Reporting & Writing
What is Excellent Reporting?
Understanding the goal of the interview by asking the appropriate questions and having a variety of reliable sources to strengthen the article are some of the most important elements of excellent reporting.
It is also important to remember to stay on track during the interview and to ensure that the interviewee is comfortable. Be mindful of their body language with sharing their information and their story. The main goal of most interview is to have a rapport and to have the conversation and sharing ideas between two people, not to pepper them with questions to force the information out of them just to get more stuff to write about and a good grade on an assignment; It’s about telling the story/experience of the interviewee.
Reporting:
During the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, my classmates and I could not interview anyone in-person which made finding sources harder to find. I had to think of creative ways to interview people, which was a challenge because interviews are traditionally held face-to-face. I resorted to Discord and Zoom (video call platforms) and Discord Direct messages/emails to conduct interviews. Most of the time, I did not know what my interviewees looked like which made talking to them harder in the beginning but interviewing them was really casual and they gave me a lot of answers I needed.
HAWAII HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM AWARDS 2021 – SECOND FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWS
Reporting:
This demonstrates quality in reporting because there was a diverse amounts of sources from both current students and staff who attends McKinley, but also the alumni and community members.The representatives from the Capitol also helped clarify pieces of information that are needed for the readers to understand. Making sure readers understand what I am writing while also providing them timely and reliable information from credible sources is one of the most important elements of quality journalism. There will be no audience if the information is not presented in a clear and concise manner. This article ended up being accepted into Best of SNO which recognizes and showcases the best student journalism articles produced and submitted.
What is Journalistic Writing?
Characteristics of a journalistic writing is being able to tell the story of the sources though the reporting that was conducted. Another characteristic of writing that is intriguing is to have no bias in the writing. Both sides of the story are shared without giving out misinformation. Fabricated news is unethical in journalism.
Writing:
This article is an example of and outside sourced information. I referenced Representatives Troy Hashimoto of District Ten and Representative Jeanne Kapela from District Five who conducted the hearing. Having sources from outside McKinley High School showcases both sides of the issue. Outside entities such as the legislation could affect the school level decisions and how it could affect the future of the school and its students and as well as the past.
Writing:
This article was written in my second year of Newswriting and it best highlights my knowledge as I described multiple perspectives of a topic and sharing the views of the students and staff at McKinley. The outcome of this article surpassed the minimum word count for the assignment, though, because I interviewed too many people. However, I have learned an important lesson about compelling and concise writing: the more people interviewed, the more insight on the story is shown and how credible the information gets but it can get to the point where it gets redundant as the sources repeat what other people have said. Condensing information is something that I can work on as a student journalist.
Writing:
This is a sports article that not only shares about the new coach Kale Ane and his history in the NFL, coaching football, and serving as athletic director, but has ties to McKinley High School. His grandfather, Mayor Neal "Rusty" Blaisdell was a McKinley High School's educator, basketball and football coach, and athletic director in the 1920's. Coach Ane stressed team bonding, growing as a team, learning from the experience, and having fun.