News Ledes in Action!

Hi guys! Hopefully you get the idea of the inverted pyramid... because you'll need to know how it works here. We're going to look at actual stories today. Stay in the NEWS section of the websites... the inverted pyramid is much more noticeable in this section. Here's your assignment:

Open a Word document, and copy and paste the following format. You'll need to do it 8 times:

• Website:
• Headline:
• Lede:
• 5W's and H:
• WHO:
• WHAT:
• WHEN:
• WHERE:
• WHY:
• HOW:
• Summary of supporting paragraphs:

A quick explanation for you: 

• Website: Write what website you're using. 

• Headline: The title of the story

• Lede: Write the ENTIRE lede here.

• 5W's and H: Break the lede down.

• Summary of supporting paragraphs: quickly, read paragraphs 2 to 5, and give a quick description of what's happening in the paragraph. A few words work here, nothing too intricate. 

Approved websites:

• www.tucson.com
• www.latimes.com
• www.nytimes.com
• www.washingtonpost.com
• www.philly.com
• www.statesman.com
• www.sacbee.com
• www.kansascity.com

You have till Friday, August 31 to complete the assignment. DO NOT PRINT IT. 

Save the document as: NewsStories Last Name

Place your completed document in this folder. 

NOTE: it will ask you to sign up for a dropbox account. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. 

You will need to put your first name, last name and email address in, before you submit it!

John McCain

With the passing of the Arizona Senator, read the following story.

Next, read this story.

Finally, check this story out.

Great Inverted Pyramids of Giza

For this assignment, you will need to follow the format listed below.

When you get to step five, open a blank document in Microsoft Word. Write a six to seven paragraph story using the information you have already collected.

U.S. approved Ferguson no-fly area to block media

1. Review your notes:

37 square miles

After 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by a police officer

August

Associated Press obtained recorded conversations

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

police requested  FAA to ban air traffic 

Restrictions hindered planes from landing at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport

FAA attempted to change the restricted area to allow air traffic into Lambert

12 days 

police acknowledged it was to keep news helicopters away

Ferguson, Mo. 

Freedom of Information Act used to get recorded conversations

FAA records information

FAA struggled with wording of the no-fly order to prevent media from entering the restricted airspace.

2. Break down the most important facts from the notes:

WHO:

WHAT:

WHEN:

WHERE:

WHY:

HOW:

3. Write your lead. Be sure to make the sentence flow, and include as much of the 5W’s and the H as possible:

4. Group the like information together. List the remaining facts in order of importance:

5. Type the story on a Word document. Make sure the sentences flow, and start a new paragraph every one to two sentences. 

Ducey wins governor's seat

1. Review your notes:

Early ballots and a third of precincts statewide counted

Ducey claimed governor's race

Election night

Republican Doug Ducey defeated Democrat Fred DuVal

DuVal carried Pima County, but did not pick up enough votes in southern Arizona to make up Ducey's advantage in the rest of the state.

Ducey takes office in January

Ducey won the election by a margin of 54 percent to 41 percent

The state is currently in a fiscal crisis due to lower-than expected tax revenue 

DuVal was an aide in former President Bill Clinton's administration

Ducey was state treasurer in 2010

Cold Stone Creamery was built with help from Ducey

DuVal worked on the Arizona Board of Regents, and is a former Tucson High Badger

Ducey claimed 619,000 votes

Other governor candidates, Barry Hess and John Mealer failed to gain over 5 percent of the vote

2. Break down the most important facts from the notes:

WHO:

WHAT:

WHEN:

WHERE:

WHY:

HOW:

3. Write your lead. Be sure to make the sentence flow, and include as much of the 5W’s and the H as possible:

4. Group the like information together. List the remaining facts in order of importance:

5. Type the story on a Word document. Make sure the sentences flow, and start a new paragraph every one to two sentences. 

Capturing the Quote

Our job as journalists is to get the story from the source. In order to get the best story, we need great quotes!

Quotes are the lifeblood of the story. Anyone can report the news, but the goal is to put the reader in the story. By finding the best possible quote, we are able to do this.

Quotes must be original, unique, and give perspective.

Live by this motto: If anyone else can say it, it's not a good quote.

In this assignment, you will watch and listen to the TED Talk. While not every quote must be written down, it is your job to find the best possible quote--after all, you will be writing a story about it!

As you are watching the video, write down the best quotes. You can stop the video to write them down, and you can rewind the video to have the speaker repeat their quote (while this is not the way it works in the real world, this will help you with capturing the best quotes, and quickly writing that quote down)!

Also, do a little research on the speaker... who she is, what she does, and what she's famous for. MAKE SURE YOU SPELL HER NAME CORRECTLY.

Click the link below to view the video. Please wear your headphones, as each of you will be at a different point throughout the class. Your assignment is as follows:

TED TALK: The Danger of a Single Story
Story Requirments:

•  At least a 15-paragraph story
• Use at least 6 direct quotes 
• 3-4 facts about the speaker, not found in the TED Video
• Make sure you tell me where you found the info, for example:
•  Bourland is the world's best teacher, according to the American Dental Association.
• DON'T USE WIKIPEDIA :D
• Due at the end of class!

Welcome to Journalism!

Welcome to Tucson High Journalism, home of the Cactus Chronicle Quarterly Magazine and the Tucsonian Yearbook!

This is my seventh year as adviser for both publications at Tucson High. I am also teaching beginning photography as well. I have a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Arizona, and I recently completed my Master's in Educational Leadership, also at the UA. 

I am passionate about journalism, and hope to usher in the next generation of great journalists! Please see below for the class syllabus for both yearbook and magazine!

Have a great year!

-James Bourland

Yearbook

Magazine

Signature Sheet