Names, names, names

Most magazines have become wallpaper, they're all the same, all the same celebrities. It's really an abysmal time in American journalism right now. But occasionally one story or two will pop out.
-David Talbot

Today was a busy day I had my first job at 9.30 which I went to with a photographer. It was a picyarn about quilts. When it came time for the photograph everyone wanted to be in it, which was fine. But later the photographer was telling me how usually there shouldn’t be more than eight people in a photo. I thought this was a good point to make because there is not much room in a newspaper so the less people in the photograph the better it will turn out.

She also told me that I should start bringing my own camera, because you never know when you might be able to grab a shot of an interesting subject. She also said that it would be helpful to keep in mind the type of photograph that would accompany the article. Whether it should be a group shot, where it should be taken and who should be in the shot. Most times the people in the photo are the ones who have spoken in the article which seems pretty obvious. As the journalist we can assist the photographer with ideas and how the shot would be more effective.

Once I was back at the office I was given another story about a local high school who was receiving a special accreditation. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get the press release. But before going out with the photographer I did a little research of my own by looking up the award on Google©. I was lucky enough to find a website although it was quite basic. This just made me think about how important it is to not rely on press releases. If you can do your own research and gather some information, it is better than knowing nothing at all.

The article I had trouble with today was a fundraiser. I wrote the article and thought I did a decent job only to be told to re-write it. I had to relate the theme of the fundraiser back to the sporting club. So I had another go adding a bit more colour which was something I was definitely lacking at the end of the day. My last interview of the day was a phone interview with a TAFE student. Having interviewed a student before I know how shy they can be. So this time I was not going to make a mistake by not grabbing decent quotes. I wrote some open questions and tried to listen to what the student was saying so I could get ideas for questions from her answers.