Please make sure to file your final story by Sunday May 24 @ 11:59 PM. If it’s late, your grade will drop. It goes in this folder.

It’s been a pleasure!!!!

Wesley Morris’s review of The Help won him his first Pulitzer for the Boston Globe. And the NYer critic Doreen St. Felix’s piece about Meghan Markle’s mom earned her a second National Magazine Award for criticism. (Each was part of a package of three stories.)

For more reviews, read anything by the late Pauline Kael (she published several anthologies of her work). Her salty, negative reviews were legendary for the New Yorker and other publications.

Please use the template below to sketch out the pitch for your final story. Place the completed pitch sheet in this google doc no later than Sunday May 3 @ 11:59 PM. (Please feel free to post earlier.) As I have largely signed off on your topics, go ahead and start the reporting if you’d like.

The first draft of your final story (1500 – 1800 words) will be due on Friday May 15 @ 11:59 PM. Again, feel comfortable filing early. Drop-dead date for final version: Sunday May 24.

As the turnaround for Shelby and me to read your first drafts is quick — pay close attention to the story format (below) and grammar (again, below) as we won’t have time to labor over your pieces.

Media Writing Reminders

Use spell check!

•Look carefully for repetition.

•Read everything over. Even better, read it over out loud.

•Get rid of any passive voice. (It was written by zombies.)

•Replace “to be” with active or action verbs – especially “there is/there are.” (There are many grammar errors I don’t like.)

Very much looking forward to hearing and later reading the pitches for your final articles. Reminder that this final, newsy feature should be about 1500-1800 words, have at least three sources — a mix of experts and “real people.” (More sources always better.) The stronger your pitch, the easier it will be to report and write the story.

Your pitch is due in class on Tuesday. You will pitch verbally then follow up with a fleshed out written pitch, which will be due on Sunday May 3 @ 11:59 PM. Please post it in this google folder. It must have:

1. A headline and subhed.
2. A news angle of some sort — why this article at this time or what’s new/what’s changed? It’s critical to include evidence to back up the central argument of your story. The pitch, at best, can serve as a nut graph.
3. A reporting plan. Doesn’t need to be totally detailed but you should be thinking about who your sources are.
4. Here’s an example of a pitch for a story about growing numbers of human-animal interactions for you to follow. Note, the amount of evidence and data to back up the central idea.

Also, Oyin Adedoyin of the Wall Street Journal will be our guest speaker on Tuesday. Please read her stories beforehand and come with questions. Internships More Crucial than Ever and Harder to Find and The Cost of Divorce.

Other stories: Women Wanted: Kalshi Pushes to Expand Far Beyond Sports Bets and Influencers Make Money Posting About Their Lives. The Taxes Can Get Messy.

We look forward to the final versions of your #s stories, due Sunday 4/19 at 11:59 PM in this folder.

Grammar rules (make me proud!)

Here is the feature story semester recap ppt:

Where to read good feature articles:

1. The National Magazine Awards, AKA as Ellies (the Academy Awards of our profession), honors the best of the best every year. Here’s where you can read the most recent winners and finalists. (Below see my EXTREMELY happy friend Erin with one of the two Ellies she won for creating her own kids’ magazine, Kazoo!)
2. Barry Yeoman, a journalism professor at Duke, chooses his best longform magazine stories of the year. He has very good taste. Read his lists here.
3. I found Tatiana Schlossberg’s New Yorker essay, “A Battle with My Blood,” (just before her death) extremely lovely and moving. (She used to cover climate for the NYT.)
4. I LOVE this reported personal essay by Reginald Dwayne Betts.
5. In class I mentioned this Gwyneth Paltrow profile which is as much about the very funny writer, Taffy-Brodesser-Akner, as it is the actress.
6. Finally, read quality fiction if you want writing/stylistic inspiration. I’m really enjoying Kin by Tayari Jones. The specificity and detail in her writing is remarkable. Before that I read “The Safekeep” the 2024 Booker Prize winner. And “The Great Black Hope,” a propulsive debut novel, set in NYC by a very young writer.

I hope you’re enjoying the break. Don’t forget: The first version of numbers story due: Monday April 6 @ 11:59 PM. It goes here. Shelby and I will hustle to get them back to you. The revision will due on Sunday April 19 in this folder.

Work on your first person stories. No revision, pay attention to grammar rules — only possible grades: A, C, F.

Due date for first-person pieces: Sunday April 12. Goes in this folder.

Friday March 27 @ 11:59 PM: final draft of your profile with photo due date. Here’s the folder.

How to prepare for class on March 31: Bring topics you might want to write about for first-person piece.

Read: “I Love Hitler,” Politico’s exclusive story on young Republicans racist text and Teresa Wiltz’s follow up: “I Don’t Regret My Vote,” Also, skim/read my reported first-person story on life expectancy in Chicago (if you haven’t already read it).

Down the road: First version of numbers story due: Monday April 6 @ 11:59 PM. It goes here.

Reminder: No formal class on Tuesday 3/24. Instead show up for your 15-minute advisement slow. The schedule is below.

Your profile story (with photograph of your subject, correctly shot): Due Friday 3/27 @ 11:59 PM. It goes in this folder.

Your numbers story, first draft: Due Monday April 6 @ 11:59 PM. It goes in this folder. It should be 800-1000 words and have at least one “real person” and two experts. You must write a story lede and including a photo of some kind will raise the chance of publication.

Thank you!

Reminders….

Monday March 16: First draft of your profile due @11:59 PM. Goes in this folder.

Tuesday March 17: No class (sorry, I’ll be away). Numbers story pitch. Goes in this folder. Use my AIDS pitch as a guide; don’t dial it in. Think about 800-1,000 words.

Tuesday March 24: No formal class, show up for your speed advising slot. (See times, below)