You’ve got an idea for a great story… or at least you think it’s a great story. Now you need to convince your editor/teacher why this story needs to get made, and why you’re the right reporter for the job. So what goes into a good pitch? How much research do you need to do before you make your pitch? We’ve put together some of tips of the trade on putting together the best pitch for your story idea.
On a summer night, this is probably a familiar sound. But according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, most states have restrictions on this type of firework. So how come there are still so many things that go bang in the night?
A landmark lawsuit over the issue, Vergara v. California, came down to one final day of arguments in March. Nine student plaintiffs from around the state testified that tenure hurts students, while teachers testified that it’s an important job protection.
You’ve done the research, you’ve written your script… now it’s time to step up to the mic and read. But if you really want to breathe life into your story, you can’t just read it— you have to perform it. So what goes into a good vocal performance? How do you sound casual, and authoritative? How do you sound like you’re talking to a friend, when you know actually reading off a paper? Learn some of the tricks of the trade for effective voicing in this lesson.
The Internet– like it has done for so many industries — has opened up the art world to everyone. Now…
Youth Radio looks at three safety measures being used by the pros and compares them to what’s happening at the high school level.
What can you accomplish in six seconds? Unwrap a piece of gum, tie your shoes, or make a very short movie. That’s the premise of Twitter’s video app, Vine — recording video and audio for no more than six seconds.
ProPublica is still the cool new kid in investigative journalism— less than five years in the game, and they’ve got the best toys, plenty of talent, and everyone wants to be their friend. And that doesn’t just apply to journalists. The investigative journalism outfit’s big data projects draw interest from programmers too. That’s why the Engineering and Computer Science departments at UC Berkeley asked Jeff Larson from ProPublica’s News Applications team, to talk about the new ways that coding is helping tell stories.
When it comes to raising money for the arts, Kickstarter has become the place to go. Since it launched in 2009, the crowd-funding site has successfully delivered over $400 million to creative projects, including three films currently up for Oscars. But for all of Kickstarter’s success, funding creative work is still risky business. A study out of Wharton counts 3.5% of funded projects drop the ball. Small, but significant enough to raise the question: what happens to that money?
