English majors, professors are OK
October 28th, 2008
Good writers teach you how to shape stories. They select verbs with precision. They splash scenes together and make it look easy. I told them to read every Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Read well-written books on history, economics, physics, politics. Read, read, read. Albert Einstein and John Kenneth Galbraith are among the clearest writers I’ve encountered, and if you don’t know who they are, please find out.
Read like an English major.
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Newspaper beats organize news coverage
October 19th, 2008
The newspaper beat system can be very confusing.
The newspaper beat system could not be simpler.
Neither statement is true, and both are true. Yeah, that’s how I see it. However, that and a buck-80 can get you a soft drink. The truth is, newspapers – and you can include magazines and many TV stations – handle the beat system differently. There is no correct beat system. But, here are some thoughts about how a beat system works.
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Criminal Court 101: A primer for writers
October 11th, 2008
In the newspaper business, the editor introduces you to the court system when someone is on vacation or sick. “You, Roat, the guy the cops arrested yesterday faces arraignment in about 45 minutes. Cover it.” What you want to say is, “Huh?” But what you say is, “Yes, sir,” while figuring out how to learn who the cops arrested, where the arraignment is, and what the hell is arraignment, anyway?
That’s my mission today. I need to help you through those awkward moments getting introduced to strange terms in big court buildings run by experienced and egotistical judges. And you’ll get a real delight from hallways full of lawyers, too. Oh, how exciting they are.
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Government 101: A few tips to understand it
October 2nd, 2008
Government is a mess today.
That’s not a political comment. That’s the view of reporters who suddenly must understand government based on the pathetic education provided them in high school and college. A high school senior today can believe states have presidents, not governors, and still graduate at the top of the class. Why would anyone want to learn all that government crap, anyway? Let’s assume you might want to know, and I’ll give you some basic things about the nature of government to help you out.
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Open records/open meetings: Democratic notions
October 2nd, 2008
Governments have a lot of information, much of it hard to sort and difficult to access. While we’d like to think our governments’ records are always there for public inspection, that’s just Disneyland. I’ve worked for government at least three decades (even as a professor I was a state government employee, you know), and I’ve watched administrators hide information just because someone might read it. Duhh. As for meetings, you’d be surprised how often government employees and politicians sneak around so people won’t see them discussing the public’s business.
This is a primer on open record and open meeting laws. Every journalism professor thinks you already know this.
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