first few chapters...an overview called "Sound and Stories," a pretty important chapter on "Fairness" and an introduction to "Writing for Broadcast." I'd like to concentrate on just a few key ideas from each.

In the first chapter, Kern writes that "Radio is intimate." That's probably the best thing to remember about your audience...they're not "all out there." Instead you're talking to one person...telling him (or her) a story you'd like them to hear.

His idea that there "are no headlines" (p. 4) in radio is obvious...so we always try to make sure our "important stories come first and get more airtime." (p.5) (Exercise: Pick out five stories for our newscast, and put them in the right order...it's not aways obvious, and is usually good for some healthy newsroom debate.) How do we figure out what the "important" stories are? See Kern's chapter 10 description in a discussion of "Newscasts" - but better yet, reference Jay Kernis' "Four Tiers of News Coverage."

Despite our best efforts to put the best stories first, some listeners might miss an important story or two along the way. And, when that happens, they "can't re-listen to a story the way they can a newspaper article." (p. 6) As I've said in class - radio is a linear medium. It keeps going, even if a listener is left behind. It's your job to make sure they don't get left behind.

"Fairness" is an important issue that starts coming up in people's lives in about...well, preschool, and remains important throughout. Although I was often told as a child that "life isn't fair" - that doesn't mean whe shouldn't be trying at all times to be fair in our reporting. In this class, I'll present a few "Codes of Ethics." NPR's talks about "fair, unbiased, accurate, complete and honest" reporting. (p. 9) This very high-minded ideal can be torpedoed by what Kern calls "The Echo Chamber" (p. 10) - the tendency of like-minded journalists to talk amongst themselves, and talk themselves into stories they maybe shouldn't cover...a concept explained on the show On The Media.

Kern gives examples of "getting both sides" (p. 21) of a story...something easier said than done, and often at odds with our need to get news on right now. And, he takes on "loaded language" (p. 23) that is often the result of lazy writing, or reporting or both.

Finally, Kern's chapter on radio writing is far more expansive than my simplified "Basic Rules of Broadcast Writing," but serves the same purpose: To give you tips and hints to keep where you work...and to refer back to again and again.

New listening from the campaign trail

Political campaigns make for great news stories...even if there's not all that much news to report. Like it or not, it's "newsworthy" to hear what the Presidential contenders are doing, day-to-day, and sometimes it really makes a difference in the overall campaign. Remember Hillary's Clinton's otherwise unremarkable pre-primary event with about 16 New Hampshire voters?

This also give us a chance to hear how different reporters cover different candidates, all on the same day. It's a chance to listen for writing style, use of "tape," tone and fairness. NPR did what we call a "pinwheel" this morning - three stories from different reporters, back-to-back-to back. Don Gonyea, who normally covers the White House, was with the McCain campaign...or, perhaps the Sarah Palin campaign (with special guest John McCain).

Debbie Elliot, who has covered Washington, the Southeast, and been a show host, got the Obama assignment.

And, Greg Allen got in on the third candidate in the race. No, not Ralph Nader, but Obama surrogate and Palin antidote Hillary Clinton.

What works in these three stories? What doesn't? Do they paint a complete picture as individual segments...or only as a whole?

News when there's no news (or at least less than we thought)

For discussion: What happens when a reporter gets an assignment to cover a story that turns out to be...well, not really a story at all? Or, when the plot of the story has changed significantly? How does the reporter approach the reporting and writing process. There was a lot of this reporting everywhere after Hurricane Gustave hit Louisiana with less force than expected. Let's listen to this story about the "aftermath" of Gustave from this morning's Morning Edition by legal affairs reporter Ari Shapiro for some idea. Now, let's hear another story from the same show, by John Burnett - he was one of the stars of NPR's coverage of Katrina.

(image courtesy GISuser.com)

Pre- "Sound Reporting" - some basics...

This week, we're getting our books - a really informative text from NPR called "Sound Reporting." We'll be delving into some of the tips and hints in the form of actual "lessons" starting next week. But for now, I wanted to draw your attention to some of my old-school blog posts with tips and hints...

• The Basic Rules of Broadcast Writing are pretty simple and straightforward.
• Let's Get the Terminology Straight helps me talk to you in some "radio language" so we'll understand each other. I also give you some examples of what different kinds of stories sound like.
• The Geller Checklist is something handy to keep by your desk...or wherever you work.

Welcome to a new semester!!!

Today's class #1 for JRN 521B - otherwise known as "Writing for the Ear." We'll be handing out the syllabus, talking about the assignments, getting to know each other - and planning for a great semester.

As an example of the kind of stories we'll be producing, listen to this story by Harriet Jones from our series "This Economic Life" - looking at hard choices people are making in this tough economy.

Here's another one from the series about burials at sea from Diane Orson.

Just a few things to listen to...to give you an idea of what we'll be doing.

