On Monday we had a guest speaker in class. His name was Nathan Stormer, he’s a professor of journalism at the University of Maine and the reason he came to class that day was to talk to us about print journalism.
Professor Stormer is a very smart man when it comes to writing as was evident in the first couple of minutes of his lecture. He gave us some valuable tips from correct word choice to the correct use of objectivity.
He emphasized good writing techniques and the importance of who, what, where, when, and why.
Journalism is a competitive field and you need to know how to write correctly to keep your readers attention. People will always scan the news but it’s about getting them to read your story and making a lasting impression on them.
Professor Stormer left us with a quote that I’ll remember for a while he said, “Theres a basic desire to know and a basic desire to tell.” That right there sums up the meaning of journalism to me.
People need to know important information and our job as journalists is to inform them.
Stormer also emphasized keeping your stories and articles simple. You must try to stay away from using jargon-based language, because not everyone understands certain technical terms involved in the story topic.
Instead you must use accessible and common language that everyone can understand, but while also making sure that you have a good variety of words. It’s important not to become repetitive.
It’s also useful to use the five senses in your writing metaphorically speaking. Explain touch, sound, smell, taste, and sight. It helps to put a visual in the reader’s head and therefore might get them to read your article for a bit more.
So all in all we learned a few valuable tips from Nathan and because of it we’re all better writers.
