News is found in any area of society. There is news in the neighborhood, in the workplace, in politics, and at school. As a "news writer", usually people prefer to write and report about one topic over another, in one area or another, and so on. I personally like to write- period.
When asked, "What is my voice?" I paused. This took me a moment to think about. I would say, my voice is original in that it comes from me, and nobody has ever been able to change my voice- even if they have tried. I was recently told, in one of my classes this semester by an instructor that by me majoring in Communications, it isn't possible for me to not watch television every day. Hmm..there may be several reasons this is true, however the most important factor is that there are more areas to Communications than television and personally, there are many more interesting areas in the field than television. And will I start watching television every day just because I was told its not possible for this to be true? No, because I'm me, and I've been me for 21 years now, and I will continue to be "me" for the same reasons I always have been. The same goes for writing and speaking. If somebody doesn't want to read what I have to say, or listen to me, we don't belong in the same vicinity!
I have been given a topic to write on and it comes from here:
Mackerel Wrapper- Comm 337
The difference between hard news and soft news, according to Surtees and most other folks in journalism, includes the following:
Hard news is news such as the attacks on the twin towers that happened on September 11, 2001. This news could not wait for publication. It was all over the news, caught on camera- immediately before the incident, during, and for months afterward. The following link is from Youtube.com that somebody, along with hundreds of others, posted to the website.
Youtube Video- 9/11
Another example of hard news would be the day and time that US Troops captured Osama Bin Laden. This is something that our troops had been trying to do for a decade. When they were finally able to capture this man who can be compared to the devil, the story deserved to break across televisions nationwide- before it was time for the evening news, or any other scheduled news hour.
Osama's Death
I would rather read and write about hard news most of the time. I like suspense, and I like an adrenaline rush. I like when I hear people talking and gossiping about breaking news. I think it is interesting to hear every body's different opinions and ideas about news. More often than not, a "hard lead" contains factual information. Not as often as "soft leads" does a "hard lead" contain opinions, voices, and quotes. Hard leads can come from the big picture, or the little picture. Soft leads may be a news update about something that happened last week, or about something that isn't on the front page of the newspaper.
I notice that Surtees quotes Donald Murray, who is the author of our textbook, and yes I have now received my book. Both men have very useful information.
I personally would like to be surprised all day. Surprised in many different ways, that is. I would like to be surprised with info that I didn't already know but need to know. I like to learn (it makes me feel good!). I like to be given new perspectives on somebody else's ideas. Being surprised is a good thing- if what you are being surprised with is useful and positive. Surtees's tip didn't necessarily surprise me, but made me think. I like that he says be curious. I am a very curious person but I still like to be simple. I also like the last part of his tip: "Don't just describe something, reveal a piece of the world to yourself and to your readers. That makes reporting fun -- and the greatest joy of news writing is also the greatest joy of reading." -I guess that part did surprise me a little.
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