news reporting & writing event backgrounder. lab exercise
TRANSCRIPT
News Reporting & WritingEvent backgrounder
Lab Exercise
Brief background paragraph on the speaker, Alec Ross (one or two sentences) NOTE: Do NOT just copy and paste from existing material. That’s plagiarism.
• - Pull this information from Factiva, Google, or other search tools to research the background of the event. Industry sites such as Columbia Journalism Review and Poynter Institute also are useful. Be sure to cite sources. (According to the New York Times…)
List at least five questions you would like to ask the speaker.
Lab Exercise - backgrounder
Uses of backgroundersTo ensure you’ve done the necessary research
To prepare “boilerplate” for the final story in advance
To use in writing a “curtain-raiser” story ahead of the event
To understand the issues before the event, and be better able to judge what’s “new” (hence: news)
Deadline
Deadline is the same: 10 a.m. Friday
Please email to [email protected] Name Word document and subject line: JMSC 0108 Backgrounder (Your Name)
