For Story Assignment , you will write a 300-350-word meeting news story enhanced for an online audience based your bellow; Meeting Story.
Keep in mind that Story 2 has two parts:
1) a 300-350-word news story based on the scenario or scenarios assigned by your instructor; and
2) Web or social media enhancements (i.e. links to relevant Web resources, tweets, Instagram photos, Snapchat texts, Pinterest posts, etc. ).
The assignment assumes you are a reporter for the Harkensville Daily Gazette. Your job is to assemble the information from one scenario into an inverted pyramid for a summary news story that will be published online and in print after midnight on the evening that the meeting was held. Assume Harkensville is in your home state. Make sure your story contains correct grammar, punctuation and AP style
Some tips for success:
· The lead for your story should contain no more than 20 words and a single sentence. Write it in the active voice. Include the most important detail of the story.
· Answer these questions in the lead: What happened? Who-did-what-when?
· Use The Inverted Pyramid, The Central Point and The Body of a News Story lectures to help you write the story in inverted pyramid style. Start with the most important detail. Each paragraph should include the story's next-most important detail. The last paragraph should be unimportant.
· Use the Transitions lecture to help you ensure every paragraph has something to do with the ones before and after it. Ask yourself: What does this sentence have to do with the one before it? If you can't pinpoint the relationship, you've got your paragraphs in the wrong order. Use the News Article Paragraph Organizer to help you figure out an appropriate flow for your story.
· If you use a quotation, make sure it is a direct quote. You may not put quotation marks around anything that you cannot attribute to an individual. If the scenario does not have quotation marks around a sentence, do not add them. It is inaccurate (and a serious journalistic offense) to enclose paraphrased material in quotation marks. Be sure to follow the rules for punctuating quotations outlined in the Newsgathering and Interviewing lecture.
· Do not offer any opinions or draw any conclusions. Do not wrap up the story in the last paragraph. Avoid adjectives; most are value-laden and may even be considered libelous. Use the Libel and Ethics lecture as a guide.
· Delete any unnecessary words. Your goal: economy of language. Write short, simple words, short paragraphs, short sentences. (But try not to make your writing choppy.) Use the Concise Writing lecture to help you.
· Look up all style points in the Course AP Stylebook lecture.
· Check spelling and grammar. Make sure your facts are absolutely accurate. Do not add or assume anything that's not there in black and white.
· Spell names correctly. For this exercise, the names in the police report are spelled correctly. You'll lose a full letter grade for a misspelled name.
· Write literally. Avoid misplaced modifier.