In his column on black kids' parents being the biggest gap in their learning, Tony Norman is quick to address that "A black child with a desire to learn is going to learn, regardless of some of the obstacles placed in front of them at school." He then says that the parents of these kids are more of a factor to their learning than anything else. He said that the missing element is the radical involvement of every parent of black kids in the Pittsburgh school district. He drives his point home with a quote near the end of the column. "A home with more video games than books is a home guaranteeing failure."
To get one of my articles published, I emailed a specific member of the staff at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. I researched all of the local news markets and decided that the Trib was the most logical choice for possible publication. I tailored my story by editing it a few times and trimming it a bit. As my article was a narrative, I added more detail from my night at the wrestling event. I also interviewed the owner of the company for the article. I felt like his words would be worth the most to my story. As stated above, I trimmed my article and added more detail to make it the best it could be. I sent the article to Justin LaBar, who writes pro wrestling articles for the Trib. I'm not sure if I'll get a response but who knows!
Trying to get works published as a novice writer is rather difficult in my opinion. The pluses include getting more experience and writing more to better yourself. Negatives include getting rejected more often than not but I'd say that's about it. Any writing you do is helpful whether it gets published or not. Experience is key. Of course, getting published is the goal for everything I write. Nothing will change that and any rejection will only motivate me to do better for myself and my writing.
I think personality is a very important part in writing. Whether it be creatively, journalistically, or academically, your personality will always be behind the words that you write. To write creatively, your personality should have some mind-wandering abilities for it to be a bit interesting. If your mind wanders at all, which it does for pretty much anyone, then writing with a creative mindset shouldn't be hard at all. Journalistically speaking, your personality helps most in the interview process before the writing even begins. Even writing down what questions you're going to ask the person you're interviewing are unique to you and the personality you have will show in those questions most of the time. Academically, personality is a tough thing to judge. If a paper seems like it's just fluff and random sentences put in to lengthen a paper then it shows that your personality doesn't really like to write sometimes. At least for a grade in a class is when I would run in to this problem. If I know I'm going to be published, I put all of my effort in to what I'm writing.
Dealing with skills that are needed to write creatively, an open mind is the first thing that pops into my head. Being able to separate real from fantasy is a key component in writing creatively. In journalism, accurate writing and correct grammar are key. The facts should always be 100% and no name shall ever be misspelled. The job of a journalist is to report nothing but the facts and those writing skills above are keys to that success. Academically, grammar, usage, and endurance are keys to strong writing. Grammar and usage errors account for more points being taken off of a paper than most people think. A great paper is a great paper. But a missed comma here and a contraction that is not needed and the paper becomes less than great. Also, being able to write for long periods of time is a key to a writers' success academically.
A piece I've written that blends creativity and journalistic characteristics in it is my narrative on the pro wrestling event that I attended. I had to report what exactly happened at the event but at the same time I had to be creative and show every emotion and describe the scenes with such detail that the reader could feel as if he/she were there at my side. I think 21st century writers WILL have to write and blend like this to be successful. Good enough isn't good enough anymore. Even when a piece is "completed," there's always more that can be written or added. By added, I mean adjectives to create a better visual scene for the reader, or more accurate facts depicting what exactly happened at the scene.
I have to expect the unexpected when it comes to my future in writing. I want to write journalistically but I've found a great deal of satisfaction in writing creatively as well. Who knows where that will take me in my future, but I'm definitely excited to find out.
As I prepared to write my narrative story for my Writing For Publication class, I had some doubts on how I was going to tell the story of one night at a wrestling event through my eyes in text format. I had never done it before and it presented quite a challenge to my writing abilities. Although I was nervous about that, I feel as if I was successful in writing the narrative. I now look at how I would have to change things up if I had to write an opinion piece on it and the many challenges of having to write it as a magazine article, full with interviews.
For an opinion piece, I would have had to place my own thoughts and bias towards certain things during the event and if I disliked anything, I feel as if I would be too brutally honest for some of the people involved with the event I attended. Everything isn't always picture perfect and I feel like it'd be obvious what my thoughts were when I would write it.
AP style usually gets incorporated into my process of writing when I'm writing something other than an article, which does get kind of annoying. I have to double and even triple check my words whenever I think there's even a chance that AP style would change it. Then I realize that I'm writing an essay, and AP style doesn't factor in. It also works the other way when I'm writing articles. I end up not being sure on something I've written because I used it properly in an essay, but it's not the same. AP style can be my best friend but it can also be my annoying best friend. It really can't make it's mind up.
A strong editor is one who is relentless when it comes to making an article correct. They strive for only the most thorough edits throughout an article or publication. Without editors, there would be chaos among writers who have a tough time getting their information out there without any errors. This is why the relationship between a writer and their editor is one that cannot be separated.
