Back to Basics

by Jeff Young

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What is the importance of Journalism?
Many students walk through their lives blissfully unaware of most of the events and issues going on in the world outside of their daily lives. As most of my students give little thought to the role the news media plays in our society, one of my early goals in teaching Journalism is to get them to understand how an independent media is important in a democracy.  They should know that one of the media's major roles is as a watchdog that keeps the people informed.  I try to tackle this through a quickwrite which asks the students "Why is the news important, and is the news important to you?" This is designed to lead to a conversation with the class about journalism's importance. I try to include recent examples, most students do not know about Watergate, of times when the media performed its watchdog role. What surprised me when I first started teaching Journalism was how much background I had to teach.  Many of the students simply did not know what I had assumed that they would.  For example, I found that I had to give mini-lessons on what a democracy is.

Sifting Facts from Opinion
Students often have a lot of difficulty separating fact from opinion.  They often miss opinion that is embedded in a factual statement and will put their own opinion into their news writing.  A student of mine recently wrote, “In a desperate need to avert terrorism and the continuation of illegal immigrants [sic], Congress passed the Real ID Act on May 11, 2005.  Trying to help students separate opinion from fact can be difficult and is an ongoing battle.  I could yammer on endlessly and give worksheet after worksheet and would only see slow change.  If I, however, go through the students’ own writing, pull out examples of opinions they have written disguised as fact, pull out some examples of sentences containing fact, put them on an overhead and discuss them individually or as a whole class, they seem to grasp the concept much more quickly.  These mini-lessons on fact vs. opinion provide an excellent opportunity to discuss credibility and its importance to a journalist and a news organization.

Back to Basics
Students at an early age are taught the 5W’s and H and when asked, can quickly rattle off:  who, what, when, where, why, and how.  I discuss with them that these questions are the building blocks of the news articles that they are to write and that I want them to label or group, with the appropriate W or H, each fact in the notes that they will take.  I use this time to discuss with the class which W or H is most important.  Obviously that depends on the article’s topic, but after discussing what the students like to read about in magazines, or discuss as gossip, they come to see that, usually, “who?” and “what?’ are of most interest to readers.  From here we jump into the basic structure of a news article and the importance of leads.

Differences in Design
Straight news writing uses the inverted pyramid structure:  writers must organize the facts in the articles by order of importance or interest and not chronologically.  Students are very quick to get the concept in theory, but find it hard to put into practice.  Much of the writing that they have been asked to do in school calls for a much more chronological structure so most students need a lot of practice writing in this format.  

To give them that practice, and not bury myself in pages after pages of articles, I keep the first attempts relatively short.  The students read very short stories or watch a short video, I try to vary what I use and try to keep it light and fun to hold student interest.  For example, I have videotaped the TV show Cops.  The scenes are very short, are packed with information, I can choose scenes without violence, and the students sit rapt with attention.

During the readings or videos, the students take notes and then number their facts in order of importance or interest.  We will then move to a whole class format, share notes on the board, number them as a class, and write a whole class article.

Once I feel the students have the hang of the process, I will use longer works, such as A Rose for Emily, or 15-20 minute videos such as the Wallace and Grommit shorts.  What I find happens for many students when they begin to write these longer articles, is that they begin in the inverted pyramid structure and then drift back to chronological.  This means rewrites and a greater focus by the student on their notes as they rewrite.

The Importance of Style
Just as I give the students rules for the structure of a news article, I give them guidelines as to style.  We discuss using strong active verbs, using active and not passive voice, and keeping their sentences shorter while still varying their length.  I have noticed that many students, especially those who write very well, have trouble staying away from writing long, convoluted, flowery sentences. With practice, however, they usually become quite good at writing in a more concise style.

The Interview
The one aspect of Journalism that students shy away from is the dreaded interview.  Few students relish the idea of making an appointment with the principal or an adult whom they do not know.  I want all students to interview adults for their articles because, aside from being necessary for some articles, it gets them out of their comfort zone.  It gives them practice communicating with authority figures - a skill they will need after high school.  In order to increase their comfort level with interviewing, we start slowly.  At first they interview each other about small topics.  Here is where I stress the importance of writing the interview questions in advance.  We also discuss follow up questions and the importance of active listening.  After that they may be interviewing a parent, grandparent or favorite teacher.  Then, we move on to individual news writing assignments.

Putting It All Together
One of the more difficult aspects of assigning news articles is coming up with enough article ideas for the class.  Individual, group, and class brainstorming helps a great deal; when the students are the ones who create the ideas they feel more ownership of the articles and often work harder.  These articles are what we have been working for, so they must work through the process themselves:  write interview question, set an appointment for the interview, take good notes, outline and pay attention to structure, write, rewrite, revise and publish.  If I stay in the background of the process, letting them work through their problems, asking probing questions and giving them feedback on their drafts, the students usually end up with quality articles that they can be proud of.

Jeff Young currently teaches Journalism and Photography at Montgomery High School in San Diego, California.  Jeff is the advisor for the award winning student newspaper, the Moctezuman and was named  Advisor of the Year in 2003 by the San Diego Union Tribune.

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