Introducing the Wall Street Method...

This time, we'll look at feature leads and stories in a different way. One example of a feature story with the "Wall Street Journal formula" is here:

Link to article "After a death, an extreme form of grieving" from The New York Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/health/29grief.html?_r=1&hp

The Wall Street formula is basically taken out of the same format as stories are written in the Wall Street Journal. It's the basic structure of a feature story that uses an anecdotal, descriptive or narrative lead. To explain this concept, briefly look over the article, then read the details below.

The article with the link above has an anecdotal lead with a statistic before leading into the story of a psychiatrists who deal with people with grief disorders. Then by the second paragraph, the reader is introduced to a psychiatry professor from Columbia University who has found something on people who are in "a loop of suffering" after a loved one dies. That just pulls the reader in even more to find out about what that is.

The nut graph following that a couple of paragraphs later describes why grief should be separate from everything else when it comes to problems and death. The preceding paragraph made a statement about how some doctors didn't believe that idea when the nut graph showed some additional facts from researchers to prove that they're wrong. There are symptoms and difficulties that patients are feeling when they experience it. That really gives an idea why it's so important. For some people, it's hard getting over death that grief is too hard to take as well. That is the kind of grief that lasts much longer than people normally take.

Later into the story, it zeroes in on one of the patients- a woman from New Jersey was suffering from this kind of grief ever since her son died from cancer. She said in the story that she felt guilty about living and she moved around like a zombie. The body continues to explain the story with quotes and facts about the situations with her, other patients, and the doctors' and researchers' findings.

It finally ends with a final note with one of the same psychiatry professor who began the talking first. She says at the end that if she had the exact same problem, she would want help as well.

Ch. 6: Summary vs. feature leads

It's time to look at facts for writing stories again.

Feature leads and summary leads, I think I may have gone over them before in this blog before, but I don't know. I'll go over it again, if I did talk about it.

Feature leads are basically more craftier that summary leads. Summary leads are normally used when writing a story on "default". This means that summary leads are just normal leads with an objective voice and just summarizes what happens in the story. It just gives the who, what, when and where very quickly before the story goes into further details.

This is an example from the Baltimore Sun newspaper that shows a semblance to a summary lead: "Five football players at Baltimore's Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and the mother of one student were arrested in the stabbings and beatings of a 14-year-old boy and three of his friends last weekend, Baltimore County police said Friday." (by Brent Jones)

Feature leads are slightly different. Instead of cramming all the W's in the first sentence right away, a quick preview of the story is given first. It's more of a short beginning or sneek peek of what's about to happen later.

And here's an example of a feature lead from the New York Times by reporter Martin Fackler: "OMA, Japan — Fishermen here call it “black gold,” referring to the dark red flesh of the Pacific bluefin tuna that is so prized in this sashimi-loving nation that just one of these sleek fish, which can weigh a half-ton, can earn tens of thousands of dollars."

There are some facts and details in that sentence, telling the what and where, but doesn't really give the basic, specific details of what's happening. It's basically an introduction to what the article is all about and it leaves the reader slightly captivated, wanting to read more. This may be why I call it the "clincher" or "catcher" sentence.

Another example of a feature lead comes from The Sun again, only the lead is hard to pinpoint. "Cephas Thomas didn't know whether he'd laugh, cry or give a speech when "Paddy" Culbert finally returned to town. He knew it would be a moment he'd never forget. Two years ago, Thomas, security director at the Renaissance Harborplace, was at work in the lobby when Culbert, a New Hampshire businessman, happened to be driving by. The New Englander had been working crazy hours and was tired. He didn't realize he was about to have a stroke." (Johnathan Pitts)

The lead is very hard to find because all of that information is in the first paragraph and it gives more of a classic story approach. When I read this, I was compelled to read more of the article to see what happened with this man who didn't know he was having a stroke.

Rolling Stone magazine does a different take on leads. "Minutes before the official opening of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s staged rendition of American Idiot, the members of Green Day were their usual affable selves." (Barry Walters) Then it goes into a quote from the band's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong.

The feature lead there takes a little more of a personal standpoint for an interesting story. But the whole article on Green Day making their best album into a broadway musical is mostly told in an objective voice. The story is still written with more creativity because it's more personal to the band that they're doing something different than any other rock band has done.

