Nicholas Kram Mendelsohn
April 4, 2016

What did we discuss with substitute teachers?
-Discussed leads for Feature stories
-Discussed purpose of feature stories, what to include, emphasize, and what to exclude


Review of Busdicker story:
-Think of how to expand the audience for the story
-What makes this story interesting is the ashes being buried in the clarinet
-If you don't have that in the lead, you have missed the story
-Stick to one sentence leads

Cardinal rule of broadcast lead:
-MUST BE IN PRESENT TENSE!!!!!!
-Check the handout "Sequence of Tenses" and the website Purdue Owl Writing Lab to help distinguish present tense

The website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/01/

Class Note:
Verb tense quiz next Monday! (Closed book)
Instructions for the upcoming quiz:

If the tense of each underlined verb expresses the time relationship accurately, write S (satisfactory). If a shift in tense is not appropriate, write U (unsatisfactory) and make necessary changes.

Sample question: After Alice visits AU for the third time, she decided to apply.

So the example above would get a U.

The change would be, she decides to apply. That keeps the sentence in a consistent tense (present).

There will only be 2 more current events quizzes!!!!!

Powerpoint notes:
1.  Write for the ear, not the eye
2.  Has to be catchy and compelling right from the beginning
3.  Use present tense whenever possible (generally you will change was to is)
4.  Attribution not as necessary, if you need to use it have it come in the 3rd or 4th paragraph and start with it instead of ending with it as you would in AP style
5.  A benefit of broadcast is immediacy, so even if it is in the past we use present tense in order always appear current
6.  Don't confuse leads with headlines or teases ( a tease isn't a full sentence)
7.  Again, put attribution before quotes, not after.  Paraphrase, don't directly quote
8.  Use short, simple sentences
9.  Use active, not passive voice
10.  Don't use a lot of numbers, keep it simple
11.  Don't use abbreviations, spell out the words,


Thing's to remember:
a)  Your audience is in a hurry, so your writing should be brief.  Get to the point.  Now!
b)  Your writing should be full of active verbs
c)  Always lead with the news information
d)  Easily understood, no jargon, think of the guy with his hand on the clicker
e)  Put title before name
f)  Use oval format with beginning, middle, and end


HOMEWORK
1.  Review and know tenses
2.  Read broadcast chapter 12 in textbook
3.  Pick two stories that we have done this semester and convert the leads into broadcast leads.