See “Web Reporting Project” file on the course blog.

Web Reporting Project

Overview

Class reporting project on current UW professor

Assigned beats Interview professor and second source Take photos Insert story and photos into Dreamweaver

template Due Mon. 11/28 Examples:

http://klandreville.com/report.html

Website Template

Home page: http://www.klandreville.com/report.html Discipline page template: http://www.klandreville.com/arts.html Story page template http://www.klandreville.com/

template.html

Your Job!

No such thing as an uninteresting person! Your job: Research and interview the professor to

obtain most interesting tidbits Present to readers a ‘snapshot of a life’

using interviews, observations and creative writing

Convey importance and uniqueness of professor

Personality Profiles - Hints

Include a quote every three paragraphs or so

Don’t bury quotes in the middle or end of a paragraph.

Use active voice

Have you answered the readers’ possible questions about this person?

End with a strong quote or paraphrased statement that reflects the person well

GOAL Method

The secret to writing a good profile is getting to know the person

Use the GOAL Method G = Goals: What were your original goals? What are

your next goals? O = Obstacles: What obstacles did you face in

accomplishing your goals, and what new problems loom?

A = Achievements: What pleasure or problems have these achievements brought?

L = Logistics: What background (logistics of who, what, where, when) led to your current situation?

Example Interview Questions1. How did you get involved in this…?

2. What made you decide to…?

3. What’s been your best experience?

4. What’s been your most difficult, disappointing, upsetting experience?

5. Explain a typical ______ (insert theme of story).

6. What advice would you have for someone who is interested in…?

The Word Still Dominates

Storytelling for the Web

Writing Style for Online Stories Still newswriting, but with these exceptions… We don’t read, we scan.

Include short subheads that “chunk” the story Example: http://klandreville.com/english.html

Hybrid Writing Tight, punchy, and colorful like broadcast news Subject > Verb > Object (active voice) More detail like newspapers

Purpose of Links

Background and related information to professor Example: Former universities (Colorado State

University) Where you got your story information or sources

Example: UW faculty member’s homepage Web sites of people or organizations you

mentioned in the story Example: UW faculty mentions a professional

organization (National Communication Association) News stories published about faculty member

Example: Laramie Boomerang quoted this person or did a story on them before

Linking Issues

Be specific about your links Within the story, highlight the word or

phrase you want to link to (not the whole sentence)

Ensure the word or phrase is exactly what the user will expect to appear

Limit linking to a handful of VIPs Don’t want to lead users away from your

story

Sign Up for Beats

1. Art2. Music3. Theater & Dance4. Agriculture (pick one)5. Engineering (pick

one)6. English7. American Studies8. Women’s Studies9. African American

Studies10. Anthropology11. Psychology

12. American Indian Studies13. Religious Studies14. Philosophy15. Botany16. Geology17. Chemistry18. Biology19. Atmospheric Science20. Comm. & Journalism21. Political Science22. Statistics23. Sociology

HTML Tutorial

See the handout “Basic Website” and/or download the handout on our course blog.