Week 10: The Last March Post

1. A great read from the NYTimes, suggested by Charlotte Lobdell. What are your thoughts on this topic? How about the structure ... is this well written and reasoned?

2. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: A phenomenal piece about a terrorist hunter in Iraq. This is another solid profile piece that gives a great perspective on a nation at war and a man trying to fix things. How is this a compelling a story? How does the author made the mundane exciting?

3. An excellent commentary from Grant Hill about a recent incident that's been all over the news and March Madness. Share your thoughts on his response. It's a pretty hot topic

Week 9: more of March

Do you know this guy? I think so. What are your thoughts on this piece as a profile and story? Does the tone match the content?

Is this argument a good one? Some would say the wealth disparity in this country is the cause of the troubles mentioned. Level out the amount of money a family takes home, and things will get better.

Share your thoughts and insights!

Overheard

Share the funny yet appropriate things you hear around campus. Please do not include attribution.

Week 8: The ides of March (almost)

1. College the Easy Way: Pretty provocative ideas, especially as you all are students at a college prep school. Thoughts?

2. Liam Neeson Interview: Yeowzers this is a great profile! And Tom Chiarella is an amazing writer. What are your thoughts on the overall structure of this piece? Is it effective? Does this piece make Neeson a more compelling personality?

Article Ideas

Same rules as the last time. Publication date will be late-April. Please keep that in mind when coming up with ideas.

Please post 5-7 ideas for the second edition of the year. You must have at least one article idea for each section (News, Sports, A&E, Features, Op/Ed, Center Spread). Be sure to read the other ideas BEFORE you post your own. You can elaborate on another person's post (with a citation, of course). Include an article idea for each section. Be specific and format each idea as such:

Article Idea:
Must interviews (be specific ... "students" is fairly obvious and somewhat lame):
Why will people want to read this:

Week 7: A good listen & read (and final Feb post)

From This American Life.

Episode 427: Original recipe: this most recent episode of TAL has caused quite a stir in the soft drink world. It's such a great piece to listen to as it embodies great story-telling and solid research. What are your thoughts on the organization of the piece? What was the highlight? The part the piece could have done without? Is this topic really worth all this hype?

No More Mr. (or Ms.) Nice Guy: The Wall Street Journal is taking a bold step into present day: no more courtesy titles. Amazing. What are you thoughts on how this might impact the sports section, the newspaper, and the world. What do you think of those pesky courtesy titles? Should they still be in use anywhere? And surely comment on Jason Gay's tone in this piece. How would you describe it?

Happy minicourse ... in a week.

Edition 7: Editor Goals

Please post three goals you have for your section. Reflect on the last edition of last semester, areas where you have the most to improve and areas where you're doing great work. These goals can be design related, deadline related, or anything else. BUT, make sure these are measurable, outcome goals.

General goals for everyone:

1. MAKE THE EDITS THE COPY EDITORS SUGGEST.

2. Visible difference in headline size (heads should be larger than 30 but no smaller than 30)

3. Photos anchored to headline (no floating graphics/photos)

4. Make sure exported PDF is high resolution

5. After you copy edit a page, make sure all elements/storylines are still on the page