Write, edit and spellcheck your article in the word processor on your computer; then copy the entire article and paste it below.

Enrollment Article:

BOB SMITH JINGLE STORY

DIRECTIONS:

Write a straight news story for your online newspaper from the facts given below.  Part of writing this assignment is to select which information is important to use and which might be left out (based on your journalistic news judgment). Be sure to write in inverted pyramid style and follow journalistic style found in the Style Guide. Remember, a reporter's notes do not necessarily follow journalistic style because reporters, like anyone else, will take shortcuts when taking notes.

REPORTER'S NOTES:

-Bob Smith
-Drives a 1994 Toyota pickup
-18 years old
-Is a senior in high school
-Lives at 3290 Crestview Drive
-Won a round-trip vacation to Hawaii in an Air West travel contest
-Will leave for Hawaii Nov. 16
-Selected because of a jingle he wrote and entered
-Will spend two weeks in Honolulu
-Will travel by Air West
-There were four winners.
-2,500 contestants entered
-Mother did not want him to go alone, but he fought with her until she agreed, he said
-He is student body president.
-Winning jingle: "I want to fly high"
-It is rumored some teachers will give Bob F's for missing classes during those two weeks.
-Bob's friend, Tom Jones, also a senior, said that Bob will take pictures and use them for class projects.
-Bob said: "I am very excited to leave. I have never flown before and I'm anxious to experience it. I don't know just what to expect, but the warm weather will be a change from the fall rain."

Write, edit and spellcheck your article in the word processor on your computer; then copy the entire article and paste it below.

Bob Smith Article:

SPEECH COMPETITION STORY

DIRECTIONS:

Your assignment is to write a straight news story based on the facts below. With your knowledge of journalistic writing, you should be able to write a more professional article and avoid the mistakes made in the Dallas speech story. Do not rewrite the Dallas article. Write your article as if you are writing for your high school newspaper. Remember, a reporter's notes does not necessarily follow journalistic style because reporters, like anyone else, will take shortcuts when taking notes.

ACTIVITY:

Before writing the news story read the story on Dallas High School's participation in a speech competition that appeared in the Dallas High School newspaper.

Linda Davis, Joan Smith and Doug Robison attended the District Speech Conference.

Doug Robison, senior, first place in expository speaking; title, "Production of a Newspaper"

Linda Davis, junior, second in expository speaking; title, "Doodles"

Joan Smith, senior, third in serious interpretation; reading, "Riders to the Sea"

Juniors Dale Hansen and Kathy Hebert attended but did not place.

All three winners will attend the state conference April 12, 13, 14.

District conference was in Corvallis last Saturday

State conference will be at Portland State University. Those placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in district will go to state.

Doug Robison also took second place in after dinner speaking; topic, "Humorous Life of a Sophomore Student."

Debate coach Donnalee Sodaro said, "I am very pleased with the showing our kids made against some rough competition. I only wish our other two finalists could have made it."

Next year all of the debate team will be competing again with the exception of three graduating seniors.

Write, edit and spellcheck your article in the word processor on your computer; then copy the entire article and paste it below.

Speech Article:

FARM REWRITE STORY

DIRECTIONS:

This exercise is intended as a rewrite, which is a common assignment on any newspaper. However, there are numerous unanswered questions in the article. Pretend you attend high school in a fairly small farming town, where agriculture is the main business. Your job is to determine what information is needed to make it complete and then add the necessary "facts" before rewriting the story. In other words, you actually get to make up information. This story, if complete, could actually be a fairly lengthy article.

ARTICLE:

By using some money which they got from the school district plus some money that was endowed to the school, the Future Farmers of America and the school district were able to purchase a farm just outside of the town.

The farm, which is ten acres in size, can be used for the development of a laboratory for learning. Mr. Duncan says it will be handy to go out there and see some things happening that the kids are studying about inside of the classrooms. For example, right at this time, some of the classes are studying about pig raising. So if a pig can be raised on the farm, the kids can see it being done.

