Interview Basics, Part 2

On Wednesday, you are going to interview a partner in class, in preparation for your real interview that is coming up next week.

Here are the directions:

1. pick a partner in class to interview
2. write down at least 20 interview questions that you'd like to ask.
- think about the interviews you watched yesterday and which questions are going to produce the best answers.
- you should have questions that cover the basics (like how do you spell your name... where were your born...) and questions that get people to talk (tell me about your best childhood memory... or describe what it was like when you moved from california to seattle...)
3. take turns interviewing your partner and taking notes
4. Write down any observations you have about that person. Funny things that they do, the clothes they are wearing, their mannerisms, etc.
5. LISTEN for QUOTES.
6. Quotes are something funny, memorable, interesting. Quotes add "color" to your story. Quotes are something that you couldn't have said better yourself.
7. Title the story in less than five words. Think back to the titles in the "1 in 8 million" series you watched.
8. Write a short story, no longer than a page double-spaced, about the person you interviewed. Include as many basic details as possible, include observations, and include your three quotes.
9. Don't worry about how to start your story. The point of this exercise is to get as much information in the page as possible.
10. You will be assessed on the quality of your QUOTES.

Please leave your finished story in the comments section of this blog entry.

Thank you!

Interview Basics, Part 1

Hello Journalism Class! This is your assignment for Tuesday, September 28. You are going to watch two interviews today. As you watch, you are going to think about what makes a good interview.

First, watch Barbara Walters interview Miley Cyrus. Everyone must watch this one.

UPDATED 9/28/10 - this isn't working, sorry...

Then, go to www.charlierose.com, click on "Guests" or "Topics" at the top, and watch at least one interview of your choice. Anybody you'd like. Please ask the substitute teacher for some headphones if you don't have any.

If you can't find any that you are interested in, watch one of the following:

Charlie Rose interviews LeBron James, CLICK HERE.
Charlie Rose interviews Jay-Z, CLICK HERE.

At the end of the day, turn in answers to the following questions:
1) Who did you watch Charlie Rose interview?
2) How would you describe the difference in interviewing styles, between Barbara Walters and Charlie Rose?
3) What do Walters and Rose do or say to make their interview subjects feel more comfortable?
4) What kind of research do you think Walters and Rose did before their interviews?
5) Did any of the questions that Walters or Rose asked surprise you? Which ones? Why?
6) What do you think good interviewing is?
7) Write down 3 questions that Walters or Rose asked, that you thought produced good answers.

Last assignment

First, look at the March 9 entry, assignments for this unit:

Make sure you have everything finished. We will begin a new unit on Friday. I will accept late work on this unit until the end of the quarter.

If you are done, I want you to read at least 5 of the following editorials:

http://truefriendship06.blogspot.com/ - “Lying”
http://asinksinksintopaper.blogspot.com/ - “he’s the DJ, I’m the rapper”
http://tec2942.blogspot.com/ - “Robotics editorial”
http://bloggeryanb.blogspot.com/ - “Gun violence story”
http://intheworldofcars.blogspot.com/ - “Supercars" by Oscar”
http://intheworldofcars.blogspot.com/ - “Future Classic" by Khanh
http://krisbeezy.blogspot.com/ - “Editorial – hip hop stereotype”
http://productoslacteosvalencia.blogspot.com/ - "should milk be re-pasteurized?"
http://rachelflansaas.blogspot.com/ - “Advertisers are NOT to blame”
http://flipside2489.blogspot.com/ - untitled top post about reckless driving – “…we need to change and some of us are doing that…”
http://diana73martinez.blogspot.com/ - “the reality of suicide prevention”
http://bkaea.blogspot.com/ - “KB24 vs. LJ23” - Kobe vs. Lebron
http://shawnergao.blogspot.com/ - “Payin’ too much”
http://petersvision.blogspot.com/ - "Hit in White Center"
http://daymons4thperiodblog.blogspot.com - "3D - a bit too far?"

Leave a thoughtful, respectful response to each editorial you read. Continue the "community dialogue" discussion in the comments section under the editorial.
- You may disagree.
- You may add some thoughts that came into your mind as you read/after you read.
- You may want to argue.
- You may want to add a point that the author missed.
- You may agree and give the author praise for making good points.

examples of student editorials

here's a link to some editorials written by students.

use these as examples if you need some help.

Editorials

Remember the formula

Editorials = Opinion/Message + Information

Assignments for this unit

Here are all the assignments you are responsible for this unit:

1. Set up a blog with vision statement
2. Set up links to other blogs from 2nd and 4th period
3. News story w/Soft and Hard Lead
4. Lost Wallet Interview Worksheet
5. Story about the man behind the wallet
6. Feature Story w/ Research/observations/interview
- Graded on quality of details, quality of interview, the lead
- Should have been posted on March 8 or before
7. Editorial (Information + Opinion) (we start this today)

How do you start your story?

Different kinds of leads here:

http://www.notrain-nogain.org/Train/Res/WriteARC/lex.asp


By the way, in this instance, the word "lexicon" means a collection of terms used in a particular profession. So the lexicon of leads refers to all the ways leads are talked about by writers and journalists.