10/20 Prewriting

1. In "To be a successful reporter" what are the six qualities a good journalist must possess? A good reporter is a generalist, quick, curious, pleasant, honest, and courageous. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer for each. I agree because being a generalist you must have plenty of strong ideas that back up your story. You also have to be quick so you can get the best news. Being curious has alot to do with being a reporter because to make your story even more interesting you have to start thinking of the what if's. Pleasant- people are willing to give out more information to people that are kind while doing their job. Being honest is the most inportant thing, always make sure you don't lie about anything or keep something out that should be there. Having courage is having faith that you know you can do the job, and we all need that.

2. In "The nature of news" what is Charles A. Dana's definition of what is news? "Anything that interests a large part of the community and has never been brought to its attention before." What are the seven main factors that help them determine if an event has consequence? Impact, Proximity, Timeliness, Prominence, Novelty, Conflict, and Audience.

3. In "The art of interviewing—part 1" and "The art of interviewing—part 2" what are the three ways to gather information? Research, Observation, and Interviewing. What are the 23 helpful ways to get a good interview? Being prepared and having a good interview, ask good questions, choose a topic that you're comfortable with and know you can come up with plenty questions, phrase your questions in a neutral way, decide how you will dress, think of interview as a friendly conversation, try to establish a rapport with the person early on, look the subject in the eye and listen carefully to his/her answers, when the source is speaking seem really interrested, observe and record the person's body language, mannerisms, dress, physical features, distinctive characteristics and interactions with others, Focus on what the source is saying, not on what you will ask next, don't interrupt, don't ask long questions, don't talk too much, don't challenge too early in the conversation, control your physical actions and mental attitude, begin with easy questions, perhaps biographical ones, if the subject takes the interview in an unexpected direction, go with her/him, make accuracy your goal, tell the subject you will be calling back later to check facts, tape record the conversation if time permits and the story demands, Assume that the conversation is "on the record", direct quotes from your subject are essential for your story, make sure the quote is revealing of your subject, often the advice given for interviewing makes it sound like a game of wits with your subject, and figure that there is material that your subject knows, will tell you and will let you report.

4. Summarize, in your own words, "Harvesting the news". Must be 5 sentences. In Harvesting the news it really gets down to business finding hard evidence. It shows what a good story is and not. It gathers lots of informaton. It has all the levels to confind you what's the best. It's basically here to ask the 5 W's.

5. Summarize, in your own words, "The human touch". Must be 5 sentences. In The Human Touch you must be really friendly and can talk piltely with others. You have to be really careful not to get too attached to the story also. It's good to have an opinion but don't take it any further than that. You will have to translate a lot of jargon. Take down all the information you get, because it could be strong enough to change your whole story.