Peter Ellertsen-something learned by having made a mistake
What’s the dumbest thing you have ever done? “I don’t do dumb stuff.” Cause I’m perfect.
Worst thing I ever did..I was writing a story about the county clerk in Anderson County Tenn. He had been charged with official corruption. The states atty presented the evid. To GJ. GJ returned what is known as a no true bill… When written I left out a word…NO.
Were you fired? No
Were you heavily reprimanded? Didn’t have to be…I saw it before everyone else
I convicted the poor SOB of something he wasn’t found guilty of.
What kind of trouble did you get in? I didn’t really. I felt bad enough. They couldn’t make me feel any worse.
How old were you? Early twenties.
Where did you work? Oak Ridger. Daily paper in Tenn.
What kind of response came from the mistake? It made it out to the street…we ran a big correction the next day. I had to write the correction. Maybe the hardest hing I’ve ever written.
What did you learn? That’s a tough one…maybe that you should never think your so good or get so busy that you don’t look over your stuff to make sure you didn’t do something really really dumb.
Not since 1991. That’s when I left the newspaper business. You always make mistakes and you keep learningfrom them. Usually if you correct it right away…people will let you screw up once.
I left in 91 to work for the state treasurer. Did public relations for a couple of years and then began teaching. I still make mistakes and I still go back and try to fix them
Instructor in journalism at SCI
Courthouse reporter at Oak Ridger
NUT GRAF: main point,
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Assignment for 209 (2/20/09)
750-1000 word story due Monday
Interview a classmate
Write a profile of the classmate using an incident in their life that caused them to learn something from really screwing up...learned something good from having messed up or experienced something bad
Get background information
-Name
-Age
-Current Work
-Where they are from
Ask evergreen questions to find out more about their personality
Interview a classmate
Write a profile of the classmate using an incident in their life that caused them to learn something from really screwing up...learned something good from having messed up or experienced something bad
Get background information
-Name
-Age
-Current Work
-Where they are from
Ask evergreen questions to find out more about their personality
How to Interview effectively
1) Ask questions that start with "what" or 'why." These questions often promote more dialogue from the speaker rather than answers consisting of simple "yes" and "no."
2) Ask for examples
3) Coax the interviewee by prompting them to continue with words like "and..."
4) Get people to open up with evergreen questions. These questions help you to understand your speaker on a deeper level and can help you to add a unique perspective to your story
5) Don't be afraid to slow the speaker down and take them back over things they have already said
6) Always stay neutral
2) Ask for examples
3) Coax the interviewee by prompting them to continue with words like "and..."
4) Get people to open up with evergreen questions. These questions help you to understand your speaker on a deeper level and can help you to add a unique perspective to your story
5) Don't be afraid to slow the speaker down and take them back over things they have already said
6) Always stay neutral
Friday, February 6, 2009
7 not so deady sins--What makes something newsworthy?
Impact
Timeliness
Prominence
Proximity
Conflict
Weirdness
Currency
Timeliness
Prominence
Proximity
Conflict
Weirdness
Currency
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Which came first, demographics or pop culture?
Demographics are the categories used to group people for marketing purposes. Demographics can include, but are not limited to; age, generation, race, religion, economic status, marital status, child rearing status, education, and location. These factors are very important to advertising. Ad/marketing researchers use these categories to try to increase the success of their advertisements by concentrating their efforts on a very specific group of people. Where ads are placed and what stations they run on is not accidental. Advertisers attempt to place their ads in a place where their target audience will be most exposed to them. The ads are designed to impact this specific primary audience. As an overall rule, most ads are constructed to appeal to the lower to middle upper class because they represent the purchasing power of the majority of the products that are being marketed, however this large group is broken down into sub categories as mentioned above for the purpose of specific target marketing.
I feel that the American idea of demographics significantly affects pop culture, or more accurately, they affect one another. It is a question of "which came first..." and more often than not, there is no correct answer. It stands to reason that they influence each other and feed off one another in a cyclical and symbiotic sort of relationship.
I feel that the American idea of demographics significantly affects pop culture, or more accurately, they affect one another. It is a question of "which came first..." and more often than not, there is no correct answer. It stands to reason that they influence each other and feed off one another in a cyclical and symbiotic sort of relationship.
A recipe for a well crafted news story: Stab with a metal stick and burn at the stake
A recipe is often considered cheat sheet, or inside scoop on preparing a dish and its crafter usually assumes that it will turn out better than average because of the guidelines (or recipe) used to complete the project. The same can be said for news writing and Pete Ellertsen has the inside track on the perfect mixture for writing a news story…and he calls it the shish-kebab.