Where We Live wins national award

Where We Live, WNPR's daily news/talk show was honored with a national award by Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI) at the organization's annual conference in Washington DC. The PRNDI awards are the only national awards for public radio journalists - and one of the few national awards to feature categories for talk shows.

The first place award was given for a show produced in 2007 about the issue of gender identity. The program brought together a performance artist, who told stories about his misguided attempt to "cure" himself of his homosexuality, and a transgendered woman, who told stories of her lifelong desire to change herself from a man into a woman. The program was edgy and insightful, and presented to our audience the voices of people we often don't hear - both of them dealing with the issue of personal change and acceptance.

It also centered on pending legislation at the state capitol, providing stronger civil rights for gay and lesbian citizens, but excluding those in the transgendered community. The discussion prompted powerful listener calls....including one from a state lawmaker, who learned of this legal loophole by listening to our show.

This program, as with all of the episodes of Where We Live, was the result of the collaboration of supremely talented and curious journalists.

Congratulations to the team that works so hard each day on Where We Live - it's founding producers George Goodrich and Diane Orson, producer Melissa Blanksteen, senior producer Catie Talarski, all of our amazing interns, and the rest of the news staff which supports their efforts, and contributes to this success. Special thanks to Chion Wolf, who sold this difficult show idea to me (it wasn't easy) and made us all believe it could work. Finally, thank you to Kim Grehn for allowing us to tell these stories.

These people all prove - and the award validates - that a commitment to open minded, thoughtful journalism is our organization's greatest currency.
jd

NPR Election Map

The election map that's on our page from NPR is pretty cool...but we don't have as much stuff up there as I'd like. We haven't been doing very much reporting on the Presidential race in CT (there's not much going on) but I want to make sure we get up our WWL interviews with all the Congressional candidates...and the stuff about voter registration drives. I'm sending Michael Olson an email right now with a bunch of recent stuff. Pretty soon, he says, the map will reflect more on the House races.

Right now, he's talking about how much traffic got driven to KGOU in Oklahoma through the map when they featured a live stream of a Mike Bloomberg event.

Live from PRNDI conference in DC

Okay, so I haven't touched the blog since the middle of the Spring semester, but I decided to use it to report back on the PRNDI conference in Washington. I know that I will have at least one person watching it, Where We Live Producer Catie Talarski. I'm here in part because we're expected to pick up an award for "Best Call-in" talk show...the first national award for Where We Live.

Right now, Ken Rudin and Ron Elving from NPR are talking about the 2008 election. If anything interesting happens, I'll let you know...

Constructing the story

One of the biggest issues faced by reporters trying to write a news story completely from scratch, is..."How do I structure it so that it makes sense?" In a four-minute news story, it may seem like a lot of time - but you'll quickly run out - if you don't follow a very simple rule: Make the story about ONE THING! Now, obviously, every story is going to have multiple facets - different voices, different points of view...but essentially, you want to keep to the main point of the story.

The next thing is: What order do I put my elements in to make them work? Now, story structure is a very personal thing - and some reporters seem to have a knack for it. One rule that I think makes sense is...don't do it the same way every time. So here are some options for you (realizing that an earlier rule also still applies...Lead with the news. Give us a reason why we're telling this story now. Preferably in the host intro):

1. Chronological. The story unfolds as a narrative, told from the beginning...and ends at either the end, or with the newest possible information.

2. Lead with the personal. This could be the story of the guy who's fighting the system...the emotional tale of the wronged individual...the citizen who's voice isn't being heard. Following this, you fave to find a way to bring in the voices of others who can bolster this story...and balance it from the other side.

3. Lead with the facts. If you give a factual basis for a story up front, it can help to explain its importance. But this can also be a boring lead. If our goal is to invite people in to listen, you'll want to lead with something compelling - so if you go with the facts first, it'd better be pretty interesting.

Throughout the course of the storytelling, you have to balance some concerns....don't lose the listener, don't present too much information at once, don't "ping-pong" back and forth between sources or ideas, don't open up a "can of worms" that you can't pay off later in the story.

The best structure is one that you can read aloud to someone (a friend or editor) and not feel like you're doing any of these things.

The Final Project - May 2008

For our final project, we're really looking to tell a "newsy" news story. What defines a real piece of news? Well, one thing we're always looking for is...tension. Are there two (or more) sides to this story...and are they at odds? What are the main issues causing the tension?

Another way to tell a news story is to find a trend. Is something happening in your life, town, community or world, that's part of a larger trend? How is this trend really affecting people?

Within these types of stories, we want to hear some of the following things:

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

Not all stories will have all of these characters - but a rich mix of the three gives us different insights into the story. Here's a recent story by WNPR's Diane Orson that has a lot of tension...it's about Yale's battle for ancient artifacts with the government of Peru.

Before you start writing a story like this, take a look at a few of these ideas about how to get started, and construct a good story. One is from reporter Melanie Peeples. She talks about "story visioning."

Another is taken from a manifesto by reporter Nancy Updike. She has some unusual methods, but they might help you break through to get a good idea.