Journalism II, III, IV

Journalism II, III, IV

Introduction to The Hiller History Trinity High School s newspaper has been around for over 100 years. The newspaper originated as a fund raiser for juniors to make money for the prom at a cost of 10 cents an issue. The name of the newspaper changed consistently as each class selected their own name for the publication, and at one point it was named The Model T! Between 1933-1942, the name The Hiller was adopted. An adviser was chosen to work with the newspaper, and a journalism class began. Currently, The Hiller is distributed to all students free of charge once a month during homeroom. Purpose The primary intention of the newspaper is to inform students, faculty, administration, and members of society of recent events throughout the world. The pages of The Hiller include information on news, editorial, opinion, entertainment, feature, and sports concerning the school and other areas of society. Students are taught to write in a journalistic style following the inverted pyramid method to increase his/her knowledge and understanding of the legal ethics of journalism. Responsibilities Each individual will be expected to perform their assigned duties. If one fails or neglects this responsibility, he/she can be removed from The Hiller staff by the adviser at any time. All staff members must cooperate and conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Each reporter must follow the Code of Ethics at all times.

Code of Ethics It is the right of the students, faculty, administration, and parents to know all of the events and activities going on in school. It is the responsibility of the journalists to acquire information without disrupting the classroom environment. Ethics Publish only what is true. Don t abuse your position. Don t plagiarize. Always get permission from teachers and students to use their quotes when conducting a survey. Check and verify quotes. Obtain a variety of opinions, not just those of your friends. Refuse to accept gifts or favors from those in your stories. You should not be a member of the organization about which you are writing. Writers should seek news that is prevalent to the greatest number of students. Get both sides of a story, even for opinion pieces. Freedom of Press All articles are subject to review by the adviser and principals. Accuracy and Objectivity Do not write an article about something you are passionate about unless it is an opinion article. Editorials and opinion pieces should be clearly labeled. Interview at least three people per article, including students, teachers, and administrators, and use at least three solid quotes. Fair Play Writers will get both sides of the story. No Exceptions!! Show respect for the people in your article, and respect the privacy of students, teachers, and administrators. Write about all activities in the school, despite personal feelings. All journalists are to obey these rules or they will be promptly punished at the teacher s and administration s discretion. Punishment may include a failing grade and/or removal from the staff.

Writers of The Hiller face many legal responsibilities. However, The Hiller is protected under the First Amendment - Freedom of Speech, which states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievance. Facts may be printed about people, but false information would be considered libelous. After the final version of the article has been placed in layouts, the writer will deliver a copy to all teachers and administrators that have been interviewed for the article. The writers must obtain signatures in order to print the piece. Administrators have the power of prior review and prior restraint. Prior review is the right to read the paper before distribution. Prior restraint is having the right to not publish or print. Each issue must be approved and signed by a principal before it can be printed. According to Pennsylvania law, censorship of student articles may only occur for four reasons: 1. libel - the printing or broadcasting of false information that damages someone s reputation 2. obscenity - any language or picture not appropriate for school 3. disruptive - may prevent/ prohibit articles that will disrupt the school day 4. invasion of privacy

Interviewing Tips A Checklist Before Prepare ahead of time. Set up the interview. Write a minimum of 10 interviewing questions. Avoid asking yes/no questions and don t forget to ask why and how things happened. Ask the person you are interviewing for their opinion and why they feel that way. During Conduct yourself in a professional manner. Act like a professional and you will be treated like one. Be on time. Have confidence! Believe in yourself. Establish eye contact. Let your subject do the talking. Remember, you are there to interview them. Don t let yourself be limited. If you think of more questions, don t be afraid to ask! Remember who your audience is. Keep in mind the type of story you are writing. Write down quotations exactly. The minimum number of quotes is three. Write down the exact spelling of names and titles. Let the person know you may need to call them back, in order to verify facts. Thank them for the interview. After Review your notes. Add any additional information. Contact sources again as needed.

