MassMedia: Journalism: Building Blocks of a Print News Story (U3-P1) Fa14

Journalism is a broad field.  One type of journalism is print journalism and at the heart of the print journalism is the news story.  How are they written?  What are the basic building blocks of a news story?

Building Blocks of Print News Story (Hard News Story)

1. Headline (required)
1. What is the story about?  The topic?
2. Usually written by editor. 
3. Secondary headlines
2. Byline 
1. Authors name
3. Lead (required)
1. Entices reader  
2. Contain the 5 W’s & H    
3. AKA Summary Lead  
4. Backup for the Lead (required)
1. Lead should be supported with facts, quotes, etc. that substantiate the lead.
2. Lead Quote (optional, but helps)
1. The first quote that backs up the lead.  
2. Helps to use strongest quote available.
5. Impact (almost always, in some form)
1. How does this affect readers?
2. Sometimes earlier in story.
3. Also as a separate paragraph later.
6. Background (needed in most)
1. Additional background info may be needed. 
7. Elaboration (required, if space allows)
1. Multiple sources.  Other points of view.
8. Ending (required)
1. Further elaboration.
2. Statement or quote that summarizes, but does not repeat previous info.
3. Future action.

A story should also include attribution.

• Where did you get the information?
• Who told you the facts?
• "According to ..."

A story may also be accompanied by visuals.

• Photographs, Pull Quotes, etc.

See if you spot some of the building blocks in the following story.

You may also want to check a local paper or a national paper to see if you spot the basic building blocks in their news stories.




Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: Innovation Adoption & Development: Rogers Decision (U3-P1) Fa14

In his book, Rogers explains the process people go through when adopting an innovation, more specifically the decision process.

See below.

Source: Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed.


We can boil the decision process down to just five steps.


Rogers’ model for the adoption decision process

What are the steps in the adoption decision process?

1. "Knowledge - learning about the existence and function of the innovation
2. Persuasion - becoming convinced of the value of the innovation
3. Decision - committing to the adoption of the innovation
4. Implementation - putting it to use
5. Confirmation - the ultimate acceptance (or rejection) of the innovation”

Think carefully about the most recent new tech you bought, I mean adopted.  Did you go through this process?  Review the process above and think about it.

What was the tech?  How did you learn about the new tech?  How were you persuaded to get it?  What about the rest of the process?

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

DigPhotog: Your Photography Motivations & Style (U3-P1) Sp14

In his book, The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography, Miotke suggests some questions a photog should ask "prior to heading out."

"WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION AND STYLE?
Both when you’re in the field and prior to heading out, it’s helpful to ask yourself a few questions about your goals and the way in which you approach things. For example:

1. What’s your motive for picture-taking? (Do you want to share experiences with friends and family, to simply have fun, to preserve memories, to fill scrapbooks, to tell a story, to get a job as a photographer, or to become rich and famous? What drives you to make photos?) 
2. Do you have any particular interests that lend themselves to inspired photography? (If you like to travel, your digital photography subjects will be very different from someone who is primarily interested in photographing children at home.) 
3. What’s your style? (Would you consider yourself organized and punctual? Are you a pack rat or someone who likes to clear things out? Do you like to shoot just one shot every so often, or do you like to “shoot first, and ask questions later”?) Figure out your own personal shooting style."

What are your answers to these questions?



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Cultural Values: Dominant American Values? (U3-P1) Fa14

Value: “a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

Values are developed within a culture and are part of what one learns when one learns the culture of a group.


Are there dominant American cultural values? What are they?

Note where each value is placed on the map.  Any significance?


Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: Mr. Worldwide (U3-P1) Sp14

Pitbull - International Love ft. Chris Brown


"I've been to countries and cities I can't pronounce
And the places on the globe I didn't know existed
In Romania, she pulled me to the side and told me
'Pit, you can have me and my sister'

In Lebanon, yeah, the women are bomb
And in Greece, you've guessed it, the women are sweet
Spinned [Been?] all around the world but I ain't gon' lie
There's nothing like Miami's heat"

Just how worldly is Mr. Worldwide?   Planet Pit World Tour
Just how international was International Love?  The song

How widespread is American music in other countries around the world?
Would you consider Pitbull's music American music?



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

DigPhotog: Your Photography Motivations & Style (U3-P1) Sp14

In his book, The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography, Miotke suggests some questions a photog should ask "prior to heading out."

"WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION AND STYLE?
Both when you’re in the field and prior to heading out, it’s helpful to ask yourself a few questions about your goals and the way in which you approach things. For example:

1. What’s your motive for picture-taking? (Do you want to share experiences with friends and family, to simply have fun, to preserve memories, to fill scrapbooks, to tell a story, to get a job as a photographer, or to become rich and famous? What drives you to make photos?) 
2. Do you have any particular interests that lend themselves to inspired photography? (If you like to travel, your digital photography subjects will be very different from someone who is primarily interested in photographing children at home.) 
3. What’s your style? (Would you consider yourself organized and punctual? Are you a pack rat or someone who likes to clear things out? Do you like to shoot just one shot every so often, or do you like to “shoot first, and ask questions later”?) Figure out your own personal shooting style."

What are your answers to these questions?



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

DigPhotog: Your Photography Motivations & Style (U3-P1)

In his book, The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography, Miotke suggests some...

Questions a photog should ask "prior to heading out."

"WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION AND STYLE? Both when you’re in the field and prior to heading out, it’s helpful to ask yourself a few questions about your goals and the way in which you approach things. For example:

1. What’s your motive for picture-taking? (Do you want to share experiences with friends and family, to simply have fun, to preserve memories, to fill scrapbooks, to tell a story, to get a job as a photographer, or to become rich and famous? What drives you to make photos?) 
2. Do you have any particular interests that lend themselves to inspired photography? (If you like to travel, your digital photography subjects will be very different from someone who is primarily interested in photographing children at home.) 
3. What’s your style? (Would you consider yourself organized and punctual? Are you a pack rat or someone who likes to clear things out? Do you like to shoot just one shot every so often, or do you like to “shoot first, and ask questions later”?) Figure out your own personal shooting style."

What are your answers to these questions?

Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: Innovation Adoption & Development: Rogers Decision (U3-P1) Fa13

In his book Rogers explains how process people go through when adopting an innovation, the decision process.

See below.

Source: Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed.


We can boil the decision process down to just five steps.


Rogers’ model for the adoption decision process

What are the steps in the adoption decision process?

1. "Knowledge - learning about the existence and function of the innovation
2. Persuasion - becoming convinced of the value of the innovation
3. Decision - committing to the adoption of the innovation
4. Implementation - putting it to use
5. Confirmation - the ultimate acceptance (or rejection) of the innovation”

Think carefully about the most recent new tech you bought, I mean adopted.  Did you go through this process?  Review the process above and think about it.

What was the tech?  How did you learn about the new tech?  How were you persuaded to get it?  What about the rest of the process?





Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Cultural Values: Dominant American Values? (U3-P1) Fa13

Value: “a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

Values are developed within a culture and are part of what one learns when one learns the culture of a group.


Are there dominant American cultural values? What are they?

Note where each value is placed on the map.  Any significance?



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: Mr. Worldwide (U3-P1) Sp13

Pitbull - International Love ft. Chris Brown


"I've been to countries and cities I can't pronounce
And the places on the globe I didn't know existed
In Romania, she pulled me to the side and told me
'Pit, you can have me and my sister'

In Lebanon, yeah, the women are bomb
And in Greece, you've guessed it, the women are sweet
Spinned [Been?] all around the world but I ain't gon' lie
There's nothing like Miami's heat"

Just how worldly is Mr. Worldwide?   Planet Pit World Tour
Just how international was International Love?  The song

How widespread is American music in other countries around the world?
Would you consider Pitbull's music American music?


Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MassMedia: You Know News, But Do You Know Fake News? (U3-P1) [VID]

You know news, but do you know fake news?

Watch the following clip from a local TV news cast.



When watching the above clip from a news broadcast what are your reasonable assumptions?  That the people interviewed are local people?  That this is a local story?  That the reporter did the interviews and wrote the story?  That this is real news?

Now, check out this next video which was written and produced by independent video company and funded Quest Diagnostics, a company that runs lab testing centers around the U.S. where allergy testing is done. 





What did you notice?  What if you started both video clips at about the same time?  Try it. Start the bottom clip, wait a few seconds and start the top clip.  Notice any difference?

The second clip you saw is an example of what is called a video news release (some background).

"Video news releases or VNRs (also referred to as fake TV news) are segments designed to be indistinguishable from independently-produced news reports that are distributed and promoted to television newsrooms. TV stations incorporate VNRs into their newscasts, rarely alerting viewers to the source of the footage. While government-funded VNRs have been most controversial, most VNRs are paid for by corporations; non-governmental organizations also put out VNRs" (SourceWatch).

