Media Matters: Writing Conference

Yesterday I went to the Media Matters conference at UMass Boston with four other Watertown high students. When we arrived we got a string backpack. In it was a chocolate bar, notebook, pen, brochures and teen newspapers. There was also a book which had a short bio on all the guest speakers.

First I went Sports Stories--How to Get YOUR Angle. THe speaker was Bill Littlefield from WBUR show "Only a Game". He talked about stories he had written. He talked a lot about how football is a popular and powerful sport in the U. S. but it is very dangerous. A lot of football players have brain damage and die younger. He said it is hard to write a story against something so popular. Then he went on to say that athletes get tired of reporters. A reporter has to find a way to break through. Sometimes you have to risk asking a stupid question to get a good story. Although I thought his stories were very interesting he never really answered the question of how to get the angle.

Next I went to From Iowa to the White House. Derrick Z. Jackson, an associate editor for the Boston Globe, spoke about his experiences following the campaign trail. First he showed pictures of Obama that he had taken himself. The pictures looked professional and very close up. He said a speech Obama made on race helped him win the election. He said that if Obama had made one mistake in the wording of the speech he may not have been President. He said one of the hardest parts about being a political colomnist is not letting personal opinions get in the way.

Next I went to Investigative Reporting: From Documents to Door Knocks. Ric Kahn, Coordinator of Boston Teens in Print and former Boston Globe reporter took us step by step through the process of writing one of his articles. When we first walked in everyone was handed a laptop. The story was about a homeless woman who had died of a herion overdose. Suprisingly she was from the wealthy town of Wilmington, MA. We went of the Wilmington town website and found her house. This gave information about how many rooms were in the house. Next he said to go to the house to ask the family questions. Calling would make it to easy for someone to hang up. Unfortunately this family was not willing to give out much information so he turned to death certificates, marriage licenses and police reports. He said the more information you have the more people will give you. At the end of the class Ric Khan made everyone ask a question before we could leave. This was my favorite class because it was interactive and really interesting.