Teaching Journalism

Junod on the story that changed his writing

Sep 10, 2010 - Posted by Dana Lacey

In 1995, Tom Junod wrote a compelling but disturbing story about a serial rapist. Now, he says that story changed the way he writes.

A new style guide for web writing

Jun 29, 2010 - Posted by Mary McGuire

Yahoo has decided it's time for an alternative to traditional style guides when it comes to text written for the Web. In July, 2010, it will launch The Yahoo! Style Guide: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Writing, Editing, and Creating Content for the Digital World. Like the CP Style Guide, it will be a guide to grammar, punctuation and style for online writers and editors. But the Yahoo guide suggests some different spellings. For example, it says email should not include a hyphen and smartphone should be one word.

It will be more than just a style guide, too. It will include advice about adapting written material for an online audience, making the text more accessible to search engines and writing strong headlines. It plans to release a print version of the guide, as well as versions for Kindle and the Ipad.

Will Canadian journalism educators teaching online journalism consider using this?

How I taught my students to think about the journalism they read

Jan 26, 2010 - Posted by Regan Ray

There’s no way students will read 5000-word articles every week, colleagues told Ryerson j-prof Bill Reynolds. But they did, and Reynolds learned that despite the various narcotics of the web, he could still get students to read long pieces and step back and wonder at the world.

Write or die: teaching students to write quickly

Dec 08, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray

When teaching my students to write first drafts quickly, explains Mark Hamilton, the web-based tool Write or Die is a big help. It puts emphasis on the revision stage and adds some fun in the classroom.

Go long and go deep: teaching literary journalism

Mar 16, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray

Journalism professor Bill Reynolds explains how he digs into writers’ lives and methods to teach students about literary journalism. Apply the principles used by literary journalists, he suggests, to the teaching of their work.

Daily writing tips from professional writers

Dec 06, 2007 - Posted by Mary McGuire

This website is produced by four professional writers who use it to share lots of general advice about writing. But it also includes links to pages about such things as The Art of Writing News , The Impotence of Proofreading and something that is increasingly important in the online media world - Writing to be Scanned. The site includes a link that allows readers to subscribe to its daily feed of writing tips.

George Orwell's writing tips

Oct 02, 2007 - Posted by Mary McGuire

George Orwell's classic 1946 essay The Politics of the English Language provides timeless advice for writing clearly and powerfully. This is a short summary of his five basic rules.

Tips from a newspaper writing coach

Sep 27, 2007 - Posted by Mary McGuire

A long-time reporter, editor and writing coach, Steve Buttry, has some great advice for reporters on everything from writing short to writing with emotional authenticity. Buttry is now director of tailored programs at the American Press Institute and his columns can be found at the API website.

Said vs. Says

Sep 10, 2007 - Posted by Mary McGuire

If you struggle to explain to students when it is appropriate to use "says" vs. "said" in their stories, you may find some guidance from these editors and writers. In this piece, the Poynter Institute's Chip Scanlan, explains why feature writers generally prefer the present tense, while some editors detest it. He makes his case, then follows up with the different views of the four newspaper editors.

Keeping it short but powerful

Sep 10, 2007 - Posted by Mary McGuire

This is an example of a compelling 400-word profile, followed by notes from the reporter about the process he went through to keep it so short. The post is from the blog Newsthinking, by Bob Baker, a professional writing coach and journalist with the Los Angeles Times, whose site is an archive of successful stories, followed by some insights into what makes them great.