Healthy NewsWorks staff members learn a lot about their new reporters each year during our “boot camp,” which consists of six lessons designed to immerse them in journalism. Program Manager Mia Blitstein describes below two reporters who have caught on quickly to some fundamental skills.
For the first four lessons, I was pretty sure the student sitting at the back of the classroom was distracted, playing with string and not seeming to be very engaged with the content. Since I don’t know all the students by name yet, I rely on the classroom teacher to assist with management of behavior. He wasn’t disruptive, I just wasn’t sure how much he was really taking in. But during Lesson 5, I discovered he had been paying close attention. He was super engaged with the person he was interviewing and was excited to ask the questions. He wrote down every word they said. He was hooked!
Another student at a different school was clearly paying attention to the lesson on how to write the lead—the first sentence or sentences of an article. We had gone over the definition of the term and the elements of a strong lead. It needs to relay the news, be accurate, and grab the reader’s attention.
But when we looked at an example of a simple news story, the student raised his hand to say the lead didn’t grab his attention. I told him that sometimes, especially when reporters are just starting out, it can be hard to make the lead a major attention-grabber. He said that he thinks that his class has enough experience as writers and have what it takes to compose snappier leads that also get the job done.
