The 2008 Presidential Election is now in the history books. The election of the first African-American President was a major reason this election made history but it wasn’t the only reason. The 2008 Presidential election also was historic because it was the most expensive ever and for the first time since the implementation of a public financing system after Watergate, a Presidential candidate bypassed public funds and spent $650 million to his opponent’s $85 million publicly financed dollars.
This campaign may also go down in history for its use of the Internet to the max, from mega-fundraising to e-mail and text messaging and Facebook and MySpace and YouTube and Twitter. The roller coaster ride that the big issues took may also be historic, with dramatic shifts from the Iraq War to energy to the meltdown of the economy, which may have been the real October surprise. Finally, this election may go down in history as not only the most exciting but also the one that re-connected young people with this most important civic responsibility.
I hope you had great Presidential Election discussions in your classroom. A special thank you to Paul Rials at LBJ, Mark Webber at Austin Jewish Academy, and Vilma Cajigas at Ann Richards School for posting their classroom discussions on Presidential Election news coverage. For those of you who haven’t posted at all or only once, please commit to posting during the remaining few weeks of the program. Communicating what’s happening in your classroom with the newspaper is a very important component of the mynews@school program. If you’re still having trouble posting, please send me an e-mail and I’ll post for you. Or from now through December, assign one of your groups the responsibility of posting or sending me an e-mail, which I will then post to the blog.
If you take a look at the weekly activities distributed during the kick-off, you’ll see that now is the time for a Statesman reporter or former journalist, now turned UT Journalism Professor or Ph.D. student, to visit your class. Last week, journalists and journalism professors/Ph.D. students met at the Statesman to discuss visiting your classrooms. The assignment sheet for classroom visits was e-mailed this morning and the activities for the Week of November 10 are below.
I have also asked the journalists and journalism professors/Ph.D. students to blog about their visits to your classrooms. But we also want your students to become Citizen Journalists for a day and blog about the visits, which brings us to another journalism fundamental: Be prepared. Just as Scouts must be prepared so must journalists so they can fully and accurately report a story. That’s why I asked Statesman reporter and blogger Corrie MacLaggan, whom you met at the kick-off to, give us some pointers on being prepared when covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker. Some of Corrie’s tips will help your students prepare for their guests so they can cover the visit as a Citizen Journalist, then post it at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/. It would also be terrific if your students would take a photo of their guest journalist and post it with their citizen journalism story. Jacie has posted instructions on how to upload a photograph on the blog.
Finally, please don’t forget that you and your students are invited to hear Michele Norris, NPR host of “All Things Considered,” November 20, 7 p.m., AT&T Center Ballroom, 1900 University Avenue. The program is part of the Mary Alice Davis Distinguished Lecture in Journalism and presented by the School of Journalism and College of Communication.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Q and A with Statesman Reporter Corrie MacLaggan on her reporting methods
Corrie MacLaggan is Health and Human Services Reporter at the Austin American-Statesman. As part of her reporting, Corrie conducts interviews with newsmakers and covers press conferences. When the Legislature is in session, Corrie writes a blog. mynews@school asked Corrie how she prepares for interviews and press conferences. mynews@school also asked how she gets her story ideas, the guidelines she uses for writing questions and using verbatim quotes. Finally, mynews@school asked about blogging vs. writing for the print edition of the newspaper.
Q: On TV, we sometimes see reporters asking questions at press conferences or interviewing newsmakers. Can you describe how press conferences and interviews are part of your work as a reporter?
A: Sometimes, press conferences are called in advance about a certain topic and we have time to prepare questions. Other times, a public official or state agency (such as the Office of Attorney General) will call a press conference but will not tell the media what the topic is. That makes it difficult to prepare questions, but I just ask the questions that pop into my head when I hear the news. Sometimes, press conferences will occur as news is developing. For example, when Hurricane Rita was heading towardTexas in 2005, I was assigned to spend a lot of time at the state emergency operations center in Austin. The governor and state emergency officials would hold press conferences to update the media on where the hurricane was and how they were preparing. In general, if you want to get your question answered at a press conference, you can’t be shy. You have to call out “Governor!” or “Senator!” and ask your question loudly, or you may miss the opportunity.
Q: Which format—press conference or interview—is best for generating news that you can write about? Why?
A: I don’t think the format makes a difference about whether I can write about it. If it’s important news, that will come across in either a press conference or an interview. Naturally, I prefer an interview — especially if it’s one-on-one — so that I get ample time to ask all my questions rather than having to jostle with other reporters to get my questions answered. But sometimes, officials like to speak to all the reporters at once.
Q: What are some of the other ways that you get news or ideas for reporting a story?
A: Talking to people: friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy bagging my groceries, the woman cutting my hair, the college student sitting next to me on the airplane.
