COMM 337: In- and out-of-class assignment, REMEMBER: DIRECT QUOTATION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF JOURNALISM

To set the stage, we'll watch a video called Boatlift, part of the outpouring of media for this month's 9/11 commemoration. Narrated by Tom Hanks, Directed by Eddie Rosenstein, Produced by Eyepop Productions.

As we watch, ask yourself:

• How much of this is direct quotation and how much is voiceover?
  
• What do the direct quotes add to the video?
  
• How can you get the same effect in a print medium?

Here's something else to look for: This 11-minute 56-second video is organized a little bit like the attention getter plus quote-kebab print stories I've been recommending: (1) Some really compelling stuff at first to get our attention, with the interview with the captain of the Amberjack: (2) a brief summing-up, about the largest boatlift in history, corresponding to the nut graf; (3) more quotes skewered together like a shish-kebab in the body of the story; and (4) a zinger at the end.

This will lead us into an assignment that (hopefully!) will be less dramatic ...

Here's the assignment: Write a 2- or 3-page (500- to 750-word) profile of one of your classmates. Let's make it due in class Tuesday, Sept. 20.

My main requirement: Find out something interesting about this person, and include it prominently in the profile. Another requirement: Use a couple of direct quotations. That means two. At least two. Direct quotation is, not to be repetitious about it, the lifeblood of journalistic writing.
Here's how to go about it: Pair off (or get into groups of 2 or 3 if there's an odd number of people in the class) and interview each other. Ask the basic stuff you always want to know about people: When and where they were born, where they're from, hobbies, sports, trips to Mexico, France or Russia (or Jacksonville, Decatur, Petersburg or New Berlin, it doesn't have to be exotic to be interesting), goals, ambitions, dreams, etc. Draw them out, and you'll find something interesting. This may be a bit of challenge: Most of us, if we're asked to tell something interesting about ourselves, will think something like, "Oh, I'm not interesting. I'm pretty boring." But we're all interesting. Your job as an interviewer is to find it out and tell it. I can't give you a cookbook formula for "interesting," but you'll know it when you hear it. If it surprises you, it'll surprise your readers. People like surprises!

Take notes so you'll be able to include those direct quotations. There's a good tip sheet by journalism teacher and former newspaper reporter Tony Rogers at http://journalism.about.com/od/reporting/a/notetaking.htm. Let's go over it before we start.

A couple of basics from my experience: (1) take down enough key words so you can reconstruct the quote; but (2) don't take down too many. Don't get bogged down. The person you're interviewing might say, "We lived, uh, like, in New Mexico." All you need to take down is, "we lvd N Mex." And you write, "We lived in New Mexico." Do what reporters do: Use abbreviations. Make 'em up on the spot. Write fast. Scribble. Get the key words down, and fill in the blanks later. If you use a sound recorder, use it for backup. Dead batteries, not to put too fine a point on it, are the death of journalistic writing.

Write up a sparkling profile. I'd suggest you use the organization below, which I have adapted from an old Newsweek magazine format for news stories.

The Newsweek format --

This is a common way of organizing news-feature stories - you'll also find it in Springfield's State Journal-Register and a lot of other print media. Elements of a story written to this format are:

• The lead (often spelled "lede"): A little anecdote or story-within-the-story, a joke, wordplay or surprising fact that "leads" readers into the story - i.e. gets their attention.
  
• The nut (which journalists often call a "nut graf" or 'graph), meaning the paragraph in which they state the main point of the story.
  
• The body of the story, which uses a lot of quotes. Think of the body of the story as being like a cheap necklace, with quotes strung together like dime store jewelry. Or a shish-kebab. Why? Because direct quotes are more interesting than paraphrase. All together now: "Direct quotes are the lifeblood ..." Got it.
  
• The "kicker" (which we used to call a "zinger" when I was in the news business). At the very end, it sums up the story, ties it back to the lead and gives it a little twist.