1. This Week: fairness, bias, credible sources
Mon. 2 /20 English I
SLIDES ARE POSTED ON THE WEBSITE
This Week: fairness, bias, credible sources
Today: What is journalistic bias?
Is there bias in the Monument article?
due today in class: Arguments from the Monument article for and against monument status for the Owyhee

2. Journalism assignment. 25 points
Journalism assignment. 25 points. Due Monday 2/20 Name ___________ Per ___ date __
The article (“Monumental Debate”) discusses a current Federal proposal to make 2.5 million acres of S.E. Oregon a national monument; a status that limits commercial usage, including grazing, logging, and road-building, and conserves water, grassland, and timber resources. The proposal has both substantial support and opposition.
Our first objective with this article is to read it and answer some questions:
What is the Federal proposal? That is, what does our national government want to do with the Owyhee country?
When do they want it to happen?
Make a little table of positions (arguments) people are taking for and against establishing the monument; for example:
Arguments for a Monument:
Will restrict ranchers access, keeping cattle out; will preserve water quality
Arguments against a Monument:
Ranchers know the land and can run cattle and guard water quality without gov’t interference
4. Similarly, make a table with the different activists or activist groups named in the article, and whether they’re for or against a monument.
Who’s for the Monument?
Who’s against it?
Who’s for the Monument?
Who’s against it?

3. Bias: A judgment based on a personal point of view.
Obvious un-fairness to one side or another of an argument
Exaggeration: An overstatement or stretching of the truth.
Ad hominem attacks - means attacking the person, not the argument or the evidence
Can you find bias in the article?
Q: How can a reader determine if journalistic bias exists, if the reader doesn’t know the facts for themselves?
Great Question: how would you answer that question as an ethical journalist?

5. Monday 2/20 Regarding Leads and Extra Credit
A factor that differentiates journalism from other writing is that in journalism something about your subject is timely or new. This timely new information is called the lead and it goes right at the beginning of a news story because:
new information gets people’s attention;
attention sells newspapers;
selling newspapers profits the newspaper’s owners directly from paper sales, and the more papers they sell - the larger their distribution - the more they can charge for advertising.
Attention equals profits.
The importance of a timely lead paragraph was modelled in class through our analysis of the front-page Blue Mountain Eagle “Wyllie” story, and Wyllie’s recent award for photographer of the year. It was further emphasized by the in-class lab exercise of writing headlines and leads for the different pictures. (The firefighter, the chihuahua and bone, the horse-race, etc..)
Many - most - of your personality profile papers demonstrated good skills and good effort. Your mechanics and your sentence construction skills are improving dramatically! Plus your interest in your subjects (moms, coaches, friends) and their lives was clearly engaging. But few of your papers focused on any main event in your subject’s life or career and few led off your profile with anything timely or new; if such “news” was included, it was often paragraphs down deep into the story.
Here’s my offer: if your Personality Profile comes back with a B and a “No lead” note,
Take the B and move on; or
Write a headline and a new 3-sentence lead paragraph emphasizing what in your subject’s story is timely or new; hand it in, typed or neatly hand-written by Wednesday 2/ points extra credit possible.

6. Stay Standing please!
Hang onto all your things
Computer lab

7. Cloud
Little girls
Rescue

8. Photo finish
#801 running
Dog

9. Remember, the newspaper is a business
Remember, the newspaper is a business. The weekly edition is for sale to the public, by subscription, where you pay monthly and get it delivered, or from a newsstand at $1.00 apiece.
To successfully sell to consumers, newspapers have to deliver catchy interesting content.
News stories that sell have “hooks”: headlines, first sentences, and first paragraphs that provoke interest and curiosity right at the beginning of the story. The idea, of course, is to get the consumer to stop, look, and buy the paper.
When you write your personality profile, it also should have an interesting lead. Today we’ll practice writing leads.

10. 2/8
Journalism Assignment - 20 points - due today
(1 page. Proper heading always.)
First, take a look at the 6 pictures. Ask yourself: what’s the story here? Choose one picture. On your paper, name the picture you’re using.
Write a short Personality Profile headline and lead sentence for one of these pictures.
Use your lead to get our attention and make us want to read the story (and buy the paper!)
Consider this important information you need to get across:
Who, what, when, where, how, and why. Which of these needs to be in your lead? All of them? Some of them? Choose...

11. Feature Journalism: Personality Profile. Today we practice.
People in transition make good feature journalism. Births, deaths, milestones, and achievements are all interesting. Overcoming obstacles to achieve goals is inspiring.
Today we’re going to finish practicing this by interviewing each other and writing a practice piece. Only 150 words!
Practice interview skills: ask open-ended questions; listen carefully, take accurate notes; who, what, when, where, how, why.

