Blogging about news

Journalists must be well informed about the world around them, specifically about the subject and areas about which they want to write. Each week we will begin by reading and writing about the news for about 30 minutes and recording points of interest.

On our news reading days, you'll need to create a blog post ~200-400 word reflection about about one news/feature/opinion article that you choose and read in its entirety. 
  • Link to the article and briefly summarize the article, it's premise/lead, the type of article (what type of article is this (straight news article, feature article, editorial/opinion, or other) and the publisher.
  • Explain why this is news (or at least why this publisher thinks the topic is news... use those news determinants)
  • Examine and Analyze 1 interesting style note - something you can learn from that you saw a professional journalist doing, writing wise. Write, briefly, about what that journalist is doing and why it's interesting and noteworthy. These can include but are not limited to the following:
    • structure - How is the article structured? How does the organization  contribute the the effectiveness of the article?
    • word choice and tone - Examine the the words and tone the author uses. Does the author’s language support a particular perspective? Are different viewpoints presented?
    • supporting details - Why do you think the author chose to include these specific details of description or explanation? What information or perspectives might have been left out of the article? 
    • sources - What source or sources does the author quote or refer to in the article? Do you think these sources are reliable? Why or why not? What evidence supports your conclusion? How does the author use quotations and paraphrases?

Major News Outlets (but you can look anywhere online. Be weary: the internet is large and strange) ​
Local News Outlets
News Magazines
Special Interest News