So, I'll begin this post with the admission that I am a week behind. This should have been written last Monday, but it's being done tonight, so that's that.
I've spoken to a few of you about this, but I have very little experience in anything related to journalism. When I got a job last year at Winnetonka, I was hired to teach English. My broadcasting classes were inherited from a teacher who left to teach in another building. I spent last year trying to better understand journalism for myself in order to teach it to my students.
Reporting is a word that we're all familiar with. It is vocabulary word that journalists must learn and understand before doing any writing. That said, I will admit that the true meaning of the word "report" or "reporting" still eludes me. I understand that all stories begin with an idea. Reporting is the collection of information surrounding that idea. Reporting is research and interviewing. It is the development of an unbiased opinion, and it is reporting that allows writers to develop their ideas into what is eventually printed.
Reporting is the type of task that is both intimidating and rewarding. One has to admit to himself that an idea alone isn't a story. Stories are developed based on reporting. I kind of see reporting like a science experiment; you being with an idea (hypothesis), you do any necessary reporting (experimentation), and your idea is strengthened (hypothesis confirmed) or weakened (hypothesis denied) based on the information you find and the sources you speak to. Finally, the outcome is an honest, well-researched piece of writing that stands until changes occur.
How do we teach reporting? I'm not sure that reporting is so much a concept to understand, but more so a skill to practice. With repetition comes a honed skill. Reporting is a craft. So, I guess I should just stop thinking so hard about it. :D
Zachary McNulty
Winnetonka High School
Kansas City, Mo.
Nicely said, Zach. I interviewed Brandon Quester, the co-founder of the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting and an editor at News21 housed at the Cronkite School, and he basically said the same thing as you just did about how generating story ideas and then reporting on them is like an experiment. He starts with a hypothesis (sometimes formed when "something just doesn't quite feel right") and uses data, research, etc. to get background information and become an expert on the topic. Then, he goes out and starts talking to people.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely something our students need to practice - being unbiased, thorough, timely, etc. I think they can learn skills in this practice that they can apply to many other parts of their lives as well.
Meghann Peterson
Chanhassen High School
Chanhassen, Minn.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough I hadn't considered the scientific approach to writing before, it makes sense and will help to explain the process to my students. So thank you, Zach, Meghann and Brandon Quester! A cross-curricular term integrated into journalism is a gem.
ReplyDeleteTere Froelich
SBHS
Sturgis, SD