I am worried that I don't understand how the Event draft is to be set up. My google doc will not open. Can you help me?

I have looked under numerals in the stylebook, and I am not able to find a definate answer. I know I am to use the same type of numbers in the same body graf, but what about the whole article? I have dollars in a previous graf but in the next graf I am adding in percentage. The statistics only come in percents because its on interest rates and it varies per account. Hope that all makes sense!

Thank you,
Emma

Okay. Thanks.

(Department of Transportation) is how you change it - parenthesis delineate that you are simply clarified something, not that you've changed it...

Great, thanks! Also, my source abbreviated the Department of Transportation in his quote as "DOT." The AP Style Guide says that DOT is okay for second attributions, but his quote is the first time it is mentioned. Should I change his quote to spell it out instead?

@Emily: Absolutely!!! That is a GREAT resource. Good job!! *pats back*

Can I quote Rep. Oberstar from the speech he gave on the House floor about his antitrust immunity bill? The speech is on Thomas attached to the bill.

So my first major interview is done - that was the most painful and grueling experience I've had in a while. Besides that one time I had to do an in-class interview. :-) I was completely blown away by the amount of information I got - I'd prepared my list of questions and I have no idea if I even stuck with any of them, as I kept just asking question after question that popped in my head as they came up. Amazingly enough, my interviewee was answering some of the questions I had even before I had asked them as we went along. I'd go back to make sure I was still going in the right direction with my interview and realize he just answered 4, 5, and 6 without me having to push him in that direction. I'm hoping that's a good indication that I was on the right path with my questions. I was so worried I'd blow the interview or he wouldn't be as knowledgeable as I'd hoped on the subject, but that was definitely not the case. He had some fantastic insights that will definitely help me get a better focus on what I'm doing with my story. A couple issues I had - I would blank out from time to time, as I was trying to scribble furiously and make sure my notes are coherent and beneficial, but I didn't want to leave my interviewee hanging and feel uncomfortable in the ensuing silence after his answer. (Although at one point, the silence technique, though not planned, completely worked - he felt compelled to fill one silence in with a totally new insight that I hadn't even though to focus on). I conducted my interview by phone, so I tried to record the conversation on my phone but discovered it beeps continuously throughout the conversation so I had to stop recording and rely purely on my note-taking skills. One of the hardest things to deal with is I'm so focused on my questions and trying to get everything down on my end that I begin to lose track of what they're saying and end up feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I also stumbled through few questions - tried to ask three questions all at once, which confused my interviewee at one point. I'm hoping this gets easier as time goes on. Regardless, it was an amazing experience.

@Becky: That is amazing to hear. I'm starting to get more stories like that. You dig and dig and dig + good things happen! You guys are rawking the JOU 220!

my brain feels like goo, but after much digging and stalking, I got a hold of some interesting sources and great material for my story (or my brain has deteriorated to the point i'm filled with optimistic delusions ... either one)!! + + much positive freaking out + +

@Brittany: That's what I'm talking about dawg!!!!! Do a little digging and you can find out anything you want.

@AshleyB: I can't help until you've tried. EVERYTHING isn't important. Summarize it down into digestable pieces. (yummy!)

I dont know how to decide what to cut out of my background to get it down to 2 paragraphs

I have good news! Regal Entertainments, leader in the movie theater industry, is having an open conference call next week, haha :D They're going to be releasing it's 2008 and fourth quarter (so far 2009) financial status. Sounds like a cool scoop, yipee. ^_^
Figured the freakout zone deserved a positive freakout. ^^;

@Brittany: I did a google search of "movies, box office, domestic, 2008" and: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_dis...

You can find info and other sources there...

Can't find any info anywhere about the fiscal 2008 year regarding the general movie industry, and barely any regarding the top companies since their fiscal year ends in March, weirdos.
There is a "State of the Industry" speech from their convention last March, but that would only be great if I had info from this past year.
I feel like I'm making this a lot harder than it's suppose to be, I was really sure of myself before yesterday. *depressed*

@Becky: work contact info is absolutely fine!!!

