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Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Oct. 31 — Shaggs’ own thing

November 5, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Photo illustration: smellslikepop.com

Last Wednesday’s class was more of a had-to-be-there thing.

As we move into reading and talking about long (or sometimes just long-ish) narratives, our class sessions are becoming more and more like a book group. (Without wine and Trader Joe’s-style nosh, alas.) We wonder “how’d she get that?” and try to think of answers. We ask “what’s it about” followed by “what’s it really about?” on everything now. We read aloud sentences we really liked. We talk about what works, what doesn’t. I’m holding forth a little more on HOW to do it — how to get people to talk to you. How to hang out. How to arrive in a new and strange place and ask questions. I’m finding that I can’t take notes for a recap AND lead the discussion.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Gene Weingarten, Jour494, Popular Culture Journalism class, Stephanie Hayes Tampa Bay Times, Susan Orlean, the Great Zucchini, The Shaggs, University of Montana School of Journalism, writing

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

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