Check out the following video.



KMSP-9 Helps Rev Up Convertible Sales


If you are interested, see another video comparing a local news cast with a VNR on YouTube or check out even more examples of VNRs and local news stories from PRWatch.

In the clip above, Pakman, mentions the FCC's sponsorship identification rules. Here is one rule/law.
"... the Communications Act of 1934, ... requires broadcasters to disclose to their listeners or viewers if matter has been aired in exchange for money, services or other valuable consideration. The announcement must be aired when the subject matter is broadcast. The Commission has adopted a rule, ... which sets forth the broadcasters' responsibilities to make this sponsorship identification" (FCC). 

How does this apply in the VNR situation?

So, corporations put out VNRs and they sometimes show up as news.

Now, to what extent are VNRs used in politics or as political propaganda?


Note: The above is a clip from a 2011 documentary titled Programming the Nation? directed by Jeff Warrick.

Is the use of VNRs as news appropriate?  Is it ethical?   Who is at fault?

Spotted any examples of VNRs airing as news in the past few months?



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: Innovation Adoption & Development: Rogers Decision (U3-P1) fa12

Rogers’ model for the adoption decision process

What are the steps in the adoption process?

1. "Knowledge - learning about the existence and function of the innovation
2. Persuasion - becoming convinced of the value of the innovation
3. Decision - committing to the adoption of the innovation
4. Implementation - putting it to use
5. Confirmation - the ultimate acceptance (or rejection) of the innovation”

Source: Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed.



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Cultural Values: Activity: The Parable (U3-P1) fa12

The study of intercultural communication has a rich and interesting history.  That's one of the reasons that I study it. There is a long history of government organizations training people to be better intercultural communicators (e.g., diplomats).  Out of this training comes some helpful and long-lasting intercultural training exercises.  "The Parable" is one of those exercises.  Below is the parable as it appeared in a 1973 Unesco document (pdf).  Read the story and then rank in order that characters that you most approve of.  The person that you approve of at the top and the bottom would be the person that you least approve of.

See also Dr. Ting-Toomey's version of The Parable.

Dr. Hart's classroom instructions:

• Write down on a piece of paper, in rank order, the characters whose behaviors you most approve.
• Break into groups of 4 to discuss your results.  Create a rank list for the group.
• What have you learned as a result of this activity?
• Can anyone point to something in your past that shaped the values you used in this activity?  Who/what programmed you?
• Value: “A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

More related activities from CSU Fullerton faculty (pdf).



Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

GlobalMedia: Tower of Babel (U3-P1)

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563). Image in the public domain.

The image above depicts the Biblical story of how different languages and cultures came to be.
So, what is the story and what does it have to do with intercultural communication?


Share this post with others. See the Twitter, Facebook and other buttons below.
Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

MediaTech: Innovation Adoption & Development: Rogers Decision (U3-P1)

Rogers’ model for the adoption decision process

What are the steps in the adoption process?

1. "Knowledge - learning about the existence and function of the innovation
2. Persuasion - becoming convinced of the value of the innovation
3. Decision - committing to the adoption of the innovation
4. Implementation - putting it to use
5. Confirmation - the ultimate acceptance (or rejection) of the innovation”

Source: Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed.


Share this with others. See the Twitter, FB and other buttons below.
See more at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.

InterculturalCom: Cultural Values: Activity: The Parable (U3-P1)

The study of intercultural communication has a rich and interesting history.  That's one of the reasons that I study it. There is a long history of government organizations training people to be better intercultural communicators (e.g., diplomats).  Out of this training comes some helpful and long-lasting intercultural training exercises.  "The Parable" is one of those exercises.  Below is the parable as it appeared in a 1973 Unesco document (pdf).  Read the story and then rank in order that characters that you most approve of.  The person that you approve of at the top and the bottom would be the person that you least approve of.

See also Dr. Ting-Toomey's version of The Parable.

Dr. Hart's classroom instructions:

• Write down on a piece of paper, in rank order, the characters whose behaviors you most approve.
• Break into groups of 4 to discuss your results.  Create a rank list for the group.
• What have you learned as a result of this activity?
• Can anyone point to something in your past that shaped the values you used in this activity?  Who/what programmed you?
• Value: “A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

More related activities from CSU Fullerton faculty (pdf).

Share this with others. See the Twitter, FB and other buttons below.
See more at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.