Saturday, October 25, 2003
I haven't received the memo yet either, Suzanne. Either he still hasn't sent it or he's having technical difficulties.
Just in case the time on my computer is off, it's 11:20 on Saturday, Oct 25.
Has anyone received Paul's memo?
Has anyone received Paul's memo?
We are having a guest speaker for the upcoming class, Oct. 30. Mike Simpson, former Vice President and Executive Producer of Canoe will be in to talk about the new media landscape, online news and technology. He is currently working at the Globe and Mail where he is in charge of implementing a new newsroom publishing system (online and off-line).
For that class could you please examine Canoe
Canoe
and the Globe and Mail online at:
The Globe and Mail
Mike has a wealth of print experience (Sun Media) and online experience. I'm sure you will have many questions for him.
Thanks.
Paul
For that class could you please examine Canoe
Canoe
and the Globe and Mail online at:
The Globe and Mail
Mike has a wealth of print experience (Sun Media) and online experience. I'm sure you will have many questions for him.
Thanks.
Paul
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
James has asked about the project story ideas. As I said in the memo, the task right now is to put together a group and identify a story idea. In my note, I outlined what was NOT a story idea. A story idea is not just a topic or title. I know this is a difficult thing to fully grasp, but story ideas need to have more "edge" or focus to them.
A story idea has an angle built into it. Sometimes that angle naturally expresses itself as a question:
Is the incidence of autism on the rise? Do stats show it is increasing in North American children or is there simply more awareness or a change in diagnostic criteria? If there is more of it, what might the causes be? Is there controversy around the whole area of diagnosing autism?... and so on.
So, the story idea is not Autism. That does not lead anywhere - or perhaps it leads everywhere.
I hope this distinction is clear, because having a good, solid, focussed story idea is even more crucial on special project of this kind. You need to keep your team and your stories on point or the whole thing could be a loosely-held-together mishmash.
I will talk more about this tomorrow, but a tip might be framing your story idea in the form of a proposition.
Example:
The London police chief says he needs more money to battle crime in London. But is crime on the rise in London? Stats indicate that there are less serious crimes than last year, but the chief claims the stats don't tell the whole picture. Criminology experts at UWO dispute the chief's claim. Who is right? Is crime on the rise in London? Do taxpayers need to fund more police? Our story will examine this issue in detail, examining the stats, how they are reported, the pressures on police and the community....
I hope that helps a bit.
Talk to you all tomorrow.
Paul
A story idea has an angle built into it. Sometimes that angle naturally expresses itself as a question:
Is the incidence of autism on the rise? Do stats show it is increasing in North American children or is there simply more awareness or a change in diagnostic criteria? If there is more of it, what might the causes be? Is there controversy around the whole area of diagnosing autism?... and so on.
So, the story idea is not Autism. That does not lead anywhere - or perhaps it leads everywhere.
I hope this distinction is clear, because having a good, solid, focussed story idea is even more crucial on special project of this kind. You need to keep your team and your stories on point or the whole thing could be a loosely-held-together mishmash.
I will talk more about this tomorrow, but a tip might be framing your story idea in the form of a proposition.
Example:
The London police chief says he needs more money to battle crime in London. But is crime on the rise in London? Stats indicate that there are less serious crimes than last year, but the chief claims the stats don't tell the whole picture. Criminology experts at UWO dispute the chief's claim. Who is right? Is crime on the rise in London? Do taxpayers need to fund more police? Our story will examine this issue in detail, examining the stats, how they are reported, the pressures on police and the community....
I hope that helps a bit.
Talk to you all tomorrow.
Paul
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
This week's readings were really helpful. To me, they really underlined the fact that no matter what "bells and whistles" are now available on the web, the principles of good journalism and good writing still apply. The internet is a different medium, just as radio, TV and print are different from each other. We need to learn to use links, white space, graphics and flash effectively just like I need to learn where to put a stand-up in a TV feature.
