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Postings and chatroom for students in Professor Ted Pease's JCOM 1130 newswriting class, Spring 2009. Department of Journalism & Communication, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. Contact: ted.pease@usu.edu; 435-797-3293.
4 comments:
it sounds interesting to me. what are you writing about it? the angle?
I agree with Whitney's question, Blaze. An intriguing topic, but what's the focus? (I guess you're not linking it to National Coming Out Day...or are you?)
Are you interested in any PDAs, or gays, or what?
The basic technical question would be how to construct and focus. So what? What are you trying to show? (See the latest "nut graf" entry.)
Like the "Gripes" story example I made up and emailed to you, one way to do this is to find common ground--discomfort at PDAs?--and then tap an number of sources about occasions that they think are inappropriate, or that make them uncomfortable. Why?
The other way to focus a story is if there's a study on your topic (unlikely?) or some kind of interpersonal expert you can interview....
Let's discuss.
TP
I agree with the other questions, and think it would be very interesting as well, some people find it very offensive to see PDA yet they will do it themselves so it's an interesting topic. Is it going to be about just PDA or the possitive and negative?
Matt's right--I have to say that I have mixed feelings when I see children (sorry, guys, you are younger than my kids) hanging and sloppy in Smith's.
On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for public affection that can be a) instructive, b) heart-warming, c) world-expanding.
When I was your age (imagine!) I was a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Washington (Seattle). I was living (with my girlfriend!!!) in an upper floor of a house just across Lake Union from UW, and had to walk across the bridge every day to campus.
Downstairs were two guys who were quiet and friendly and had a nice dog. The house was owned by a very nice woman who I liked a lot, about my grandmother's age at the time, who also owned the restaurant/bar next-door. She hired me as a bartender, which was sweet.
Turns out it was a lesbian bar, the landlady and her longtime (female) partner lived above, and the neighbors in the downstairs apt. in our house were gay. I still remember watching them walk across the bridge to campus in front of me, arm-in-arm with their hands in each other's back jeans pockets.
Well, what's wrong with that? I finally figured out. They were nice guys who clearly loved each other--sort of like me and my (then) girlfriend, who often walked the bridge the same way. And my landlady and her partner--and the customers in her bar--were wonderful people. I learned a lot from all of them, and it didn't hurt me.
Point is that Blaze's PDA story can have a variety of directions, and as much as (most) PDAs on a college campus make me gag, there are happy, healthy, useful, human and instructive ways it can happen.
hmmm. that's a different story, isn't it?
TP
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