Okay, so hopefully I'm leaving this comment correctly. Guess we'll find out. *ahem* So here's one of my concerns - I managed to get through to a store director of Circuit City who is willing to be interviewed (my pitch is based on the events surrounding the Circuit City stores closing) and wanted to use him as my source, since I will be interviewing him. However, when I began to ask for contact information, he was not forthcoming, and I ended up getting only a number (the store number) and a name. I will be attempting to procure this information from him again at a later date (namely tomorrow), but before I do, I would like to get some suggestions - what if my source doesn't want to give this information? I didn't want to get too pushy and come across as invasive at risk of him not willing to be interviewed, so .... what would be the best course of action to take? Any suggestions? ... Merci.

Okay, you wrote, "See the Google doc for proper attribution" on my pitch, and I did. However, nothing on that Google doc applies to me. It gives how to attribute specific quotes. Everything I wrote is in my own words--I just got my information from an Associated Press article and the actual Antitrust Immunity bill. So, I don't know what you're talking about.

not so much of a freak out... but... i never received my pitch back from you with any remarks on it. Was it emailed or what home-fry?

Thank you so much! I will do that I have been working on it for ahwile now. I will send it in a bit!

@Emma: If you want, send me what you have and I'll take a look at it. Yes, you need to focus your background just a little bit. The background should be specifics on your story. Don't freak out :) When you do a little more work, let me see it - or call me later tonight

@Brittany: yes :) but you did, so yay!!!

Hello. I am FREAKING OUT. Everything is GREEN that you sent back to me. sigh. Is there a certain number of paragraphs that I need? I took off work today and spoke with each person I am interviewing. However, I am having my interview with them next week. I have all of their contact information and know that they will let me interview them. I am just worried that I don't have enough information that you are looking for.

This thing really does work. I am feeling better just by venting.

Well it's a good thing I waited for an answer before sending it then.

E gads, never ask that last question!!! *sighs* Don't explain to them what your questions intend, you should have specific questions.

Find out, for instance, from a trade association, how much people have spent last year (and the last few years) - so you can say, there is a downturn (with those facts). How have you been dealing with the changing consumer spending habits? or What steps is the company taking from a business perspective to deal with the changing consumer spending habits...

What you wrote her -- eek! no.

Well, yes, in my first e-mail to her I did say, "regarding the state of the movie theater industry in the context of the economy." And in another e-mail I made it more specific to directly National Amusements. I'm sending her a reply e-mail saying, "I intend for my questions to be more related to the partial selling of the stocks in Viacom and CBS and the selling of the stock in Widway Games and possible plans for the future. If I am not on the right track with these questions, perhaps you could inform me as to what is going on in the company and what questions I should ask."

Is that a good idea?

@Brittany: I'm not sure what the context is and what you asked them. Expound :)

Freak out #1 -

"I believe that you indicated that this was related to the economy and how it is affecting the industry. Our company is private, and we don’t share information like that in a publicly."

-from my human source.

@Liz: Nope you have to list people who have agreed to talk with you; we've covered this a few times in class. You can't just throw down people. You have to be sure you can get them. If you have three people and none of them talk to you, you will receive a zero on the paper. Your sources are a part of the pitch.

Tomorrow is a draft, though.

Ok....we do not have to actually have talked to our sources yet right? We just have to list the people who we plan on interviewing?

@Emma: Awesome, you should talk to them all and then see which ones fit in your story. Remember, 3 body grafs/3 points. In a real story, you'd use each one for one point.

@Mike: you need to get them. Call them. When you turn in your final pitch, you will HAVE to use the people on your list per our discussion in class. Try to find more than just one person.

@Kaylyn: We answered that offline :)

What should I do for tomorrow if the human source I tried to get has not responded yet? Should I just bring in what I do have and go from there?

What should I do if the person I tried to contact has not responded before the business pitch is due tomorrow?? I know one of the other sources is going to be some census data, but am figuring out the third tonight sometime.

