We learned something about journalism

Lin Song and Jane Lavea

After a year of newswriting, we have a better vision of journalism. We learned the process of writing and putting together a newspaper. We also learned about our rights as a journalists and the purpose we have to always seek the truth.

Leads should be concise, clear and colorful. There are different types of leads and each has different effects. Summary leads can show important information directly at the beginning of the article. Question and anecdotal leads are attractive and “colorful”. The lead is what pulls the reader towards the story.

During the process of making multimedia, we learned how to create infographic and videos. We learned how to take better shots or angles for a certain picture or video. Using the specific website and program, we can express our ideas clearly through showing statistics on the infographic. However, recording videos it involves more techniques.

Journalism is not only about writing. Reporters, alone, cannot create the perfect newspaper. Interviewing people can be a problem to most reporters especially when they interview strangers. Going up to a stranger to ask him or her questions is really uncomfortable. However, we learned how to adapt fast and get comfortable. We also need to make sure that our interviewer is comfortable with communicating with us. We also provide time for them to think about the questions. If needed, we could ask them to repeat a quote.

The process of knowing about this career and some techniques is impressive to us. Our knowledge as a journalist can be applied to other subjects.