Welcome to Rock Eagle

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Welcome to Rock Eagle

• GET AQUAINTED GAME
• Introduction
• Adam Cletzer 4-H Agent, Indian River County,
  Fla.
• Graduate of the University of Floridas College
  of Journalism and Communications
• Former 4-Her in Okeechobee County, Fla.
• Former Citizenship Washington Focus program
  assistant
• Regional Planning Committee for the SRLF

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The Importance of Publicity

• Why is publicity essential to 4-H?
• 83 percent of people have heard of 4-H
• However, 43 percent of those with kids eligible
  did not pursue joining because they were not
  aware of what the program offered
• I live in a city and didnt know the program was
  offered
• 4-H deals more with farming and agriculture.
• We couldnt keep a cow or a pig in this
  apartment.

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The Importance of Publicity

• What you can do to help the program
• Developing a relationship with your local press
• Use the clout of Extension and your land grant
  university
• Getting 4-Hs successes in the public eye.
• Write Press releases
• PT Barnum

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OVERVIEW

• Why The Craft of Newswriting?
• Writing Exercise I
• The Essence of News (with special guest, Lassie)
• The two main formats of a news story
• The ABCs of Journalism
• Common pitfalls
• Things that drive Adam crazy

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Why The Craft of Newswriting?

• Newswriting is NOT an art form
• Newswriting is the workhorse of language. It
  doesnt have time to be artsy, its got to tell
  you something, right now!
• Newswriting is mechanical, formulaic. It can be
  taught and learned
• The average news article is written at an eighth
  grade reading level

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Writing Exercise I

• What were going to do
• Write a short article including some or all of
  the topics on the next slide
• Think about how you would lay out that article
• Ready? Go!

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Writing Exercise I

• Who The Lip-Dippin 4-H Club of Pine-Tar
  County, Fla.
• What Holding a fund-raiser
• When Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007
• Where The Pine-Tar County Civic Center
• Why To raise money to conduct a program in
  county schools that will raise awareness of the
  harmful effects of nicotine.

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The Essence of News

• Immediacy!
• News has stuff to do!
• The Story of Lassie and Timmy
• You need to know how to organize your message for
  the news
• THE INVERTED PYRAMID STYLE

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The Inverted Pyramid

• Front load the information just tell em
• Compared to Diamond Shaped Essay format
• People dont read full stories, they skim
• Editors dont publish full stories, they cut.
• So, whats important?

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What to Put In

• Who, what, where, when, why, sometimes how and SO
  WHAT?
• The order is specific to the piece. It depends on
  what the storys focus is
• You need to pick the most interesting thing to be
  your ANGLE.

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Two Types of News Stories

• HARD NEWS
• Just the facts with a little description
• Generally short
• Its purpose is just to get out the information
  in a timely fashion
• THINK What you hear on the news while youre
  making your coffee in the morning
• A Pine-Tar County man was shot and killed last
  night by his lovers husband who returned home
  early from his midnight delivery job.

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Two Types of News Stories

• SOFT NEWS, or FEATURE WRITING
• Takes a delayed, more story telling approach to
  the story
• Use when the story is not urgent and requires
  getting to know the people and places in the
  story

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Two Types of News Stories
Imagine waking on a cold winter morning. Through
a crystallized window view of the world outside,
you see the grass frosted white, and the steamy
breath of the horses. You pull your cold-numbed
toes back beneath the layers of blankets and
wriggle them to revive the icy appendages. As
consciousness overtakes you, you begin to ponder
the week ahead of classes, tests and quizzes, and
take comfort in the fact that only five days from
now you will begin a long weekend, finally
departing on your family vacation. However,
five days from now doesnt find you in a car with
your family. Five days from now finds you in a
hospital bed, surrounded by doctors, with no
feeling below your waist and unable to walk.
The icy tingling in your toes one week ago
wasnt from the cold, it was the beginning of a
disease known as Multiple Sclerosis.
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PARTS OF A STORY

• The LEAD
• The lead the first paragraph of your story
• The lead summarizes the story. All the other
  information in the story flows from it.
• Ask Yourself
• What is this story really about?
• What is the most important part of this story?
• What is the point of this story?
• What makes this story unique?
• If your story doesnt match your lead, youve got
  the wrong lead

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Parts of a Story

• The Lead (continued)
• The lead should be only one or two sentences
• It should catch the readers attention
• It should summarize the story
• The Nut Graph
• A paragraph that follows the lead that explains
  the point of the story

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Parts of A Story

• Everything Else
• Organize the rest of your story according to
  importance
• Place good quotes high in the story. Readers love
  quotes
• The best way to end a 4-H story is with the
  following
• For more information about this or any other 4-H
  program, please contact the county Extension
  office at [phone].

