Hank Stuever

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Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Oct. 29 — What is this REALLY about?

October 30, 2012 by Hank Stuever 1 Comment

My day never really gets going until I read what Nancy Nall has to say, as well as her regular commenters. Reading her blog has been a daily habit for, gosh, maybe a decade now.

Lately, both in class and in the Kaimin critiques on Friday (the student-run paper at the University of Montana), I’ve been trying to stress clarity and finesse in stories. You can know the basics of newswriting (fives W’s, one H, arranged in inverted pyramid, and hello, where is the nutgraf?) and still spend the rest of your career struggling to make it all clearer, more coherent, uncluttered, smoother. Many times I find myself asking what the story I’m reading is about — especially with feature stories, whether by students or in the nation’s best magazines.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: David Finkel story about family who watches television, Jour494, journalism, Journalism 494, Pollner professor, Popular Culture Journalism class, Stephanie Hayes Tampa Bay Times, Susan Orlean, Susan Orlean The Shaggs, Tampa Bay Times, The New Yorker, The Shaggs Philosophy of the World, University of Montana School of Journalism, writing

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Oct. 24 — television without pity

October 25, 2012 by Hank Stuever 1 Comment

Busy class on Wednesday. We finished up critiquing the personal essay riffs: Dustin on “Lost”; Cody on “The Gong Show” reruns; Ashley on “Supernatural” and boy bands; Allison on “The Office’s” Jim & Pam romance; and Carli on loving the ’80s, even though she missed the ’80s entirely. Good discussions.

Then we talked about progress (frustrations, too) on scene stories. Sounds mostly good; some are still casting about for the right scene to go cover. Not quite time to panic yet — still about 10 days to figure it out, report it out, and file by Nov. 7. Somehow we still managed to talk for half an hour about who/what/where/when/why/how and pitch some more ideas. Come by and see me if you’re having problems.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: David Finkel, David Finkel story about family who watches television, Jour494, Journalism 494, Pollner professor, Popular Culture Journalism class, University of Montana School of Journalism, Washington Post

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Oct. 22 — personal essay critiques

October 23, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Although I didn’t plan it this way, it worked out nicely that Monday’s critique session in class was the day Alice Thorpe came to visit Journalism 494. Alice is the mother of Anthony Pollner, the Montana alum in whose memory all of this happens. She came from New York for her annual trip to visit the J-school, the students, and hear the Pollner professor’s big lecture. We were delighted to see her.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Billie Loewen, Carli Krueger, David Finkel, David Finkel story about family who watches television, Donelle Weston, Eben Keller, H. Neil Sauer, Hank Stuever, Heather Jurva, Jour494, Montana Kaimin, Pollner professor, Tom Holm, University of Montana School of Journalism, Washington Post, writing

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