We’ve covered a lot of ground in recent weeks.
We’ve looked at some of the technical side and some of the editorial side. You have written features and sidebars, including vox pops and backgrounders, used photos and in some cases video and audio.
You are (or should be) pulling together a final feature that will knit some or all of these elements together.
So it is time to take a bit of a breather and look at the big story. Read more…
Today we’re going to look at:
1. WRITING
The importance of backgrounding (and backgrounder vs backgrounding)
Take a look at these stories chosen at random: Read more…
1. A couple of points to share with you:
Copyright: see
Some of you will be getting feedback on your Prague/Cambodia stories in the next week or so. There are issues that have arisen in many cases. These are:
2. HTML / DREAMWEAVER = 2
Last week, a number of students complained that I went too fast/ and/or I was unclear. So we will revise the exercise from the beginning again.
We’ll use your LNY files or HK Budget news as content
Tutorials can be found here
Your final assignment can be found here - note I’ve changed the deadline
We will address the status of your Lunar New Year features.
Then we will:
Look at:
We will discuss:
WRITING:
REPORTING:
The class exercise will focus on one aspect of reporting: vox pop
Useful vox pop tutorials
Class Exercise:
Working in teams of 4-6 people, you will go OFF CAMPUS and conduct vox pops with total strangers. You should split your group into two or three teams of two. You must pick a variety of interviewees; conducting a vox pop with fellow students is NOT acceptable. You have a choice of topics but must choose ONE only and clear it with me in advance:
For example:
3. You will need to draft an opening statement and question(s).
4. You will need to write down usable short interviews with at least three to four people. It may be safer to have more in the bag.
5. When you return, upload your files to your blog.
Tips:
Thick Skin: You are going to have to get up close for this. You are going to have to ask a total stranger for his or her opinion about something. Some people will rebuff you. They may do so rudely. Don’t dwell on it. Move on.
Sourcing/identification: in TV you can sometimes get away with not identifying your interviewee. But it is best practice to provide some sort of identification. In print and audio, and for this assignment, you must do so.
Some, if not many, people are not going to be willing to provide personal details such as their full names, place of work etc. But you should still try to obtain as much detail as possible.
Acceptable: A grandfather supervising his grandson at a public playground. A mother of three young children shopping at a wet market. A 19-year-old apprentice mechanic on his lunch break.
Acceptable: A partial name - for example: a news vendor who gave his name as Mr Lee.
Unacceptable: meaningless descriptions - eg “a worker” or “a young girl” or Ms Ng.
Context: in many cases, context matters. If you were, for example, conducting a vox pop about the government’s decision to close down live chicken sales at wet markets, your audience needs to know if the vox pop was conducted at a wet market or at an upmarket gourmet food hall. They need to know if that person shops primarily at wet markets or would not go near one. But keep this brief.
Open-ended questions: avoid asking questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no.
Drawing conclusions: these are not polls or surveys and therefore you should NOT draw a conclusion from them - in other words, if you get three out of four interviewees expressing opinion x and one expressing opinion y, do not make the mistake of reporting three-quarters of people surveyed believe x ….. ” A vox pop is random; it is not a scientific survey or poll.
Editing: pick out pithy comments and soundbites. Avoid long, rambling quotations. You may edit the material into one single file or break it up into multiple files to match with photo files (if available). Avoid simply transcribing interviewees’ comments. Add value. Describe the context; were the people a mixed bunch? Or were they mostly domestic helpers / office workers / hawkers etc etc