Q: What research do you do in advance of covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker and how important is it to do advance research?
A: It’s important to do research but, as I mentioned above, it’s not always possible.
Q: Do you write your questions in advance for press conferences and interviews? Why or why not?
A: Yes, when possible. It’s good to have something to start with, though frequently other questions will come to mind during the press conference or interview.
Q: What guidelines, if any, do you use for writing questions for newsmakers?
A: Like others who cover state government, I always want to know things like: How many people does this affect? How much money does this cost?
Q: How important are verbatim quotes to your story and how do you determine which quotes to use in your story?
A: Very important. The best quotes convey emotion or colorful details or the person’s character rather than just facts. For example, there’s no need to use a quote from the mayor saying that a proposed city project will cost$50,000. You can include that information in the story — and attribute it to the mayor — without using a direct quote. But if the mayor says something like: “This is the most important project we’ve ever attempted in Austin,” that may be worth putting in the story. Even more important than what the quote says is the fact that you know it’s 100% accurate. If you aren’t absolutely sure the person used those exact words, you shouldn’t put those words between quotes.
Q: As a reporter, you also blog. What do you blog about and why do you blog? How is blogging different from writing a story for thenewspaper?
A: I blog along with the Statesman’s other state government and politics reporters at Statesman.com/postcards. Blog posts are usually shorter andwritten in a less formal style than newspaper stories. Our blog is especially important when the Legislature is in session. The newspaper comes out just once a day, but the blog can be updated all day long, so it’s a great tool to use when news is happening quickly, as it does duringthe legislative session. A hearing I covered last session lasted until around 2 a.m. By then, my last deadline had already passed for the print edition of the newspaper. But I could still update blog readers on what had happened at the end of the meeting. Also, blogs — and online stories —give readers the opportunity to give instant feedback by posting comments.
Q: On TV, we sometimes see reporters asking questions at press conferences or interviewing newsmakers. Can you describe how press conferences and interviews are part of your work as a reporter?
A: Sometimes, press conferences are called in advance about a certain topic and we have time to prepare questions. Other times, a public official or state agency (such as the Office of Attorney General) will call a press conference but will not tell the media what the topic is. That makes it difficult to prepare questions, but I just ask the questions that pop into my head when I hear the news. Sometimes, press conferences will occur as news is developing. For example, when Hurricane Rita was heading towardTexas in 2005, I was assigned to spend a lot of time at the state emergency operations center in Austin. The governor and state emergency officials would hold press conferences to update the media on where the hurricane was and how they were preparing. In general, if you want to get your question answered at a press conference, you can’t be shy. You have to call out “Governor!” or “Senator!” and ask your question loudly, or you may miss the opportunity.
Q: Which format—press conference or interview—is best for generating news that you can write about? Why?
A: I don’t think the format makes a difference about whether I can write about it. If it’s important news, that will come across in either a press conference or an interview. Naturally, I prefer an interview — especially if it’s one-on-one — so that I get ample time to ask all my questions rather than having to jostle with other reporters to get my questions answered. But sometimes, officials like to speak to all the reporters at once.
Q: What are some of the other ways that you get news or ideas for reporting a story?
A: Talking to people: friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy bagging my groceries, the woman cutting my hair, the college student sitting next to me on the airplane.
Q: What research do you do in advance of covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker and how important is it to do advance research?
A: It’s important to do research but, as I mentioned above, it’s not always possible.
Q: Do you write your questions in advance for press conferences and interviews? Why or why not?
A: Yes, when possible. It’s good to have something to start with, though frequently other questions will come to mind during the press conference or interview.
Q: What guidelines, if any, do you use for writing questions for newsmakers?
A: Like others who cover state government, I always want to know things like: How many people does this affect? How much money does this cost?
Q: How important are verbatim quotes to your story and how do you determine which quotes to use in your story?
A: Very important. The best quotes convey emotion or colorful details or the person’s character rather than just facts. For example, there’s no need to use a quote from the mayor saying that a proposed city project will cost$50,000. You can include that information in the story — and attribute it to the mayor — without using a direct quote. But if the mayor says something like: “This is the most important project we’ve ever attempted in Austin,” that may be worth putting in the story. Even more important than what the quote says is the fact that you know it’s 100% accurate. If you aren’t absolutely sure the person used those exact words, you shouldn’t put those words between quotes.
Q: As a reporter, you also blog. What do you blog about and why do you blog? How is blogging different from writing a story for thenewspaper?