12. 2/6 Assignment - due Mon. 2/13 50 points
Feature Journalism: Personality Profile. (500 words.)
People in transition make good feature journalism. Births, deaths, milestones, and achievements are all interesting. Overcoming obstacles to achieve goals is inspiring.
Write your piece about a coach, a neighbor, a relative, even another student.
Who, what, when, where, how, why.

13. Write your practice piece. About 150 words.
Remember: your readers might buy the paper or they might walk by. You have to catch their interest right away.
Put the most important information first: Who are you writing about? What’s interesting about their story? Or new? Or changed? What’s been accomplished or overcome? Where do they live or where are they from? When has all this happened? How does it happen, or how did it happen? Why is it interesting?

14. he's
I'd
I'll
I'm
I've
isn't
let's
she'd
she'll
she's
shouldn't
that's
aren't
can't
couldn't
didn't
doesn't
don't
hadn't
hasn't
haven't
he'd
he'll

15. he's he is
I'd I had; I would
I'll I willl
I'm I am
I've I have
isn't is not
let's let us
she'd she had
she'll she will
she's she is
shouldn't should not
that's that is; that has
aren't are not
can't cannot
couldn't could not
didn't did not
doesn't does not
don't do not
hadn't had not
hasn't has not
haven't have not
he'd he had
he'll he willl

16. Feature Journalism: Personality Profile. Today we practice.
People in transition make good feature journalism. Births, deaths, milestones, and achievements are all interesting. Overcoming obstacles to achieve goals is inspiring.
This week your assignment will be to write a 500 word personality profile. Today we’re going to practice this by
Preparing to interview each other in class by first making notes about ourselves - at least 5 entries - about our own transition events, for example: FFA, sports, new accomplisments with hobbys, hunting, music, church, school;
Practicing interview skills: ask open-ended questions; listen carefully, take accurate notes; who, what, when, where, how, why
Practice writing: 150 words about your interview subject.

17. Personality Profile: Kaden Madden John Day -
EXAMPLE:
Personality Profile: Kaden Madden
John Day -
Kaden, at 15, has been a deer hunter since he was 12. In a sit-down with this interviewer he talked about how he has been hunting since he was, “Oh, 11, or 12, I think.” He said his parents taught him to hunt, and that all of his extended family hunt. The John Day resident, when asked about choice of weapons, talked about using multiple firearms - and bows - for deer hunting.
Asked about hunting, Madden said he could field dress deer; asked about what he did with the game, he said, “Eat them.” When questioned further the young hunter admitted he liked steaks, medium rare.
Hunting is deeply embedded in the culture of the John Day basin. For this interviewer however, it is still surprising to hear a middle-school student - girl or boy - come to school excited about a successful hunting expedition.

18. investigative reporting
byline
Name of the reporter who wrote the story, placed atop the published article.
feature
Story emphasizing the human or entertaining aspects of a situation. A news story or other material differentiated from straight news.
hard news
Straight news, spot news; live and current news in contrast to features.
investigative reporting
Technique use to unearth information that sources often want hidden.
lead
First paragraph in a news story.
masthead
Formal statement of newspaper’s name, officers, place of publication and other descriptive information, usually on the editorial page.
morgue
Newspaper library.
banner
Headline across or near the top of all or most of a newspaper page. Also called a line, ribbon, streamer, screamer.
beat
Area assigned to a reporter for regular coverage.
break
When a news development becomes known and available.
photojournalism
To communicate news through pictures

19. Journalism vocab spelling quiz, clear your desks, paper and pencil/pen out; proper heading;
Title it:
Journalism vocabulary Quiz 1
(When we finish, hold your quiz, we’ll correct it together - THEN hand it in)
NEXT: get out your Apostrophes and review.
WE WILL REVIEW TOGETHER THEN HAND IN

20. Journalism Assignment 1. Due Thurs.2/2. 30 points
Name ___________________
Per ___________
Date ___________
Journalism Assignment 1. Due Thurs.2/ points
ANALYZE THE CONTENT IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE
Count the total pages in this week’s Blue Mountain Eagle, including all advertising;
How many pages of news, sports, information, and features are there (be sure and count weather, TV listings, Police report, Senior news, this day in history)? ___________________
How many national news stories are there? _________
How many pages (or partial pages) do they use? _____,________
How many Oregon, or Pacific Northwest news stories are there?
How many pages (or partial pages) do they use? _____________
How many Grant County news stories are there? _________
How many pages (or partial pages) of advertising, including inserts and booklets? _______________
The Blue Mountain Eagle is a business. What can you tell about its sources of revenue by looking at the paper? ______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________
Similarly, the Blue Mountain Eagle has two different kinds of customers, and they are both buying something different from the paper. One set of customers is buying _______________________; and the other is buying ____________________________________.