STORY STRUCTURE FORMAT INVERTED PYRAMID- the organizational pattern in which information is presented in most news stories. Information is organized from the most important to the least important. LEAD 5 W s -who, what, where, when & why MOST IMPORTANT DETAILS LESS IMPORTANT DETAILS LEAST IMPORTANT DETAILS

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE HILLER STAFF Editor-in-Chief / Co-Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief/Co-Editor-in-Chief will hold daily/weekly meetings with other editors to determine the content of the upcoming issue. 1. Heads the Editorial Board. 2. Directs planning of layouts for all issues. 3. Approves, with adviser, the content of the upcoming issue. 4. Assigns stories to pages. 5. Plans headlines, captions, and bylines for the editorial page. 6. Completes layouts of the editorial page and other pages as needed. 7. Enforces all article, section, photo and layout deadlines. 8. Checks all pages for correctness and completeness. 9. Keeps morale of the entire staff enthusiastic and helpful. 10. Supervises writings of monthly editorial. 11. Acts as a liaison to newspaper adviser, print shop, faculty, administration, staff and students. 12. Checks for spelling error, misused words, poor sentence structure, incorrect stats, and any other errors that may appear. 13. Selects proper photos and artwork for the paper. 14. Enforces deadlines for writers Copy Editor 1. His/her main responsibility is to check for any errors that may appear in stories and articles. 2. Completes layouts of the teacher coupon page and other pages as needed. 3. Checks all pages for correctness and completeness. 4. Enforces all deadlines. 5. Responsible for overseeing the collection of signatures for each article. 6. Selects proper photos and artwork for the paper. 7. Edits articles and layout of newspaper.

Opinion Editor 1. Determines story and photo content of opinion pages. 2. Completes layouts of opinion pages. 3. Writes headlines for opinion pages. 4. Writes main story for the section. 5. Selects proper pictures and artwork for the section. 6. Supervises the photo questions and ensures accurate quotes and fair coverage of all students and grade levels. 7. Ensures that all sides of an issue or controversy have been presented. 8. Ensures that printed material is not libelous or offensive to any students, teacher, administrator, or Trinity community member. 9. Enforces deadlines for all opinion writers. News Editor 1. Determines story and photo content of news pages. 2. Completes layouts of news pages. 3. Writes headlines for news pages. 4. Must cover local, national, and international news. 5. Selects proper photos and artwork for the section. 6. Writes main story for this section. 7. Enforces deadlines of news writers. JUST THE FACTS, MAM! ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR 1. Determines story and photo content of entertainment pages. 2. Completes layouts of entertainment pages. 3. Writes headlines for the entertainment pages. 4. Keeps aware of local, state, and nationwide entertainment trends. 5. Selects proper photos and artwork for the section 6. Writes main review for entertainment pages. 7. Enforces deadlines for entertainment writers.

FEATURE EDITOR 1. Determines story and photo content of feature pages. 2. Completes layouts of feature pages. 3. Writes headlines for feature pages. 4. Writes main story for this section. 5. Selects proper pictures and artwork for this section. 6. Enforces deadlines for feature writers. HUMAN INTEREST STORIES 1. Determines story and photo content of sports pages. 2. Completes layouts of sports pages. 3. Writes headlines for sports pages. 4. Writes main story for this section. 5. Must be able to attend sporting events to interview players, coaches, and fans and bring such events to the attention of staff. 6. Selects proper pictures and artwork for the section. 7. Enforces deadline for sports writers. PHOTO EDITOR 1. Attends school-related events in order to capture good pictures. 2. Chooses the best photos and assists in caption writing for all photos. 3. Writes captions that properly identify the subjects and what they are doing. 4. Responsible for developing film as needed. 5. Takes head-shots of all editors and staff members to keep on file. 6. Takes photos and obtains quotes for the monthly photo questions. 7. Writes an article for each issue as needed.

GRAPHICS EDITOR 1. Draws original artwork from a list created by the editors to be used as graphics. 2. Collects and scans all graphics. 3. Inserts graphics into layouts as needed. 4. Fine tunes all artwork at the request of the adviser/editors before the paper is sent to press. CARTOONIST 1. Draws original artwork from a list created by the editors to be used as graphics. 2. Ties cartoon to Editorial. 3. Fine tunes all artwork at the request of the adviser/editors before the paper is sent to press. STAFF WRITERS 1. Write appropriate articles. 2. Responsible for interviewing a minimum of three people per article. 3. Responsible for checking mechanics and spelling. 4. Responsible for typing the article for submission. 5. Responsible for meeting deadlines. 6. Obtains signatures for articles as they appear in layouts. 7. Writes a minimum of one assigned article per issue as assigned by the adviser/editors. 8. Participates in a graded class participation week that involves making deliveries, running errands, etc. for class points.

