Page 60 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

WORDS: THE FOUNDATION STONE OF JOURNALISM

Once you’ve completed this final read, take a deep breath and let
the story go. You can drive yourself crazy second-guessing what you’ve
done. Instead, realize you did the best with what you had and move
on. For most journalists, feedback on a story gives them something
to use for their next story. Web journalists, however, can rework and
redo their copy as they learn more about a story or as a story develops.
Changes can be made throughout the life of a Web story. During each
“final” edit, you should go through the steps discussed in this chapter to
ensure that you’ve got the best and most accurate product available for
your readers. Regardless of the format, accuracy remains the number
one goal of all journalistic writing.

Conclusion

This chapter outlines how to approach writing for print media and any
Web extensions of print. It is meant to lay the foundation for what
you’ll be seeing later in this book and also later in your journalism
courses.
50 Writing is a craft and must be honed over time. It’s like any other
activity you’ve taken part in. Could you make 100 free throws in a row
the first time you picked up a basketball? Probably not. Many profes-
sionals can’t do that. Still, the people who spend a lot of time practicing
are likely to make more shots than those people who don’t put in the
practice time. The point is, just because you’ve been “writing” all your
life doesn’t mean this type of writing will come easily to you.
Writing for a news outlet is different than writing a research paper,
an e-mail, a letter, or a work of fiction. It takes a special attention to
detail and the ability to focus on what matters most to readers. The
more time you spend writing and reporting, the more likely these things
will come naturally to you. In the meantime, don’t be discouraged as
you work toward consistency. Eventually, you will feel more confident
answering the question “Can you write?” with a resounding “Yes!”

References

Bulla, D. (2002). Media convergence: Industry practices and implications for educa-
tion. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication Conference, Miami, FL.
Bulla, D., & Dodd, J. (2003). Convergence writing instruction: Interviews with journalism
faculty members about curriculum decisions. Paper presented at the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference, Kansas City, MO.