Journalists should report with all their senses, according to a Pultizer Prize-winning feature editor.
“In addition to the five Ws and the H, we have five senses,” said Jim Trotter, West enterprise editor for The Associated Press. “In addition, we have emotions. These are common denominators among people.”
Trotter used several powerful examples to illustrate his point. He read excerpts from feature stories about a town decimated by asbestosis, two men in a horrible mountain climbing accident, and a fallen soldier’s return home.
The last story, the one that earned Trotter his Pulitzer, left no one untouched in the audience. The sniffles were audible.
“You want to put the readers on the ground with you,” Trotter said. “You want them to see what you’re seeing.”
Among the techniques that Trotter suggested for young writers were including anecdotes, description and snippets of conversation.
“Tell your kids to write like they’re a movie maker,” Trotter said.
Feature writing is probably the toughest kind of journalism for most of my students. And I don’t feel terribly confident myself writing features. I was certainly inspired by the stories that Trotter excerpted. I think that is probably a pretty good technique to inspire my reporters.
As I reflect on my classroom practices, I realize I do not use good models of journalism nearly enough. This is one of the very first things I will change when I begin planning the next school year. I will start looking for good models of student writing (both high school and college) right away.
Rebecca Bennett
I liked the way you included a "snippet" of conversation immediately following the suggestion for a technique.
ReplyDeleteAs I read the articles, I love the way the teaches reflect critcally on their own teaching practices and consider ways to improve. I wish there was more time for everyone (in every position in an edudcational institution) to reflect honestly and plan for a changed approach. Really though I should have said was just time. We never do this and so we are doomed to do the same things over and over, expecting different results.
Reading your writing inspires me to say more than I normally would.
Let me know when you return so I can hear all about it. Are you having time to read the book club book? Probably not, I would guess.
I like the quote you pulled: "...write like you're a movie maker."
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