Important
people pay generously to subscribe to
newsletters with insider information unavailable in the public domain. This
means newsletter writers must be especially good reporters. Newsletters
sometimes have some of the best investigative journalism around. Newsletter
reporters must write clearly and get to the point quickly. They avoid the
colorful prose of magazine writing. They must have a keen awareness of their
audience so they don’t waste time with long explanations. They typically have closer
relations with their sources than most fly-by-night journalists popping into a
certain geographic area and a better understanding of the material than typical
journalists who teach themselves complex subjects on the fly and learn to fake
it for a general audience. They write for specific, well-informed goal-oriented
audiences—say, European investors considering countries to place their
capital—rather than casual readers.
The purpose of this intensive course is help the employees of Atieh Bahar develop their writing, reporting and story-spotting abilities to improve the quality of the firm’s newsletters. The course can serve as an introductory journalism course as well as a newsletter-writing course. I have found that might my workshop approach to teaching works much more effectively if students do their assignments and bring them to class. There will hopefully be plenty of time for giving students individual attention. And you will find that my remarks on your written assignments can be quite valuable. The course will also be flexible; since I don’t know the specific needs and skill levels of students, I will attempt to adjust the class accordingly.
Borzou Daragahi, a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New School University, has worked as an editor and writer for daily and weekly newspapers, monthly magazines and an Internet site. He has taught journalism at Purchase College and the Pratt Institute. He is currently a contributor to Money magazine and U.S. News & World Report as well as a correspondent for English-language radio.
Class I, Saturday, April 27, 2002, 4 p.m. to 6
p.m.
·
Introductions: What
is journalism? What do journalists do? Journalism is a way of seeing the world.
·
Defining the terms:
lead (lede), nut paragraph, kicker, quote, color, attribution, source, pitch,
beat.
·
Defining the goals:
to inform, to provoke/inspire, to entertain.
·
The tools:
interviews (experts, customers, victims, politicians), documentary research
(primary documents, secondary sources), the Internet (the joys and perils of
the web).
·
Complement and
supplement: the role of newsletters.
·
Different
newsletter tools: infographics (use and overuse), nuggets, pull quotes,
factoids.
Home Read the newsletters
handed out in class. Write 500 words comparing them to each other, focusing
especially on their writing and organizational style and target audience. Email
the completed assignments to bdaragahi@yahoo.com.
Class II
·
Writing and
organizing: Common writing mistakes. Going over your first assignment.
How do
you put together a well-wrought piece?
*
Reading a few examples of good articles.
Home *
Watch a television show
and write a review or summary of the show, being careful to back up your
conclusions with quotes.
*
Try to think up a real
story for the final project.
Class III *
The Interview: The basic
building block of journalism.
* Guest speaker: ?????, development issues in
Afghanistan
* Brief discussion of final projects.
Home *
Interview someone and
write a profile of him or her.
*
Write a 150 to 300-word
“pitch” or query letter proposing your final piece.
Class IV *
Developing your news instinct:
What’s news? What’s the story?
* A walk through some newspapers.
* Read aloud story queries
Home Rewrite the television
review
Class V *
Crossing the t’s and dotting the
i’s: Getting the details perfect
*
Guest Speaker?: TBA
Home * Rewrite the profile.
*
Begin working on your
final pieces.
Class VI * Writing workshop.
*
Bring the draft of your final
project into class.
Home Finish your final project and either email or get
it to me.