Even a nine page rap sheet could not deter prisoner Patrick Marinelli from stating that he is an “A+” counterfeiter as he was questioned by Assistant District Attorney Josh Carroll during his court hearing this past Monday, November 4. Marinelli, who stole a ring from his family, will serve three to six years for his counterfeiting offense, but not any additional for the stolen ring, as his family chose not to prosecute. As Marinelli left the trailer-esque court room, Carroll told the court room what he thought of him. “He's a sociopath,” said Carroll. “Characteristics of a sociopath? Vacant eyes, slouched down, no empathy. He'll be a career criminal.” This case of theft was one of a plethora of cases that Magisterial District Judge Joshua Kanalis dealt with during the morning session of court on Monday. For some, it might have been the first time those defendants had a court hearing. For others, like Adam Greenleaf, this was not their first time in front of Judge Kanalis. Greenleaf, who according to Kanalis has dealt with by him ever since he was a policeman, was in front of the judge for a retail theft charge. He stole $5 of sleeping pills at the Dollar General in California Borough on Oct. 7, 2013, and received a $165.50 fine and had to pay the $5 restitution back for the theft. Greenleaf could not pay the $5 and Kanalis gave him a final warning. “I've been dealing with you ever since I was a policeman. You're a troublemaker. It's disgusting. I've been in this business 15 years, and years ago, I had to arrest you for beating up on your grandmother. Your future crime will result in jail. I'll give you a fine. It's $165.50 and $5 for restitution,” said Kanalis. Greenleaf denied remembering that incident with his grandmother. As if the fine was not the tip of the iceberg, Kanalis walked into the next room where Greenleaf was to tell him that he is never allowed inside that Dollar General again. A common theme throughout the cases that Kanalis had to deal with was marijuana. Whether the drug was grown inside a residence for medical purposes (Monica Fullem) or the two cases of possession that were dropped due to a police officer not appearing (Cody Sowers, Cory Humphreys), Kanalis does not enjoy dealing with marijuana cases. “It is a real pain in the ass to process marijuana cases,” Kanalis said. The marijuana case that took the longest time to resolve dealt with Parish Middlebrook, who was being charged with possession of marijuana. Middlebrook, who is not a student at Cal U, was arrested at party off campus, and was offered a fine of $449.50, which would cover court costs and fines. If Middlebrook paid by the end of the week then he would avoid a hearing at the Court of Common Pleas in Washington, PA. After his family deliberated the option and decided they could not pay, they decided to waive the case to Washington so the fines and court costs will be increased heavily. Tara Brown, who was arrested for stealing from CVS in Centerville, waived her theft case to the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. Bronson Waite, who was charged with manufacturing, possession, and the intent to deliver Schedule 1 drugs, waived his case to court.
Five Cal U students, who were arrested after a fight at a house in California Borough, had their assault charges dropped due to all of the co-defendants refusing to testify against each other. The scene of Judge Joshua Kanalis' courtroom is nothing like the courtrooms seen on television such as Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown. The atmosphere was reminiscent of a sitcom with the Judge and District Attorney as the main characters, with some of the defendants as recurring characters. Although some of the cases dealt with people losing their freedom, the courtroom kept an overall good vibe and gave the observers a comforting view into their careers. As District Attorney Josh Carroll said, “It's nothing like what you see on TV."
We've got some beautiful plush surroundings and there are plenty of boxes to sit on.”
This past semester, I've learned how to cover stories of many different varieties. When I was reporting on the police reports, I learned that any and all incidents have and will occur at Cal U. I enjoyed reporting on the interesting things in the police reports such as a dispute over pizza. Whenever I got the chance to cover the school board meeting and the city council meeting, I got to see the inner workings of a school board and it was surprising how fast the meeting went. I was thinking it was going to take 3 hours to complete and it was only about 50 minutes long. In covering courts, I learned that the court room is not always what you might think it is. Especially the one we reported on. I thoroughly enjoyed reporting on the court session and I'd definitely do it again. This semester in general I've learned a great deal about reporting and deadlines. I had a story a week for one class while having a story every few weeks in another. At the same time, I also was in the process of writing a 16 page ethnography. This whole semester of writing made me crackdown on procrastination so I could turn in all of my materials on time. For any future students who wish to take this Newspaper Reporting class, make sure you don't overload yourself with more work than you can handle. It WILL get the best of you if you do not keep tabs on your workload. Especially if you are writing multiple stories/essays at one time. If you can do that, then you will find success reflected in your grades and a boost in your self-confidence that can never be duplicated.
Personally, I have no problem with using AP Style to write articles. I always try to improve my use of AP Style as it is the best tool we have as journalists. However, I've grown so accustomed to using it for my journalistic works that I have found myself using it for any and all papers that I have had to write. That aspect of it really grinds my gears because it makes me stop and think more about my other papers more than I need to. I guess it's just small potatoes and another complaint from an English major.
As I walked into the Washington County Court of Common Pleas on November 4, I had no idea what to expect. Would it be dull and boring with cases going at a slow rate? Would it be like Judge Judy? I had no clue but I was surely surprised as I sat in Joshua P. Kanalis' courtroom that those weren't the case (no pun intended). For around two and a half hours, I sat intently as case after case was looked at and the defendents.
Dan Mader is a junior at California University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in Journalism. He enjoys sports, professional wrestling, and listening to music. Explore more of his website at danmader.weebly.com.