21. 2/1 Wednesday Journalism Study Guide
THESE NOTES ARE FOR YOU NOT ME - KEEP FOR TOMORROW’S QUIZZES AND MORE
First: Get out the Journalism vocabulary list. Keep it out.
Add this entry in the margin:
Photojournalism
To communicate news through pictures
Next: go to your journalism notes. Make a new entry.
Date it. Head it:
BME Front page analysis
(Write a subhead underneath):
Vocabulary
Next: list the vocabulary below, and fill in specific info for each story.. Refer to each story as: “Wyllie”, or “Locals” or “Emry”
byline (for example): Wyllie - Angel Carpenter,
feature
hard news
lead (summarize, or key words)
banner
Photojournalism (who took the pictures;
summarize the content)
LAST:
Multiples of stories happened in Grant County in the middle of January, Snow and ice. The early weeks of a new President. The Blazers were blown out by Golden State. Why do you think the BME chose these three stories for its front page? Discuss with your neighbors; make notes.
In each story, what is the most important information and where is it placed? Near the front? Near the end? Why do you think it’s arranged the way it is? Discuss with your neighbors; make notes.

22. Sorting out the front page… again, these are your notes… would something like this be more helpful?
Banner for the whole front page?
Story/title
Wyllie
Locals
Emry
byline?
Hard news?
summarize the content
Feature? summarize the content
Mix of hard news and feature? summarize the content
Lead? summarize
Photojournalism (who took the pictures;
summarize the content)

23. Aspects shared by both Locals and Emry:
Name __________
Per ---
Date ______
2/2 Journalism Assignment #2. Venn diagram. Homework, due Mon. 2/6 - Emry and Locals available on BME web edition
Venn Diagram. BME Front Page stories, notes: Comparing aspects of hard news and feature news. What’s different? What’s the same? Locals with Emry. See how many you can find:
Aspects shared by both Locals and Emry:
Locals: different aspects than Emry:
Emry: different aspects than Locals:

24. Stock up with fresh supplies:
new notebook, if necessary; new paper portfolio;
Pen or pencil everyday
Buy flashcards, high-lighters.
Expect binder checks.
Save all mechanics worksheets, save 13 academic words (Flashcards); save quizzes and tests.

25. Get out Mechanics: apostrophes (handed out yesterday)
We do pg. 208 in class together.
Due complete Thurs.
Let’s try something different and see if it works better:
Complete the apostrophes worksheet on your own; some workshop time will be available Wednesday;
turn it all in on Thurs., I’ll grade it over the weekend; return it Monday; then you can cut out the instructions/directions/examples section and put it in your notebook, and save it for quizzes.

26. Set up notes: Q: what is professionalism? Q: what are ethics?
More on professionalism and ethics in journalism: video from Marist College journalism program
Set up notes: Q: what is professionalism?
Q: what are ethics?
In journalism, what are…?
Plagiarism
Fabrication
Conflict of interest
After video:
workshop journalism, other assignments

27. What is modern American journalism. What is its value to our democracy
What is modern American journalism? What is its value to our democracy? How is it changing? Why is it worth looking at now?
Bad press relations between President and national journalists:
to 2:19

28. This quarter we examine journalism. Journalism is NEWS.
News is based on facts.
It includes newspapers, news magazines, TV, radio, and internet news. We’ll focus on newspapers. Next week, you’ll start writing your own news stories.
We’ll survey newspapers’ basic business model; the history of journalism; development of professional standards; historic successes and failures; current state of the industry.
We start at home with a look at the business model of the Blue Mountain Eagle:, and look first at what it has for sale and who’s buying?
Review paper content in class: analyze categories of NEWS, OTHER INFORMATION, FEATURES, ADVERTISING AND OTHER PAID CONTENT

29. Journalism Assignments:
Journalism Assignment 1. Due Thurs.2/ points
ANALYZE THE CONTENT IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE
Save the Journalism Vocabulary handout.
Spelling quiz Thurs. 2/2 on the 1st 11 words only, (p. 1); 22 points.
Also due Thurs.:
Mechanics - Apostrophes

30. Count full page stories
Count ½ page stories
Count 1/4 page stories

31. 1/30 Mon. notes
Print: 60 copies of Journalism vocab
60 copies BME analysis sheet
Buy 30 copies, BME
Buy bag of dum-dum suckers.