A: I blog along with the Statesman’s other state government and politics reporters at Statesman.com/postcards. Blog posts are usually shorter andwritten in a less formal style than newspaper stories. Our blog is especially important when the Legislature is in session. The newspaper comes out just once a day, but the blog can be updated all day long, so it’s a great tool to use when news is happening quickly, as it does duringthe legislative session. A hearing I covered last session lasted until around 2 a.m. By then, my last deadline had already passed for the print edition of the newspaper. But I could still update blog readers on what had happened at the end of the meeting. Also, blogs — and online stories —give readers the opportunity to give instant feedback by posting comments.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Adding an image when you post
Here's the powerpoint file of using blogger.com again. If you take a look at slide #10, it shows you the screenshot of how to add an image. Please click here for a bigger view.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
ARS Week of Nov. 3: Media Critic of Presidential Election Coverage
Monday, November 3rd Newspaper
Students felt that there wasn’t enough election coverage, and that the republicans did not receive equal time. Students wanted to know more about Obama's and McCain's experience, and some students wanted to see more election stats.
Students felt that there wasn’t enough election coverage, and that the republicans did not receive equal time. Students wanted to know more about Obama's and McCain's experience, and some students wanted to see more election stats.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
LBJ Election Day
I replied to a couple of previous posts, but I guess I can toe the line and create the new post. My kids (11th grade) are really caught up in the election. Some fairly discerning reading, and some not-so-much. Several of my kids thought that there should have been more newspaper coverage devoted to voting irregularities and how they will be addressed. They discussed the 2000 election (which they have read about) and how they would like to see those issues mentioned. They hope there will not be a repeat of that drama. Others actually surprised me with the reasonable responses they gave for their choice for president. While the lines are very clearly drawn, the emotional aspects are not preventing the majority of my students from forming intelligent decisions based on their knowledge of the candidates. None of them are old enough to vote, but they all assure me that voter turnout will be huge in Austin. I did have one student say that the death of Barack Obama's grandmother was the most depressing thing he had read in awhile. The overall feeling for most of them is that change is coming. They are very excited and hope that the election is actually decided by the time they wake up tomorrow.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Mark Webber's Austin Jewish Academy Fifth Grade Class---Paula-although we are not strictly following the guidelines for time allowed in group/class discussions-My Fifth grade had some very lively classroom discussions regarding the issues in the campaign, methods used to put out the issues to the public, and their general vies regarding which media is most effective.
Now remember that I have 18 students, mostly white, mostly from affluent Jewish homes.
Their take is that the economy is definitely the number one issue, followed closely by health care and the War in Iraq.
Naturally a very strong Pro-Israeli sentiment prevails and the safety of Israel was raised after some in the class noted the story on the front page of the paper today-“Two friends-two views of Zionism”.
Other issues raised included racism in the campaign, the environment, and the War in Afghanistan.
They said that they had learned about the issues from classroom discussions, on-line sources, and many cited specifically CNN-more generally TV news.
Sad to say most did not see the newspaper as a main or primary source-and I was stunned-because we usually use the paper in some way most days in class.
And for the most part they agreed that the front page of the paper-World and Nation-should have had more stories on the election and the campaign than stories focused on state or local events-
Interesting since when we as teachers got to meet with the editor-he mentioned that newspapers were a dying breed and that one way they were trying to maintain readers was to bring a spot light to local events. Oh well-
Mark Webber
Now remember that I have 18 students, mostly white, mostly from affluent Jewish homes.
Their take is that the economy is definitely the number one issue, followed closely by health care and the War in Iraq.
Naturally a very strong Pro-Israeli sentiment prevails and the safety of Israel was raised after some in the class noted the story on the front page of the paper today-“Two friends-two views of Zionism”.
Other issues raised included racism in the campaign, the environment, and the War in Afghanistan.
They said that they had learned about the issues from classroom discussions, on-line sources, and many cited specifically CNN-more generally TV news.
Sad to say most did not see the newspaper as a main or primary source-and I was stunned-because we usually use the paper in some way most days in class.
And for the most part they agreed that the front page of the paper-World and Nation-should have had more stories on the election and the campaign than stories focused on state or local events-
Interesting since when we as teachers got to meet with the editor-he mentioned that newspapers were a dying breed and that one way they were trying to maintain readers was to bring a spot light to local events. Oh well-
Mark Webber
Paula Poindexter says now is the time to evaluate Presidential Election News Coverage
Dear Teachers:
After every Presidential Election, many of us who teach Journalism, become media critics, dissecting the news coverage to determine how well Journalism has lived up to its purpose and principles and how well the public has been served. This week your students will have an opportunity to become media critics and evaluate how well the press did its job. One dimension of that critical analysis is directly related to coverage of the issues. In addition to the general activities for this week of November 3, I have listed some specific ideas about coverage of the most important issues to jumpstart the discussion on press coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election.
