Description
*** I am located in Des Moines, IA. Please use a local event from Des Moines, IA in this article *** Our first formal journalistic assignment of the course requires you to put your newsgathering and reporting skills in motion to complete a straight news story. You are assigned to seek out a newsworthy local event, conduct interviews and gather pertinent information on that event, and write an interesting, factually accurate story of 400 to 600 words that would appeal to a local audience. Note: this should not be a feature story: we’ll do one of those later in the term. Below are some basic guidelines for the assignment: The subject of your story must be newsworthy, current, and above all should be important and interesting to a local audience. Think broadly about what that means Prepare to spend considerable time in the act of newsgathering: arranging and conducting interviews, doing necessary research and fact-finding, and other tasks related to bringing the news and what it means to your audience. Interview and include direct quotes or paraphrases from at least two people relevant to the story. Straight news reporting should be free from overt bias or editorializing. The primary aim of straight news reporting is to report the facts — who, what, why, when, and where (as well as how) — in a fairly straightforward, succinct style. Generally, straight news reporting is exclusively written in third-person objective voice. Keep your body and your opinions off the page; do not address the reader directly or refer directly to the interview process (e.g., “Smith told me” or “Smith stated in an inteview) unless it uniquely serves the story. Your writing should be interesting, vivid, 100 percent factually accurate, and written in AP style. Avoid vague, wordy, redundant, and/or clichéd writing. Credit all sources; do not plagiarize or fabricate. Avoid libelous, malicious, or otherwise unethical or irresponsible reporting or writing. Do your best with AP style: we’ll be focusing on it more as the term goes on.
