To say the least, I loved listening to this lecture. To open the year talking about something so basic yet so important oriented me to the class. Hearing what such highly trained, long standing journalists think are the most important elements of journalism was so interesting because my love for writing urges me to want to know these standards so I can both use them as guidelines for myself as well as be a good critic of others. During our class discussion, the element of making the important interesting felt the most familiar. I believe this is because when writing, I always strive to capture interest and I know what it feels like to read a book or article you never want to put down. The common goal through my writing in to educate, however, reading something that just spits facts at you can be boring and feel like a burden rather than a thought provoking lesson. Personally, writing poetry particularly has taught me how to articulate my words in a way that is grabbing for a reader. Through practice, I translate those lessons into journalism.
Today, September16th, the Courier Journal posted an article about a Wyoming guide killed by a grizzly bear while looking for an elk in the Teton Wilderness. Click here to read the article. The report violated the element of good journalism newsworthiness. In order to determine if something is newsworthy, the question, "Does it effect a lot of people for a long time?" must be answered. Without even reading the article, the answer to that question is clear. No, a random guide from Wyoming getting killed does not effect a lot of people for a long time. It was one occurrence that would only effect locals and close family. In general, this story was not deserving of publishing at all however, if it were more thematic it would possibly be relevant enough for publication. For example, if the report talked about a trend of grizzly bears attacking people very often in specific environments, that would effect a much larger group of people. It would make peopl...
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