Pollner professor story

You'll need to decide how to tell this story most compellingly. Perhaps it will be from a hard news approach. In that case, something Eli Saslow says that is an opinion — not a fact that we already know — would likely be the lead. And remember, we usually lead with the statement and follow with the attribution at the end of that first sentence.

If you use a feature approach, you'll pick out what the most interesting story was that he told. That's a lot like what I was trying to say was most effective in writing those classmate profiles. What STORY did he tell that you think readers would want to hear more about? Often that kind of story has drama, or humor, or is just unusual.

Remember the example I gave in class about two ways to approach a speech story? Here's the hard news approach:

Native American women are gaining more political voice in their tribes and the changes that has created are affecting both men and women, the director of UM's Native American Studies program said Wednesday.

And here's a better approach, which is the soft news angle:

Bonnie Craig's grandmother, Grass Woman, sat in a place of authority in the Blackfeet tribe.

And then the story goes on to tell how that played out in tribal politics.

Think about what's most interesting that Eli Saslow says. What would you want to read if you knew nothing about him? It may be something revealing about President Obama. It may be his take on Obama as a person. Or perhaps it could be something about the difficulties of covering a president. You'll have to decide.

Don't try to write down everything he says. Listen to the thread of what he's saying, write down the high points, and listen for compelling direct quotes that will make the story lively.

And finally, DO NOT write a topic lead. Topic lead = F.

Profiles and top stories

Tomorrow in class you'll read the profiles you've done of your classmates. On Monday you'll be attending the Pollner lecture at 7 p.m. in the University Center Theater. Pollner professor Eli Saslow of the Washington Post will give a lecture titled "Inside the Bubble: Covering President Obama." You'll write a story about the lecture and it will be due in class on Wednesday.

I know a few of you have posted your top stories for the week already. Those who haven't, please post under this message.

Anonymous posts

There's quite a lot of discussion in journalism about posts attached to news stories on web sites and whether editors should do away with comments altogether, or at least bar people from posting anonymously.
Here's an interesting story that the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times did as a result of an anonymous post.
What do you think? Is the web a place where anyone should be able to post anything, or would you force posters to register and use real names? Would you do away with posts on all stories, or perhaps some stories?

Post your top stories of the week

Press conference Friday

Our guest will be Jonathan Krim, senior deputy managing editor of Wall Street Journal.com (wsj.com). Krim joined WSJ after 10 years at the Washington Post and Washingtonpost.com, where he served in a variety of positions, including technology policy reporter for the newspaper, assistant managing editor of washingtonpost.com, and local innovations editor for both news outlets.

Before joining the Post, Krim was executive editor of TheStreet.com, an online financial news and commentary site based in New York, and before that he spent 18 years at the San Jose Mercury News in several senior editing roles. He was the editor and manager of two projects that won Pulitzer Prizes.

Krim is a 1977 graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism.

Please post below two questions you hope to ask him on Friday. We will be in DAH 316.

Keep in mind these tips

When writing your lead for the press conference, here are some things to think about:

• Don't write more than one sentence.
• Do use articles (the, a) and verbs and do state the day this occurred.
• Zero in on the most important news.
• Avoid generalities or topic leads.

Depending on the kind of story you're writing:

• Write visually if you’re describing a breaking news event.
• If you're covering a meeting or speech, pinpoint the news and attribute it to the speaker in the lead.

Type the lead and have it in a place that will let you drop it in an electronic file I create.
Also, make sure you have followed the steps to be able to sign on to the lab computers. Remember, you send an e-mail to jtech@mso.umt.edu and include your name, your net ID and the journalism classes you are enrolled in.
If you have computer questions, go to the tech wiki.

After-hours access to the building

Remember, if you think you'll want access to this building after 5:30 p.m., or on weekends, you have to sign up to get it. Go here http://jour.umt.edu/after-hours/
to sign up by Friday or you're out of luck.