Nonlinear story

For my nonlinear story I think am going to use one of my orginial reporting blogposts and add on to it for one of the articles. Alos, for the second article I have some ideas but I'm not sure yet. One idea is to do another audio or slideshow on one of the personal trainers at burdick, another athlete, or one of the on campus nutritionalists in the health center. Or, I might just do another short story one of those people instead.

Video Editing

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I watched the Nightly News with Brian Williams about the earthquake in Italy. They used a variety of editing techniques to enchance the video of the quake. First, there was movement in almost everty shot; whether it be rescue workers digging for victims or the abulance trucks. Also, there was squenced and matched action, when the ambulance trucks would move, the next shot was the rumble and fallen buildings with resuce workers. The reproter also did a good job of introducing the speaker and not parroting. They also created a mood of somberness by having the shots more slowly paced and more spaced out.

Audio Story Ideas

Some of the ideas I'm considereing for the audio story are:
1. interviewing one of the group exercise instructors at the gym in Burdick and then talking with someone who took the class to get their opinion

2. comparing two different different weight loss centers such as Weight Watchers and LA weight loss to understand the pros and cons of both the diets and then ask towson students their opinions on the two diet(which they would choose, why, which they think would be easiest to stick with).

3. Talk to various Towson students about what they are doing to stay healthy and fit as well as what motivates them to workout/be healthy

Broadcast leads

Here are three print leads from the New York Times:
1.. President Obama said on Thursday that though “special interests” and “industry lobbying” had blocked improvements in the health care system for decades, he vowed to end the stalemate this year and ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health care.
2. Under intense pressure from both sides in the debate over same-sex marriage, the California Supreme Court began hearing arguments Thursday morning on the future of a ballot initiative passed by voters last November that outlawed such unions
3.Alex Rodriguez will try to play through a labrum tear of his right hip, the Yankees said on Thursday, because the condition would require him to miss four months if he had surgery.

In order to put these leads into broadcast, we need less details and less words:
1. President Omaba said Thursday he will ensure that all Americans can have affordable healthcare this year.
2.The California Supreme Court began hearing agruments Thursday about outlawing same sex unions.
3.The Yankees said Thursday Alex Rodriguiz will play despite a labrum tear of his rigth hip.

Feature Story Attack Plan

For my feature story I am doing a trend story on the Jenny Craig diet from the college student perspective as well as adding in expert advice from personal trainers and nutritionists about healthier diet alternatives in college. First, I plan on doing my lead, probably anecdotal, on my friend Amanda who is currently a Towson student and has tried Jenny Craig and sadly failed. In addition, I will talk to a personal trainer from the MAC and hopefully be able to find a nutritionist also to add perspective on what works and what doesn't when it comes to dieting. To balance the story, I will also go to Jenny Craig and talk with them about what the programs about and tips they can give to college students to make the Jenny Craig diet work.

Feature Story Ideas

For the upcoming feature story assignment, I have several ideas that relate to my beat. One idea that I'm seriously considering is to a story on the Jenny Craig diet plan and how it's not such a good choice, especially for college students and it's not as easy as they make it seem. My friend Amanda actually went on this diet and I would plan to interview her for the story, discussing her own experience with Jenny Craig as well as her struggle with her weight in college. Another idea I'm thinking about is the current yoga and pilates exercise trend. The story would be about which one is a better exercise workout, what they are/the benefits and also add insight from the yoga and pilates instructors on campus.

The "Wall Street Journal" Formula

The "Wall Street Journal" formula is widely used for feature stories. The formula consists of four main parts:
1. opens with a specific example, uses type of feature lead
2. nuf graf explains the point and what the story's about
3. body supports the general point
4. typically ends with another anecdote or description, or predicts future development related to the lead

Let's take a look at this example from the New York Times about the late song writer, Catalino Curet Alonso, aka Tite. The story opens with a descriptive lead; "He never did give up that day job, laboring in the Postal Service in Puerto Rico for more than 30 years," that continues on for another paragraph with a quote describing Tite's career in salsa music. In the third paragraph, the nut graf reveals the point of the story; five years after Tite's death Fania Records is releasing a two disc CD of his 31 most popular compositions. When we reach the body of the story, we learn facts about Tite's life writing music from a young age and his career in music.

“Dad was always writing songs, at home and out on the street, from sunrise until he went to sleep,” Ms. Curet recalled.

This story ends with a quote describing Tite's love of music by a friend and fellow musician, Ruben Blades.

"“I wish now, looking back, that I had asked him more questions, because he had a lot to teach,” said Mr. Blades, who suspended a tour so he could attend Mr. Curet’s funeral in San Juan. “That man loved music and culture and words and ideas, and talking about all of those things. He was just exceptional in every way.”

*picture from the article in New York Times