Week 3 Reading Reflection

This week's readings were based on two important topics in the world of journalism. That of writing well and also the knowledge of what to write. The first topic, that of writing 'well', I have often struggled to fully understand, as I believe writing style and what is enjoyable to read is a personal thing and varies hugely from person to person. How can writing be judged as good or bad? And how can one type of writing be the way we should all write and be the most enjoyable to read? Unless of course there are obvious errors like bad grammar, misspellings or bad vocabulary writing style is individual and in my opinion that is what makes it so interesting. We do not all like to read the same things whether they be books or the different sections of paper. Therefore as I began reading the article Convergent Journalism: An Introduction by Stephen Quinn & Vincent F. Filak I was sceptical as to its relevance.

However by the end I was pleasantly surprised. The article focused not so much on changing writing style but on the following valuable journalistic points:

• Always gain as much background as possible on your subject
• Ensure you capture the many different views surrounding a topic, not just the black and white
• Use as many sources as possible
• Use creativity to add depth to what you write

Another fundamental technique in journalism that I learnt and am looking forward to applying is the of the inverted pyramid. The second article Journalism Studies by Horst Pottker gave background on the possible ways in which the inverted pyramid was created. I learnt that this invention is a highly valuable tool that will ensure I focus on writing about what matters most to the people reading. Here is what the inverted pyramid has taught me:

• Begin with the five w's and the h (who, what, where, when, why and how)
• Beware of too many details or “notebook empyting”
• Organize facts by their importance to the story being told
• Make every sentence matter
• Wrap-up the story so that its obvious there is no more to say

The last third of the article focused on editing and as I am considering editing/publishing as a career path I paid particular attention to this part. I took note of some of the ideas given to help improve editing skills and have once again listed them below:

• Print out and read your story on paper
• Read your work outloud
• Don't be afraid to consult the dictionary
• Be your harshest critic
• Know 'why' you have done something the way you have

It was great to read not how to 'write better' as such but how to become a better, more conscious journalist. I also became conscious that while we may all have our unique writing style there are techniques that must be used in order to establish connection with the reader and thus make a story interesting. I look forward to putting what I have learnt into practice later on!

To finish I would just like to quote from Convergent Journalism: An Introduction by Stephen Quinn & Vincent F. Filak on the topic of figuring out what to write first. I will certainly remember this when I sit down to write my next article, “Imagine coming home and your room mate tells you 'Your mum called. Your Dad was in a car accident.' If you screamed, 'What happened?' and your room mate started with 'The Centerville Police Department responded to a report of an accident...' you'd likely cut your room mate off mid sentence and demand to know if anyone was hurt, how bad the damage was, and what caused the crash. When seen in these terms, what should come first seems to be common sense.”