An announcement

Yes, there is yet another announcement on this blog. I know you must be tired of hearing all of these announcements.

Baltimore Vinyl is coming out with its first online issue next week!

That's right, several articles, including some things I've covered, reviews, This American Campus: Towson and one of the posts from The Little Voice.

The countdown has initiated. The first issue will be released online on soon! Stay tuned!

It will be at this website (but don't click on it now because it's not up yet): http://tiger.towson.edu/~rahren1/pages/baltimorevinyl_vol1_issue1.html

See you there...

This American Campus- a wake up call

This American campus is... crazy. Maybe a little too overbroad of an idea.

No, This American Campus is my new beat blog. It really is. And it's here on Blogger.

You can also see it on wordpress.com.

It's a new blog covering the unusual, quirky, interesting, and exciting things on campus. Take a break from the news about Michael Jackson's autopsy and court case, the swine flu and all the boring same old news on campus. It's about time for a wake up call.

Go to thisamericancampustu.blogspot.com (or same name on wordpress.com) for more details and updates.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Wake up and smell the journalism!

Merriweather review- updated!

I haven't really gotten the chance to post this at all in months. But here's my concert review at last!!!

Please read my entire concert review of Fall Out Boy performing at Merriweather Post Pavillion online! I know the concert was in April, but this was probably one of the best reviews I've given. It was well worth the wait.

Instead of going to Tigerfest last semester, I decided to attend a completely different concert in Columbia, Md., and I decided to write a cool review on it. After all, I was a bit tired of hearing "Gives You Hell" every twenty minutes. And like that Sheryl Crow song, a change has done me good.

See it here: Fall Out Boy rocks out at Merriweather

Check it out soon

Hello... Hello again

In the lyrics of the song "Hello" by The Cars: "Hello... hello again."

I am doing another introductory blog here for yet another semester of Journalism. As I'm listening to Paramore's debut album All We Know is Falling (An Alternative Press magazine reporter said the band will release a new record, Brand New Eyes, later this month.), I'm trying to make up my mind which topic this beat blog should be strictly about. Should I strictly cover music or local issues pertaining to campus or both? (Local issues such as the economy affecting the Towson Town Center Mall and affecting happy hour for 21-year-old students.)

Other than that, I am excited for this class since I get to do one of the things I love to do most, especially with my new professor (who's my advisor as well). Well, since this is a new class with brand new people, I'll just introduce myself again.

I'm Rachel Beth Ahrens (I just go by Rachel and my middle name's Elizabeth but I shortened it). I have a wild passion for the two loves of my life: music (particularly rock and old school jazz) and writing. I read and write constantly; I did a whole lot of it over the summer. Like my father, I'm a rabid chocoholic. I cracked at Baskin Robbins a couple of days ago by devouring a delicious scoop of low fat chocolate ice cream that tasted like frozen chocolate mousse.

And I will be the very first woman in my entire family to finish college with a bachelor's degree, so I better make the next two years count.

The reason I took MCOM 258 (or Journalism and New Media II) is not only for my journalism major's requirements, I want to improve my writing even more. My writing has improved so much after taking 257 last semester. I have many, many ideas for what I want to do after college. I have a very good idea for a new music/entertainment/political magazine that I'm actually practicing with right now. The magazine would be similar to that of Spin, Rolling Stone or Alternative Press.

Other than that, I have an idea for my own radio show, since I love music so much. It would have a never ending playlist of rock tunes with breaks for music and other news (local news and political). The other career paths I might want to look into are anchoring for the news on television, writing for Spin or Alternative Press or maybe become an author since I love writing fictional stories as well. But I think I could become a college professor when I'm tired of doing all of that or if I decide to get married and have a family.

However, I really don't know where I'll go at this point. All I know right now is that I want to write more than anything. Someone in the journalism field of work said "You've got to really want it." So I'm taking all the writing classes I can to help me along the way.

One of the things I will take with me for the next two years of college and beyond is something my dad heard not long ago. He ran into a reporter from the San Fransisco Chronicle somehow and he asked him for some advice for his future journalist daughter. The reporter said: "Be aggressive, because no one's going to come to you when you need a job. Put yourself out there and don't ever stop writing. Write about anything and write all the time."