In the News
Applications Accepted for Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships
Applications are now being accepted for Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships, which offer a cultural and professional exchange program for journalists. Applicants must be full-time journalists and citizens of a developing country. Deadline is Aug. 1.
Visit the AFPF Web site for details.
IWMF Board Member Honored by AWC-DC
Eleanor Clift, a contributing editor at Newsweek and a member of the IWMF board of directors, will be honored May 15 by the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Association for Women in Communications. Clift will receive the 2008 Matrix Award during a luncheon at the National Press Club. Helen Thomas, a veteran reporter who is a former IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, will introduce Clift. Maureen Bunyan, another IWMF board member who is an anchor for the ABC affiliate television station in Washington, D.C., will emcee the luncheon.
Visit the AWC Web site to read more.
Reuters Foundation Offers News Writing Course
The Reuters Foundation is accepting applications for a course on international news writing for journalists from the developing world. The course, which will take place in London, will run from Aug. 11-22. Applicants must be fluent in English and must have worked for media organizations for at least two years. Deadline is June 27.
Read more on the Reuters Foundation Web site.
Tips & Guides: Organizing an Article
Everyone gets stuck on a story every once in a while. You know what your story is about, but you just can't come up with a plan on how to organize it. Here are some tips to help guide you through the process. Not every system works for everyone, but hopefully you can find some tips among these to help you write your story.
- Make a list of what you want to convey to your audience.
- What information should be at the beginning? At the end?
- Think of questions a reader might ask. Put them in the order you think they will be asked.
- Assign values to quotations.
- Think of the story in terms of "chapters."
- Sort key material into blocks and organize the blocks in a sequence.
- Give information in the lead that will make the reader ask a question. Answer with information that sparks a new question. Continue until all questions are answered.
- Write headlines for your story early in the process to help crystallize the focus or theme.
- Draft a lead. List three to five main points and an ending.
- Draft 3, 10 or 15 leads as quickly as possible.
- Draft 3, 10 or 15 endings as quickly as possible. Once you know where you're going with the story, you may be able to see how to get there. Don't use your endings to merely sum up.
- Give yourself a specified amount of time to write. When your time is up, assess where you are headed with the story.
- Seek a natural order for the story: narrative, chronological, pyramid, problem and solution, follow-up, a visit with…, a walk through…, a day in the life of….
- Consult an editor.
- Diagram the pattern of the story.
- Write an outline. Draw a tree and fill in the branches.
- Clip together your notes on each part of the story. Move the piles around until you discover a working order.
- List all of the pieces of the story on the left side of the page. Move the important ones into columns marked Beginning, Middle and End.
- Organize your story by the high points.
- Look for the moment in your story when:
- things change.
- things will never be the same.
- a lesson is learned.
- you don't know how things will turn out.
Compiled by Dr. Sherry Ricchiardi, associate professor, Indiana University School of Journalism (Indianapolis). Reprinted with permission.