Mr. Thorne wants to thank the school district for donating the money that helped to buy the farm. He stated, "It is a big help to students here at this school to have this piece of land. Thank you friends and patrons very much."

(NOTE: Endow means to give money or property to provide an income for support.)

First, you must determine what areas of information are needed and, second, add specific information and details needed to write a complete article for the high school newspaper The Highlight.

Assume that after reading the article you determine that you must contact the original sources, or new ones, for additional information. You can, therefore, not only add information, but provide new quotations from the sources.

The "facts" you supply are not important in themselves. What is, is your recognition of the areas that are not complete, so that the final article will not leave the reader with unanswered questions. For example, the cost of the farm is not given. This should be supplied in the story, but whether you put $25,000 or $500,000 doesn't matter; what matters is that you recognize that information is needed and supply it.

Keep in mind that the article as written is also wordy and unprofessional. When rewriting a piece that is totally unacceptable, remember that your best bet is use your own words, not use those of the original writer.

In addition to recognizing obvious omissions in the story, perhaps if you ask yourself what you would want to know about the farm project, it would help you recognize areas that need work.

Post your comments on what information is needed in this story to the CyberJourn listserv, so that all members of the class may benefit from each other's ideas. Feel free to comment back and forth, and share with your classmates the "facts" that you have made up to complete the article. You will receive a participation grade for this activity. (worth 10 points)

What's Needed?

Write, edit and spellcheck your article in the word processor on your computer; then copy the entire article and paste it below.

Farm Rewrite Story:

EARTHQUAKE STORY

DIRECTIONS:

Write a straight news story based on the information below. Assume you are an AP (Associated Press) reporter writing this story for newspapers nationwide. The story will appear in the Monday morning edition of most newspapers. Use correct journalistic style. Earthquake categories, however, do not follow normal style rules for numbers. They are given as figures. Remember that a reporter's notes are never written in inverted pyramid style, nor are they always given in complete sentences with correct punctuation or journalistic style. All information is obtained from the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. George Carts is a seismologist at the center.

REPORTER'S NOTES:

strong earthquake hit Aleutian Islands Sunday night

Alaska Tsunami Warning Center reported it measured 6.6 on Richter scale

shook three Aleutian Island fishing villages, Nikolski, Dutch Harbor and Unalaska, for three minutes

epicenter in the North Pacific about 40 miles east of the village of Nikolski and 850 miles southwest of Anchorage

no reports of injuries or major damage

"There was some very minor damage at Nikolski, with items knocked off shelves and small items damaged." Source: George Carts.

Carts said the quake was felt strongly in the towns of Unalaska, Dutch Harbor and Nikolski. These three fishing villages are located on western islands in the Aleutian chain.

20 aftershocks; one measured 5.0 on the scale. None was powerful enough to cause a tsunami, officials said.

earthquake of 6.6 magnitude can cause severe damage if it hits populated areas

Aleutians are sparsely settled

quake hit at 7:01 p.m. PST

Richter scale measures ground motion and is recorded on seismographs; each increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude; example, 7.5 is 10 times greater than 6.5.

official categories: 3.5 can cause slight damage; 4, moderate damage; 5, considerable damage; 6, severe damage; 7, major earthquake, can cause widespread heavy damage; 8, great quake

EXERCISE:

Before you begin to write, consider the following three questions, and post your answer to the CyberJourn listserv. Number your responses. You will receive a grade for your participation. Feel free to comment on each other's answers, and give your reasons for your choices. (worth 5 points)

1. What information should be focused on in the lead?

2. What additional information should be placed near the beginning of the story? In other words, what would readers want to know in regard to the quake?

3. Should all information given be used in the story? Be specific and explain.

Answers:

DIRECTIONS:

In this assignment you will be the on-site reporter covering something that is newsworthy in your community. Make sure your article is a news story of an issue or event, not a feature story. Your article should be a well-written, complete news story that reflects good interviewing and news gathering.

Story:

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