I'm doing mine on how the economy has affected local banks. I found a press release on LexisNexis. Is it okay for me to do more than one Bank or should I focus on one or two. (I have three and have managers names and their websites) I just wasn't sure if we had to focus on one business or we could do several.

thanks :-)

Test

Ok, I'm freaking out. I am planning on doing a story about some clothing stores that are closing because of the "economy" but as I have researched this idea I have found that they might be going bankrupted. I still have a little bit of digging to do to find which it is but My question is this, I contacted the clothing store that I want to focus on and they wouldn't give me ANY names or anything! I finally talked to this one lady (don't worry, I got her name) and she gave me the corporate phone number. When I called there was no answer...I don't know what to do at this point. I have no real person for a source as of now.
HELP! :/

@Scott: You have to tell me what the story will be about; you can't waffle back and forth. You have to figure out what story you are trying to tell (library use has changed because of the economy - the story can shift, but you have to tell me WHAT you will be writing about. Give it a shot. These are drafts - but don't waffle)

@AshleyB: You have to be specific. Quantify + Qualify EVERYTHING!!!!

Second freak out......
even though I am writing about something kind of broad and focusing on one local company I should be specific and use the company's name that I am writing about and not just say "companies" right?

Thanks. That makes sense.
I'm not sure how to write the proposed hed, the proposed dek and the idea so that it doubles as the lede without speculating, though. Let me be more specific about what I'm doing. I want to write about how more people are using libraries now that the economy has gone to hell. I've found news stories saying that this is happening in other parts of the country and I want to see if it's happening in Newport. I have government figures that say that the Campbell County unemployment rate is way up (proving, I think, that the recession is affecting locals) and I have investor relations information saying that Barnes & Noble is selling less stuff. I've also had the Newport library manager and the Newport Barnes & Noble manager agree to talk with me about circulation and sales, respectively. If the trend is reflected nationally, that will be one hed, dek and lede. If not, it's another. I'm not sure how to make this work in my pitch.

@AshleyB: Excellent. No one left behind.

@Scott: The background is simply you doing research on your topic and finding out Layer I information, including the history and what has come before. You'll need to write that out + within that, you should have the basic three points you'll be covering.

That's a few grafs (and yes, you should attribute ALL of your information.

A point you bring up: I NEVER, EVER want you to speculate on anything. You are TELLING me what you will write about. This isn't a collegiate research paper. This is a newspaper story. Everything is grounded in facts + you tell me what story you are going to tell.

Great question dude

I'm not quite sure I understand what goes in the Background, especially the attribution. Should we attribute other news stories we looked at for research?

Also, should we be speculating on what interview sources will tell us or should we be talking about what we plan to ask (as in, "I hope to learn if this national trend is taking place on the local level")?

awesome! very helpful! thanks!!!

I know for instance that Oakley has used this type of inventory system for a long time. You might start off by using Google to find companies and businesses that do such things - scan the articles + then use those companies and keywords in Google News. From there you should be able to narrow your search.

I guess that would be helpful hahahaha. I wanted to write about companies going electronic, like having electronic work orders and automated inventory, and what kind of impact that will have on the consumer (maybe?). There is a small local award making company that is doing that right now that I was going to focus on. I've found one good article on LexisNexis, but other than electronic medical records I've been kinda stuck.

@Laura: You may not always be able to find something on Lexis, so I would search the Northerner site + find out what they have written. There's a good chance there's going to be something :) If not, look for press kits or informational packets from the university. ANYTHING that has information.

@AshleyB: I'm not sure "what" you are writing about so I can't help. Can you be a little more specific. Give me a few keywords or phrases about what type of business you are working with.

Good job, both of you!!!!

Ok, so here's my little freak out. I know what I want to write about and who I am going to interview and all those goodies, but I was trying to find articles about other businesses doing the same thing to get some more information, and I've hit a giant brick wall.

I have tried to look on Lexis Nexis for background on NKU Bookstore but having some trouble. Anyone got any ideas or some helpful suggestions ?

Woohoo!!!!! This web thing really works.

Yep, I think I've got it. Thanks!

You'll see on the Google Doc there is a section on "attribution'; if there isn't a person - you'll use the "according to"; in your pitch, you'll simply give me the name of the report, if there is a link include that :)

Did that get it for you? (and thanks for being the first to Freak Out!!! Woohoo! I love it)

How do we identify sources that aren't people (news stories, bills, etc.)?