Sunday, September 21, 2008 1 comments

Twittering Gives Practice for Journalism


Photo taken from www.twitter.com
After reviewing a number of Twitter profiles and reading sample headlines of recent stories published in The Towerlight (www.thetowerlight.com), I was able to see many good examples of headlines and story briefs. Below are a few examples I found when perusing a few Twitter profiles.
__________________

"By Decemer, about 2,800 new recylcing containers will be placed throughout Towson campus in order to promote the RecycAll program," Towson student Katelyn Mattingly wrote in reference to a recent article in The Towerlight.
  • For one, this tweet interested me because I wrote this story for this issue and I found the RecycAll topic interesting when doing the research for the story.
  • Two, I thought that this post gave a great insight to the story by covering most of the 5W's to prepare the reader for what they are about to dive into.
  • The wording is also using an active voice, which makes for an exciting appeal to the story
  • Also, as a future tip, I would say that it would've been best to start with something other than the "When" W, as the when side of the story is not as important as the what.
  • I also think it gets a bit wordy when using words like "in order to." This would be great wording for maybe further down the story but for a lead into type sentance, I would have been a little more to-the-point.
  • Very good post though, i enjoyed this piece.
Click here to view Katelyn Mattingly's Twitter page

"Sean Schaefer throws four interceptions to help Richmond come back after last year's dramatic last-minute loss to the Tigers," Towson student Carrie Wood wrote in reference to a recent story published in The Towerlight.
  • I thought this was a great exampl of an active, concise headline. It is written i a way that draws the readers attention. It is organized in a way that puts out the most important information first. It is very clear at what the story will be about when reading.
  • In this headline, she includes all of the major W's for this story without rambling on or making the headline too extensive.
  • I especailly enjoyed how she tied in this event to previous occurances with the same teams. That certainly makes for a more interesting story.
Click here to view Carrie Wood's Twitter page.

"Quaterback Sean Schafer struggled, with four interceptions and one touchdown, to lead the Tigers to a loss," Towson student Amber Kowens wrote in reference to a recent story found in The Towerlight.

  • I thought this was another great exapmle of a story headline. It is very cler and to the point, addressing the main thoughts of the story.
  • It does not neccessarily cover all of teh 5 W's like the "when," but overall it is a headline that will pull the reader in to the story.
  • I mostly like the simplicity of the headline because I think it would generally attract more readers. It is much easier to understand than some others.
Click here to view Amber's Twitter page.


Photo taken from www.twitter.com