“News writing is about reproducing the rhythm off common speech. In other words, you write like you talk…if you don’t people aren’t gonna read it. When you write for the public you are writing for people who don’t have to read your stuff so if you don’t write with your reader in mind you will inevitably lose them. People aren’t dumb, but they are busy and they really need to have things laid out for them so that they are easily digestible.”
Although he is now a tenured instructor in the Arts at Benedictine University in Springfield, IL, Ellertsen’s first job out of high school was for a small daily paper in a little town in Tennessee called Oak Ridge. The town’s major industry was a nuclear power plant. The people who lived in Oak Ridge ranged from researchers and developers with PhD’s, to coal miners who may not have completed the 8th grade. “It’s tough to write for a vast difference in educational levels…It is possible, but you have to use small words, short sentences and explain things relentlessly.” This is why, Ellertsen explains, it is so important to write like you talk.
Ellertsen also stressed the importance of taking notes when interviewing someone for a news story. The quotes really are the meat of the story so the whole point to note taking while interviewing is to give yourself enough information to recreate the quotations later. “In school I was going for facts and important concepts. In the newspaper business I was taking notes for exact words.” When I finished a story I would look back over the story and try to figure out what the main points were in the quotes. Then, once I had that, I would look back through my notes to find three or so more quotes and weave them in the same way.” Ellertsen also stressed the importance of explaining every quote and using transitional elements to move from one point to another. Well it all certainly seems simple enough; quote, explanation, transition…steak, onion, green pepper….
“In the end, it all kind of came together like the meat and the vegetables in a shish-kebab.”
“News writing is about reproducing the rhythm off common speech. In other words, you write like you talk…if you don’t people aren’t gonna read it. When you write for the public you are writing for people who don’t have to read your stuff so if you don’t write with your reader in mind you will inevitably lose them. People aren’t dumb, but they are busy and they really need to have things laid out for them so that they are easily digestible.”
Although he is now a tenured instructor in the Arts at Benedictine University in Springfield, IL, Ellertsen’s first job out of high school was for a small daily paper in a little town in Tennessee called Oak Ridge. The town’s major industry was a nuclear power plant. The people who lived in Oak Ridge ranged from researchers and developers with PhD’s, to coal miners who may not have completed the 8th grade. “It’s tough to write for a vast difference in educational levels…It is possible, but you have to use small words, short sentences and explain things relentlessly.” This is why, Ellertsen explains, it is so important to write like you talk.
Ellertsen also stressed the importance of taking notes when interviewing someone for a news story. The quotes really are the meat of the story so the whole point to note taking while interviewing is to give yourself enough information to recreate the quotations later. “In school I was going for facts and important concepts. In the newspaper business I was taking notes for exact words.” When I finished a story I would look back over the story and try to figure out what the main points were in the quotes. Then, once I had that, I would look back through my notes to find three or so more quotes and weave them in the same way.” Ellertsen also stressed the importance of explaining every quote and using transitional elements to move from one point to another. Well it all certainly seems simple enough; quote, explanation, transition…steak, onion, green pepper….
“In the end, it all kind of came together like the meat and the vegetables in a shish-kebab.”
Monday, February 2, 2009
Obama takes a stand on feminism by taking it all off...
The most recent issue of Ms. magazine has a picture of President Obama on the cover. Obama is ripping off his white collared shirt revealing a t-shirt underneath which says "this is what a real feminist looks like."
This ad says far more that just those words. I feel that the feminist magazine is using the political presteige of President Obama to help redefine their image. Feminists are generally thought of as angry lesbians who aren't ever happy about anything. This ad is meant to help change public opinion in that regard. The ad itself makes President Obama look cool and rebelious. He is ripping off his collared shirt and red tie as if to be getting rid of conservatism, which coinsides with femisist ideals.
Not only is Obama a man, which counters what we stereotypically think of as a femisit, but he is also 'the most important man in the nation.' Without coming out and saying it, the cover screams "if feminism is cool enough for the President it must certainly be cool enough for the rest of us."
This ad says far more that just those words. I feel that the feminist magazine is using the political presteige of President Obama to help redefine their image. Feminists are generally thought of as angry lesbians who aren't ever happy about anything. This ad is meant to help change public opinion in that regard. The ad itself makes President Obama look cool and rebelious. He is ripping off his collared shirt and red tie as if to be getting rid of conservatism, which coinsides with femisist ideals.
Not only is Obama a man, which counters what we stereotypically think of as a femisit, but he is also 'the most important man in the nation.' Without coming out and saying it, the cover screams "if feminism is cool enough for the President it must certainly be cool enough for the rest of us."
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