Media WritingMC2010

Steve ButtrySept. 6, 2016

Today’s quizIn which of these sentences is punctuated incorrectly? A. “Do we have a quiz today?” Steve Buttry asked.B. “We have a quiz today”, Steve Buttry said.C. “No quiz today!” Steve Buttry shouted.D. “We have a quiz today,” Steve Buttry said.Email your answer to brouzan94@gmail.com. with “MC2010 quiz” as the subject line.

Geaux Academic Workshop•Wednesday (tomorrow), 5:30-7:30 p.m.•Holliday Forum•Pizza•Help with study habits, time management• Extra credit: bump one writing exercise up a + or -

Exclamation points

Exclamation points are valid pieces of punctuation. Use them when you exclaim. Exclamations in media writing are rare.

Partial quotes

•Partial quotes are better than long, meandering quotes.•Quote a single word only if the word itself is

important to attribute to the speaker

Characteristics of a news story• It tell you something that has happened recently•What has happened is interesting or important•Neutral voice• Informative, not argumentative or persuasive• Filled with facts

Who? What? When? Where?Why? How?

Interesting quotes, facts

More info, background

Details

Etc.

Inverted pyramid•Most important, interesting news goes at top of story,

followed by other facts of diminishing importance•Developed in Civil War; if telegraph lines went down,

most important information had been transmitted• In linotype and cold type age, last paragraphs of

stories could be cut easily if story didn’t fit hole•Gives scanning reader news quickly

Problems with inverted pyramid?

• Inhibits storytelling• Invites reader to stop reading at any time

Why pyramid style is important• Important for press releases (editor/news director

doesn’t give you very long to capture attention)•Helpful in digital age (reader scans quickly, moves on)•Helpful in mobile (have to get to the point on small

screen)•Helpful in email newsletter (reader judges in first few

seconds)

Thursday’s guest, Mandy Jenkins