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.

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"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