guest speaker Shawna VanNess. The Newsday reporter/editor gave many good tips to our
aspiring journalists and helped enlighten us on the field. Here are some of her insights:
Outside of Breaking News, Readers Want to Know about Local Restaurants
Not only do people enjoy reading breaking news stories, but they also enjoy reading articles
about good places to go and grab a bite to eat. People want to hear about interesting places to
get a fabulous meal, whether at a fancy restaurant or a local burger joint, giving writers many
routes to take with this kind of story. You could start by looking into the top places to go for a
specific dish or the best place to take someone on a date.
Restaurant writers get to be the critic, using research, experiences, and local word of mouth as
data to find an interesting establishment and then give an opinion on it. You never know. You
may come across someone with something new to share or help create the newest hot spot on
Long Island.
Difference between Local Journalism and Just Plain “News”
Local journalism is oriented towards a specific group of people or genre and so this type of
writing is more community based than national or world news. Take food writing, for example.
Local journalists can help a community of people who love food to become aware of new
restaurants or they can be a food critic advising readers on the best places to eat.
VanNess gave print magazines as a great example. Some print magazines still have crossword
puzzles and word searches, attracting people who enjoy these types of features more so than
political or economic news. It all depends on what you want, what the people want, and what
resources you have.
Influence of Social Media
Social media is good… for marketing and awareness.
It’s important to remember when marketing yourself and your writing through social media that
publications want articles that are going to keep eyes on the page. Most social platforms want
people to stay on their platforms for as long as possible. You must find a platform to direct
people’s traffic back to your site rather than staying on theirs.
gave us of a social platform that keeps their traffic on TikTok and does not allow them to loop
back to a content producer’s own sites. Make sure you provide plenty of chances for readers to
know who you are and where to find more of your writing. .
The Importance of Truth
The most crucial part of journalism is obtaining the truth about what happened, especially now
that the digital lens makes it so easy to manipulate reality. People need facts because facts
don’t lie, and data is facts, so if you can collect data, people will trust you more.
SHOW DON’T TELL! You want to show people this data so they can see it for themselves. Data
is data regardless of how you feel, so it brings truth and fact into your stories to help confirm
your credibility.
The Role of Personal Bias
Try to avoid as much as possible adding your bias into your writing. Personal bias exists, so it’s
important to stay as neutral and as objective on topics as you can be. Ensure you show this in
your writing, so people see you and your writing as credible. There will be times when you must
remove adjectives completely from your writing to focus on the basics and the facts.
The Significance of Interviews
Interviews are the life blood of journalism. After identifying who you will interview, don’t send
prepared questions. Do all interviews either in person or over the phone. Only get emailed
interviews if you have no other alternative; you will get more honest and raw answers if your
subject doesn’t have time to review their answers and is caught on the spot. You can tell when a
writer does a text or emailed interview in their piece because people will text/write differently
than they speak. You want your quotes to be conversational.
You can’t be a shy journalist. You have to be comfortable with being annoying. Don’t feel bad if
you have to call a source four times in one day, and if it is a public office, go down in person.
Persistence is critical, especially if it is in public documents. As a last resort, you can also send
emails. You want to create a trail showing that you were pushed to get your questions
answered. This transparency is essential for many people when demonstrating their integrity,
pursuing an interview, and valuing the credibility of the information. Credibility always goes to
the journalist who pushes to get the information.
What is the Future of Journalism?
It’s essential to have a network as a journalist to be successful. Journalists have to be flexible
and adaptable. It’s essential to look for people who are committed to good journalism in every
media form. Although the world is changing, journalism fundamentals still have a place. What is
good journalism? What are the basic facts? Do you know what a FOIL is? Can you collaborate?
Currently, many stories are created by a team of people, so it’s important to be able to
collaborate with others. It is common to see a credit byline on a story with 30 people who have
all contributed in some way.
truth and aren’t afraid to write it.