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Writing The Lead

• Who Three Boaters
• What Two killed, the third injured when the boat
  capsized
• When Sunday
• Where Lake Harney near the Volusia County line
• Why High Winds and waves

• WHO
• Two boaters were killed and a third injured
  Sunday when their small boat capsized in high
  wind and waves on Lake Harney near the
  Volusia-Seminole county line.

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Writing the Lead

• Who Three Boaters
• What Two killed, the third injured when the boat
  capsized
• When Sunday
• Where Lake Harney near the Volusia County line
• Why High Winds and waves

• WHAT
• A small boat capsized in high winds and waves on
  Lake Harney near the Volusia-Seminole county line
  causing the death of two boaters and injuries to
  a third Sunday.

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Writing the Lead

• WHERE
• On Lake Harney near the Volusia-Seminole Line,
  a small boat capsized Sunday in high winds and
  waves, causing the death of two boaters and
  injuries to a third.

• Who Three Boaters
• What Two killed, the third injured when the boat
  capsized
• When Sunday
• Where Lake Harney near the Volusia County line
• Why High Winds and waves

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Writing The Lead

• WHEN
• On Sunday two boaters were killed and a third
  injured when their small boat capsized in high
  winds and waves on Lake Harney near the
  Volusia-Seminole county line.

• Who Three Boaters
• What Two killed, the third injured when the boat
  capsized
• When Sunday
• Where Lake Harney near the Volusia County line
• Why High Winds and waves

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Writing the Lead

• WHY
• High winds and waves on Lake Harney near the
  Volusia-Seminole county line caused a small boat
  to capsize Sunday, killing two boaters and
  injuring a third.

• Who Three Boaters
• What Two killed, the third injured when the boat
  capsized
• When Sunday
• Where Lake Harney near the Volusia County line
• Why High Winds and waves

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Writing Exercise II

• Telling Timmys Story
• What kind of story should this be hard or soft?
• What kind of lead should we use hook or summary?
• What should the focus be who, what, where, when
  or why?
• How should the rest of the information flow?

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LETS REVIEW

• The Essence of News is its Immediacy
• The Inverted Pyramid Style
• Front load your information
• Put the supporting information second
• Should it be Hard News or Soft News?
• What should the focus of the lead be?
• Should the lead by catchy or informative?

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Writing Exercise III

• Who The Lip-Dipping 4-H Club of Pine-Tar
  County, Fla.
• What Holding a fund-raiser
• Where The Pine-Tar County Civic Center
• When Oct. 6, 2007
• Why To raise money to conduct a program in
  county schools that will raise awareness of the
  harmful effects of smokeless tobacco
• Quote I lost my uncle to cancer, said
  17-year-old Bessy Smith. I think its important
  that we tell kids early on of the dangers.
• How The students will raise money by school. The
  school with the most money will have their
  principal kiss a pig
• The program will be led by senior level 4-Hers

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Discussion

• Did you make this a hard news or soft news story?
• What did your lead focus on?
• Where is your quote?
• Was this more organized than exercise I?

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Pitfalls of Writing

• It has to be perfect!
• No, it doesnt. Write it out now. Rewrite it
  later.
• But this is my baby!
• No, its not. Be objective in your editing. Dont
  keep something because it sounds pretty if it
  doesnt serve a purpose
• Avoid Clichés
• Dont write from the first person perspective

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The ABCs of Journalism

• Accuracy
• The accuracy of your facts is your reputation
• News articles are only a page and half long,
  double spaced. It is possible to be sure
  everything in there is 100 percent true.
• Brevity
• The readers time is valuable. Dont take two
  paragraphs to say what you could shorten to one
• Clarity
• Read your article aloud. Does it sound clear to
  you?

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The Real Essence of Writing

• The essence of writing is rewriting.
• - Leo Tolstoy

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Things That Drive Adam Crazy
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• FOUR-H

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NO
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• 4H

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NO
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• 4-H

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YES
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• 4-Her

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NO
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• 4-Her

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YES
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Additional Resources

• The Poynter Institute Online
• http//www.poynter.org/
• The Associated Press Stylebook
• On Writing Well by William Zinsser

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Thanks for Coming

• This power point will be available at
• http//indian.ifas.ufl.edu