News-reading assignment

Read newspapers or newspaper-based websites every day, and set aside stories you like.

At the end of the week, pick your three "best of the week" favorites and write this short report. Use The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Roanoke Times, your hometown newspaper, or a paper from a large city where you would like to live.

DUE Tuesday, Feb. 5

In Word or another editor, create a document named
"YourlastnameInitial-news1.doc" (or .docx, .rtf or .txt).

Example: SmytheT-news1.doc (later reports will get higher numbers)

On the first page, put your name at the top left, then the date you wrote the report, then list three interesting and well-written news stories you have read during the week -- online or in print.

For each story, include

  1. One sentence answering the Question of the Week. For this first assignment, the question is simply "why did you find this story interesting?" ("I read this story because it is about dogs/banjos/tattoos and I love dogs/banjos/tattoos." "I read this because presidential debates are important.")
  2. The original headline.
    "Radford residents, dogs enjoy new dog park"
  3. Web address of the story, or its publication, date and page number. (http://blogs.roanoke.com/theburgs/features/2012/08/24/radford-residents-dogs-enjoy-new-dog-park/)
  4. The first paragraph of the story, in quotation marks.
    "RADFORD -- Radford Mayor Bruce Brown drew inspiration from Mayberry's most famous deputy, Barney Fife, Wednesday as the city of Radford opened its new dog park, Sparky's Run, on Pulaski Avenue."
  5. A one-sentence summary in your own words, especially if the first paragraph is not a summary of the main point of the story. Check your spelling and grammar!
    "Radford students, the Rotary Club, a former police chief's family, a real estate company and other community members helped turn a firing range into a new dog park."

(Note: Often, but not always, the headline and first paragraph of the story ARE a summary. Sometimes the headline is more of a "tease" or the lead paragraph is an introductory scene-setter anecdote. In that case, a summary sentence generally appears a few sentences later and is sometimes called a "nut graph.")

For now, email yourself a copy of your report so that you will be able to get at it in class on Tuesday. Add a Cc: to "rstepno@radford.edu"; use a mail subject line of "coms104 reading."

Watch the class website and Desire2Learn for future news-reading assignments. They won't be required every week, and they won't always be a simple search for "most interesting" stories; they may be on specific topics (e.g., campus news, election news, city government, police).

See the home page for more notes: http://www.radford.edu/rstepno/104