Gateway » Gateway 1

The New York Times’ Health Care in the U.S. Timeline

Dora — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:57:29 +0000

This is a good example of a timeline and its importance in journalism. Clearly, this one is interactive but it has the same gist as the one you were working on.

Head, subhead — huh?

Isolde — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:17:14 +0000

My response to a student who Googled “head” and “subhead” —

A “head” is short for headline or header, which is made up of three to six or so words with a subject and verb — usually the big type above a newspaper article. It can also be the title of a journal piece.

The subhead is short for subheadline, which goes beneath the headline and is in smaller type and uses more words but still relates to the article. (Sub means under. Think submarine, which means “under water.”) I should note that the subheadline gives more information about the article and doesn’t just repeat what the headline says. Together they answer most of the 5Ws and 1H.

For example:

HEADLINE (“head”): Troops, police attack post-quake looting

SUBHEADLINE (“subhead”): Chilean officials struggle to aid victims of a quake that killed more than 700 people.

Who: Chilean officials
What: The struggle to aid victims amidst looting
When: After the earthquake
Where: Chile
Why: Because the quake was deadly — killed more than 700 people
How: By attacking the post-quake looting

When you write your head and subhead, be sure that they sum up what’s going on with your story. Copyeditors at newspapers are typically those who write headlines, and they’re quite clever. A copyeditor I know wrote the headline, “Grinding to a Halt,” about a school’s ban on bump-and-grinding at school dances. Another wrote “Mounting Danger,” about a hiking trip gone wrong.

NOTE:
• Headlines online tend to be less creative and more straight-forward so that readers will more easily find the stories through searches.
• Those hoping their articles will be placed high on Google will use a key term in the headline, subheadline and first paragraph of the story. This is known as web or search engine optimization.
• Online, headlines change as the news develops. For example, the headline to the story above is now, “Tsunami sweeps away entire towns on Chilean coast.”

Ira Glass on telling stories

Isolde — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:08:51 +0000

Ira Glass, the master storyteller behind “This American Life,” shares tips on telling and finding stories. These are four short and excellent clips that answer about half the questions I’ve fielded from students.

On the basics:

On finding good sources:

On good taste:

On two common pitfalls:

Do I need new sources?

Isolde — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:10:14 +0000

From Professor Blaine: “There has been a common question about whether students can use the same interviews for G1 and G2. I encourage students to use subjects from G2 interviews for G1 assignments. Ultimately we want them do develop integrated multimedia packages and those connections are critical.”

Blowing Up a Source

kelli — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:24:40 +0000

Who is a source… and why? We explored this in class on Wednesday using the Kevin Everett story as an example. As you read or watch each article think about what role each source plays in telling the story.

ESPN coverage the injury (YouTube)

Much Hype in Player’s Treatment (NYT) – January 15, 2008

Choose One for Class Discussion:

Doctors on the Scene Acted Quickly to Treat Everett with Cold Therapy (NYT) – September 15, 2007

Coming in From the Cold (Scientific American) – September 2007

Ice Cold Innovations in Miami (ABC) – September 17, 2007

The Road Back (SI) – December 2007

[Lecture] Ethics, Professionalism & Making Good Choices

kelli — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:06:38 +0000

We had a great discussion today about making decisions about what you put online in Gateway 1. The slides never capture the full discussion, so if you weren’t there, I hope it gives you a glimpse.

Below are my slides and the PDF to download the pledge. I’ll post some photos later.

(please be aware that there are some f-bombs and other language in these slides)

Professionalism Pledge [PDF]

Slides via Slideshare (if the plugin above doesn’t work). You lose some animation, but the point is still there.

Welcome to Winter Term

kelli — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:55:40 +0000

Welcome to Winter Term 2010.

Whether you’re just starting on the road Gateway 1 or 2 or wrapping up your travels in Gateway 3, we are looking forward to working with you to integrate your critical thinking with basic storytelling skills and deliver those stories in a multimedia format.

You need these skills whether you’re heading into journalism or public relations or advertising. These are fundamental, gotta-have-em skills.

A breakdown of what we expect you to learn:

an ability to think critically about an ever-shifting media
an understanding of how and why information is reported and used in the media
an ability to apply that information creatively
an ability to recognize and use basic report and story forms
an understanding of the interplay between text, image and sound to report, tell stories and persuade
an understanding of basic visual principles in print, online and in multimedia
a basic understanding of interviewing and finding sources outside of the traditional academic environment
the maintenance of an online blog that collects and reflects on their work
an ability to manage an in-depth project that investigates multiple points of view

To get there you’ll choose a public policy issue and explore it in depth from both a national and (more significantly) local angle. You’ll write, take pictures, record audio and shoot video. You’ll think, you’ll listen, you’ll get inspired and you’ll learn a ton about yourself, your issue and what you love about this work.