Organizing a News Story

When you organize a new story, you should first tell who, what, when, where, why, and how. It should tell the main idea of the story and be well organized. Some tips are to focus on your topic. In the beggining, make it clear what the news story will be about. Get a catchy title and use easy words most people know. Don't be too wordy, be more to the point. Using direct quotes is good to use in your news story. And finally try to avoid throwing your opinion in there. A nut graph tell readers why the story matters. It tells the reader why they should read the story and is often found to contain the most important information in the news story.

Surtees

1) Hard News is news that must be published right away. It cannot wait. Soft News is news that is not necessary to be published right away and can wait. Soft news is usually about a trend, an ongoing event, or an interesting person. An example of hard news would be news on when the 9/11 first occured or a murder or kidnapping case. Soft news could be like reviews on a new phone or a well known person visiting your hometown. I would rather report on hard news. It is more interesting and more people want to know what happens so more people would be interested in what you reported on. A hard lead is for a urgent, breaking event. A soft lead is more indirect and more suited to feature writing according to Surtees. I would rather read a hard lead, because it seems like more of an attention getter and would have more interesting material to read.
2) Surtees says a good reporter likes to be surprised by multiple ways, such as, "meeting new people and learning surprising, unexpected--and sometimes amazing--things that makes reporting so rewarding." So he thinks there are multiple ways to surprise your readers. I like surprises sometimes. It depends on the surprise I guess.
3) I have not heard of the name Don Murray.
4) Some of the tip I read that surprised me was to simplify. I like when things are simple, but sometimes when writing I can get a little wordy when I don't need to be. So I think this tip will help me most and it will also keep the attention of my readers to understand what I want them to get the most of.

Volleyball

People who share an interest in volleyball can use blogs to communicate about different techiniques, coaching styles, defenses, recruiting players, rules, drills, etc. You can use blogs to help others share their ideas with others so other volleyball players can find different ways to play the game that would be most tactful towards their team and use the strengths of their team to their fullest potential. Blogging about volleyball can be resourceful to many players all over the world and help teams play to the best of their ability.