I also want to remind you that toward the end of this week, you’ll receive an e-mail from a Statesman reporter or UT Journalism professor who will visit your class next week to talk to your students about the purpose and principles of journalism. Please plan to arrange a time that is convenient for you and if possible on the day that your newspapers are delivered.
Don’t forget to post at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/.
Have a great Presidential Election week!
Paula Poindexter
mynews@school
UT School of Journalism
Additional Ideas for Group and Class Discussions: Evaluating News Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election
Over the course of the 2008 Presidential Election, the most important issues have changed. What have been some of the important issues during this Presidential Election?
The issues reported on the front page of the newspaper, as the lead story on the network evening news or in the most recent public opinion poll are not necessarily the most important issues being discussed around the kitchen table or among friends and neighbors.
Take an informal poll of your friends, schoolmates, teachers, coaches, and family to find out what they personally consider the most important issues in the 2008 Presidential Election. (Although your informal poll will differ from a scientific poll reported in the newspaper, it still will provide some insight into public opinion among those around you.) Other questions you might ask in your informal poll are: What is your primary news source and what grade would you give the news source for its coverage of the issue most important personally? What is the primary reason for the grade?
Discuss the findings from your poll with your group. As a group, evaluate news coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election. Compare your group evaluations with the new Project for Excellence in Journalism study on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage, which can be found at: http://journalism.org/node/13307.
What recommendations does your group have for covering future Presidential elections? What specific recommendations does your group have for including young people in the news coverage? Have a student-led class discussion on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage and recommendations for improvement. Include your top recommendations in a mynews@school blog post to the editor.
Week of November 3, 2008: Media Critic of Presidential Election Coverage.
1. Distribute newspapers with each student receiving a newspaper.
2. Discuss coverage of the Presidential Election—from news to opinion to charts to multimedia.
3. Students have 10 minutes of free reading on presidential election coverage.
4. For 5 minutes, students discuss presidential election stories that they found important and the reasons why.
5. For 5 minutes, students discuss aspects of the presidential election that are of interest to you and your family but are not being covered. Also discuss coverage that can be improved.
6. Write a comment for the editor.
7. Post comment to the mynews@school blog.
After every Presidential Election, many of us who teach Journalism, become media critics, dissecting the news coverage to determine how well Journalism has lived up to its purpose and principles and how well the public has been served. This week your students will have an opportunity to become media critics and evaluate how well the press did its job. One dimension of that critical analysis is directly related to coverage of the issues. In addition to the general activities for this week of November 3, I have listed some specific ideas about coverage of the most important issues to jumpstart the discussion on press coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election.
I also want to remind you that toward the end of this week, you’ll receive an e-mail from a Statesman reporter or UT Journalism professor who will visit your class next week to talk to your students about the purpose and principles of journalism. Please plan to arrange a time that is convenient for you and if possible on the day that your newspapers are delivered.
Don’t forget to post at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/.
Have a great Presidential Election week!
Paula Poindexter
mynews@school
UT School of Journalism
Additional Ideas for Group and Class Discussions: Evaluating News Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election
Over the course of the 2008 Presidential Election, the most important issues have changed. What have been some of the important issues during this Presidential Election?
The issues reported on the front page of the newspaper, as the lead story on the network evening news or in the most recent public opinion poll are not necessarily the most important issues being discussed around the kitchen table or among friends and neighbors.
Take an informal poll of your friends, schoolmates, teachers, coaches, and family to find out what they personally consider the most important issues in the 2008 Presidential Election. (Although your informal poll will differ from a scientific poll reported in the newspaper, it still will provide some insight into public opinion among those around you.) Other questions you might ask in your informal poll are: What is your primary news source and what grade would you give the news source for its coverage of the issue most important personally? What is the primary reason for the grade?
Discuss the findings from your poll with your group. As a group, evaluate news coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election. Compare your group evaluations with the new Project for Excellence in Journalism study on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage, which can be found at: http://journalism.org/node/13307.
What recommendations does your group have for covering future Presidential elections? What specific recommendations does your group have for including young people in the news coverage? Have a student-led class discussion on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage and recommendations for improvement. Include your top recommendations in a mynews@school blog post to the editor.
Week of November 3, 2008: Media Critic of Presidential Election Coverage.
1. Distribute newspapers with each student receiving a newspaper.
2. Discuss coverage of the Presidential Election—from news to opinion to charts to multimedia.
3. Students have 10 minutes of free reading on presidential election coverage.
4. For 5 minutes, students discuss presidential election stories that they found important and the reasons why.
5. For 5 minutes, students discuss aspects of the presidential election that are of interest to you and your family but are not being covered. Also discuss coverage that can be improved.
6. Write a comment for the editor.
7. Post comment to the mynews@school blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)