Section: Article#: Issue#: The Hiller Assignment Sheet 25 Points Writer: Date Assigned: Due Date: Story Description Who? What? Where? When? Contacts (3 people required): Length: Assigned by Section Editor: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Section STORY EVALUATION Journalism I/Hiller Staff Writer Subject of Story Late articles will only receive half credit (of the grade given), unless the teacher has been spoken to in advance and a later due date has been agreed upon. FIXED CRITERIA /2 Story typed and saved on Hiller password /2 Double spaced /2 Times New Roman (size 10) /2 Indent graphs 2 spaces/2 spaces after every period /2 Use more and 30 symbols VARIABLE CRITERIA /15 Story is strong and well written with ample and appropriate content /13 Variety of sentence structure/proper use of grammar /5 Quotes are used appropriately (quotes are explained and quotes correspond to story) /5 Story flows smoothly; good transitions /5 Lead well-written; grabs reader; includes the 5 Ws /5 Story holds interest/shows both sides of a story /5 Action verbs used to keep story moving /5 Few misspelled words/proper punctuation/mechanics /3 Quotes written as separate paragraphs /3 Attribution properly written ( she said ) /3 Last name only to refer to interviewee on second reference /3 Proper format followed inverted pyramid /3 Headline with an action verb; no a, and, or the used in headline /3 All facts/names checked to ensure correct facts /3 No editorializing (excluded op-ed pieces) PHOTO /3 /3 /5 Photos are submitted on time/saved in appropriate folder A vertical and a horizontal photo is submitted Photo quality is good, not blurred / 100

Article/Layout Revision Checklist Journalism I/Hiller Staff Writer Section Subject of Article Revisions - all revisions are made - revisions are completed on time zero credit for that revision if not submitted on time - updated version of article saved on Hiller server - -2 to -5 points for every correction not made Editor Initials Comments /25 Editorin-Chief Editorin-Chief /25 Advisor /25 TOTAL / 75

STYLE OF THE HILLER FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STYLEBOOK AND LIBEL MANUAL ABBREVIATIONS Acronyms- Follow an organization s full name with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses, then refer to the organization only by its abbreviation or acronym. a.m. and p.m.- Lowercase with periods. (NOTE: Avoid 10 a.m. in the morning) Days of the Week- The common rule for publications is to use the days of the week -- Monday, Tuesday, etc. -- when referring to events within seven days, before or after the publication date. When writing about events more distant, use months and dates, such as "April 30" and "June 5." Do not use both. Do not use yesterday, today and tomorrow -- if a story were delayed before publication, the time elements would be wrong. Months- Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only the months of Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out when using alone, or with year alone. When a phrase lists only the month and year, do not separate the year with commas. When a phrase refers to a month, day, and year, set off the year with commas. States- Spell out the name of the states when they stand alone in textual material. There are eight states that cannot be abbreviated, including Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. An easy way to remember this is to write out the two states that are not in the continental United States and the states that have five or fewer letters. CAPITALIZATION Magazine Names- Capitalize the name but do not place it in quotes. Lower-case magazine unless it is part of the publication s formal title: Vogue magazine, Newsweek magazine, Time magazine. Room numbers- Use numerals and capitalize room (Ex: Room 2, Room 221) TITLES In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual s name. Academic department- Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives (Ex: the department of French, the English department, but the department of history, the history department)

Lowercase- Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual s name. Lowercase and spell out titles in sentences that are set off from a name by commas: the vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, declined to run again. Abbreviate Titles-The formal titles are capitalized and abbreviated as shown when used before a name outside quotations: Dr., Gov., Lt., Rep., Sen. Spell out all except Dr. when they are used in quotations. All other formal titles are spelled out in all uses. CD titles- italics Song titles- quotation marks Television titles- quotation marks Book titles- italics Newspaper titles- italics Play titles- quotation marks Magazine titles none Movie Titles quotation marks COMPOSITION TITLES