Newsday Reporter Gives Practical Advice at Journalism Social

Jay Kass

Aspiring journalists listen to Newsday Reporter for advice.

Jay Kass, Managing Editor

On November 6th in Kreiling Hall, the Journalism Club hosted a Journalism Social featuringguest speaker Shawna VanNess. The Newsday reporter/editor gave many good tips to ouraspiring 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 articlesabout good places to go and grab a bite to eat. People want to hear about interesting places toget a fabulous meal, whether at a fancy restaurant or a local burger joint, giving writers manyroutes to take with this kind of story. You could start by looking into the top places to go for aspecific 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 asdata to find an interesting establishment and then give an opinion on it. You never know. Youmay come across someone with something new to share or help create the newest hot spot onLong 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 ofwriting 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 newrestaurants 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 crosswordpuzzles and word searches, attracting people who enjoy these types of features more so thanpolitical or economic news. It all depends on what you want, what the people want, and whatresources 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 thatpublications want articles that are going to keep eyes on the page. Most social platforms wantpeople to stay on their platforms for as long as possible. You must find a platform to directpeople’s traffic back to your site rather than staying on theirs.

TikTok is an example VanNessgave us of a social platform that keeps their traffic on TikTok and does not allow them to loopback to a content producer’s own sites. Make sure you provide plenty of chances for readers toknow 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 nowthat the digital lens makes it so easy to manipulate reality. People need facts because factsdon’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. Datais data regardless of how you feel, so it brings truth and fact into your stories to help confirmyour credibility.The Role of Personal BiasTry to avoid as much as possible adding your bias into your writing. Personal bias exists, so it’simportant to stay as neutral and as objective on topics as you can be. Ensure you show this inyour writing, so people see you and your writing as credible. There will be times when you mustremove adjectives completely from your writing to focus on the basics and the facts.The Significance of InterviewsInterviews are the life blood of journalism. After identifying who you will interview, don’t sendprepared questions. Do all interviews either in person or over the phone. Only get emailedinterviews if you have no other alternative; you will get more honest and raw answers if yoursubject doesn’t have time to review their answers and is caught on the spot. You can tell when awriter does a text or emailed interview in their piece because people will text/write differentlythan 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 ifyou 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 sendemails. You want to create a trail showing that you were pushed to get your questionsanswered. This transparency is essential for many people when demonstrating their integrity,pursuing an interview, and valuing the credibility of the information. Credibility always goes tothe 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 flexibleand adaptable. It’s essential to look for people who are committed to good journalism in everymedia form. Although the world is changing, journalism fundamentals still have a place. What isgood 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 tocollaborate with others. It is common to see a credit byline on a story with 30 people who haveall contributed in some way.

The future of journalism is bright because communities will always need those who focus ontruth and aren’t afraid to write it.