Newspaper Reporting has taught me many new techniques and styles of writing and I will carry what I have learned into my career as a writer. This semester, our class was gifted with the chance to learn so much and grow as writers, and I definitely took advantage of the opportunity. I enjoyed all the meetings I covered and was proud of all the articles I wrote.
Police reporting was probably the most difficult story to write. The interviews with the police officers were a pain to set up because all of them were either busy or just did not want to reply. However, that taught me that sometimes you have to keep nagging and calling people possibly a hundred times before they cooperate. In the end, all the nagging is worth it, when you have an article in front of you that you have worked hard on and are proud of. While setting up interviews for police reporting was difficult, I also liked how open my choices were in story topics. I did not just have to write about someone getting arrested; I could take a simple police blog and spin a bigger and more important story from that. I never thought that police reporting would allow you to write a feature type article, but I ended up really enjoying the story I wrote from just a police blog.
Covering meetings, like the school board meeting or the borough council meeting, was both stressful and exciting. I learned that you should always try to sit in the front, so you can hear the information better and see all that is happening. I also learned that you should always use a voice recorder whenever allowed. The recorder will help your quotes and information to be more accurate and you will also have something to back you up when you can not write fast enough or you suddenly get a hand cramp (which happened to me at both meetings this semester). I also learned that you should include different topics discussed at the meeting in your article, but you should mainly focus on one important item from the meeting; write the article focusing on the one topic and then include other topics in either bullet points or a sidebar. I enjoyed covering the two meetings because it was laid back, interesting, and there was even food involved (which I did not take because it goes against the SPJ conduct).
While I enjoyed writing the articles for the borough council and school board meetings, I loved the whole court experience. Going into the day, I thought it was going to be boring and complete torture. However, the experience was the complete opposite. The court was laid back, which was unexpected, and the judge and district attorney were hilarious. I loved the whole experience and I would enjoy covering courts as a future journalist. At the court, I learned that you must ask questions. As a journalist you want to get all the names right, all the charges right, and you want all the information to be completely accurate. I learned to ask many questions and to also listen carefully, because you don't want to miss any information. Even if the judge or district attorney are not talking to a person on trial or an attorney, still listen, because you may get information and quotes that make your entire article better and you may even get quotes that show the personality of the people in charge.
After attending both the meetings and the court, I learned that reporting is not a walk in the park. It takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication. I learned that your sources will either be helpful or cause you to have a mental breakdown, by either not answering you or giving you barely any information. I also learned that journalism is an art that takes years of practice to master. Sometimes you will have an amazing article and sometimes your article will just suck. However, whether your article is the work of a genius or a complete disaster, you still put forth effort to write it and you should be proud of all you have accomplished and learned along the way.
After going through this class, I would advise future students to stay calm. All the work seems overwhelming, but in the end the experience is worth it, because you become a better writer and student. I would also tell them that this class is the perfect class to take to prepare you for a career in journalism. You learn how to write many different kinds of stories and you learn how to deal with sources and time management. I am glad that Cal U offered this course, because now I feel like I am ready to jump into the world of journalism and show the world how much I have grown as a writer.
Police reporting was probably the most difficult story to write. The interviews with the police officers were a pain to set up because all of them were either busy or just did not want to reply. However, that taught me that sometimes you have to keep nagging and calling people possibly a hundred times before they cooperate. In the end, all the nagging is worth it, when you have an article in front of you that you have worked hard on and are proud of. While setting up interviews for police reporting was difficult, I also liked how open my choices were in story topics. I did not just have to write about someone getting arrested; I could take a simple police blog and spin a bigger and more important story from that. I never thought that police reporting would allow you to write a feature type article, but I ended up really enjoying the story I wrote from just a police blog.
Covering meetings, like the school board meeting or the borough council meeting, was both stressful and exciting. I learned that you should always try to sit in the front, so you can hear the information better and see all that is happening. I also learned that you should always use a voice recorder whenever allowed. The recorder will help your quotes and information to be more accurate and you will also have something to back you up when you can not write fast enough or you suddenly get a hand cramp (which happened to me at both meetings this semester). I also learned that you should include different topics discussed at the meeting in your article, but you should mainly focus on one important item from the meeting; write the article focusing on the one topic and then include other topics in either bullet points or a sidebar. I enjoyed covering the two meetings because it was laid back, interesting, and there was even food involved (which I did not take because it goes against the SPJ conduct).
While I enjoyed writing the articles for the borough council and school board meetings, I loved the whole court experience. Going into the day, I thought it was going to be boring and complete torture. However, the experience was the complete opposite. The court was laid back, which was unexpected, and the judge and district attorney were hilarious. I loved the whole experience and I would enjoy covering courts as a future journalist. At the court, I learned that you must ask questions. As a journalist you want to get all the names right, all the charges right, and you want all the information to be completely accurate. I learned to ask many questions and to also listen carefully, because you don't want to miss any information. Even if the judge or district attorney are not talking to a person on trial or an attorney, still listen, because you may get information and quotes that make your entire article better and you may even get quotes that show the personality of the people in charge.
After attending both the meetings and the court, I learned that reporting is not a walk in the park. It takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication. I learned that your sources will either be helpful or cause you to have a mental breakdown, by either not answering you or giving you barely any information. I also learned that journalism is an art that takes years of practice to master. Sometimes you will have an amazing article and sometimes your article will just suck. However, whether your article is the work of a genius or a complete disaster, you still put forth effort to write it and you should be proud of all you have accomplished and learned along the way.
After going through this class, I would advise future students to stay calm. All the work seems overwhelming, but in the end the experience is worth it, because you become a better writer and student. I would also tell them that this class is the perfect class to take to prepare you for a career in journalism. You learn how to write many different kinds of stories and you learn how to deal with sources and time management. I am glad that Cal U offered this course, because now I feel like I am ready to jump into the world of journalism and show the world how much I have grown as a writer.
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