A weblog for Pete Ellertsen's mass communications students at Benedictine University Springfield.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

COMM 209: Mountaintop mining / READ & DISCUSS

This morning's Washington Post has a feature on mountaintop mining. The issue is one we're familiar with, from last week's presentation by anti-strip mine activists. Read it and analyze it.

How does the lede work? Is it hard or soft? Does it grab a reader's attention? Where is the nut graf (or grafs)? How are quotes used? Where is the highest quote in the story? Is it a good quote -- is it colorful and expressive? How well are quotes distributed throughout the story? How well is the story balanced between pro- and anti-mine spokesmen? What techniques can you identify that keeps a reader interested in the story?

Discuss and post as comments to this post.

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About Me

Springfield (Ill.), United States
I'm a retired English, journalism and cultural studies teacher at Springfield College in Illinois (acquired by Benedictine University and subsequently closed). I coordinate jam sessions for the "Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music" at Clayville Historic Site and the Prairieland Strings dulcimer club, and I sing in the choir and the contemporary praise team at Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield. On Hogfiddle I post links and video clips for our sessions and workshops on the mountain dulcimer (a.k.a. "hog fiddle"), as well as research notes on folklore and cultural studies, hymnody and traditional Anglo-Celtic and Scandinavian music. I also posted assignments and readings in my interdisciplinary humanities classes. The Mackerel Wrapper (now on hiatus), carried assignments and readings for my mass comm. students. I started teaching b/log when I chaired SCI-Benedictine's assessment committee, and reopened it as the privatization of public schools grew increasingly troubling and closer to home.