At the beginning of each class, ideally to limber up our brains, I randomly ask the roundtable of students to 
verbally “tweet out” a thought about something they’ve seen or done or had a mental blip about since we last met. (I totally, totally stole this idea from American University writing prof/lecturer Glenn Moomau, whose nonfiction class I spoke to last spring.) What I’m trying to get them to do is blurt out something they’ve noticed. It can be pop culture or not. If you’re on Twitter a lot, you know how quickly your brain converted to the 140-character thought-scoop or laugh line. We give these away for free. That’s just how it is.
Author
Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Sept. 5 — reported essays (Dam!)
Photo: PBS
Moving forward with trying to figure out how to approach the reported essay. We discussed some good ones today, mentioning their weaknesses as well:
Montana!
Let me bring you up to speed and then slow it way down:
I’ve left D.C. behind for the next four months and driven 2,500 miles to beautiful Missoula, Mont., to be the 2012 T. Anthony Pollner Professor at the University of Montana’s excellent School of Journalism. The professorship is the gift of the Pollner family, in memory of their son and brother, who graduated from Montana in 1999 and was — like so many of us — a committed (and talented) journalism junkie. Since 2001, the School of Journalism has invited a professional working journalist/author to come live here each fall and teach a seminar course of his or her own design. The Pollner professor is also on hand to help advise (in a casual way) the staff of the student-run paper, the Kaimin, which publishes four days a week. I’ll also be giving a public lecture on Oct. 22.