621.01 assignment for Oct. 7

1. Re-read carefully Pages 70-85 in the textbook. We will talk about sources, resources, quotes, and attributions next week.

2. Listen to this story on a former investigative reporter who was hired to teach everyone at ESPN how to conduct compelling interviews.

3. Listen to this interview, which is the ESPN guy's favorite. You will think I'm kidding when you hear it, but think about it and the reasons he might have for thinking it's such a great interview. Be prepared to discuss this in class. What did he do right? How could he have screwed it up?

4. Reflecting on what you read in the textbook and heard on NPR, and looking over the two stories you have written so far, post on your blogs an analysis of the sourcing you used in those two stories. In hindsight, did you talk to the right people? Did you ask the right questions? Can you see ways of improving your interviewing skills? Was your information correctly attributed? What have you learned about sources? The posting should be 200 words or longer, and will count as one of your three blogs for the week.

5. A regular weekly story. This one should be 600 words long and contain 5 sources, at least three of whom are directly quoted. The other two don't need to be quoted, but please list them at the end of your story.

6. Two more blog postings in addition to the one mentioned in #4 above. If you want to use one to react to the interview you heard on NPR, that's fine. Third can be anything you choose, such as reflecting on your reading in the Boston Globe or talking about the challenges and rewards of the delayed lead.