Four stories due by 4/25

Dear NewsHounds:

As we discussed in class yesterday (3/26), we now enter the Last Big Push (!) to the end of the semester. We have four weeks of class left, and your assignment is to propose, write and (with luck) publish one story per week between now and the end.

These stories may be of your own choosing, and they may include ONE (1) simple speech story, for that week when you have too much to do in your other classes. Otherwise, each of your stories should include at least three sources, and should be at least two takes (double-spaced pages) long. These may be. . .

1. feature stories (e.g., about stray cats or the archery club);
2. news-features (e.g., feature stories with a news hook, such as an event: a bunch of third-graders clean up the shore at First Dam);
. . . or more complex stories such as
3. an issue story, which revolves around an important issue in the news (e.g., bank foreclosures or the Iraq war or the presidential races or health care), or
4. an in-depth personality profile of some interesting person (either a prominent person like President Albrecht or the new ASUSU president, or an interesting person like Brent the bicycle guy, the Logan animal control officer or a vet, or a mountain man or collector of hats....).

We will look at some examples of these in class over the next week or so.

Your current challenge is to come up with topics for these stories. You must pitch the story idea to me ahead of time, and include not just the topic and why it's interesting, but what angle you'll take on the story, and who will be good sources to talk to. We will have some of these conversations in class, and you should make use of the blog to talk with your fellow NewsHounds about your story ideas, too.

The stories are due one per week, no later than the Friday of each week. (Naturally, you may file your stories early if you wish.) Make sure I know if you are interested in trying to get your story in the Statesman or the Hard News Cafe, so I can look at it and give you feedback as promptly as possible.

Questions? You know where to find me.

Professor Pease, Grand NewsDawg