Title Details

Patricia Osborn combines experience in education and professional journalism in her background. After majoring in journalism in college, she held positions as newspaper reporter, state editor and advertising copywriter before entering the field of education to become the adviser of award-winning high school newspapers as well as teacher of English and department chairman in Toledo, Ohio, public schools.
Her published works include Reading Smarter; How Grammar Works (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.); Poetry By Doing; and Finding America. She has written articles, short stories and poetry for such magazines as Educational Digest, Gifted Children's Magazine, School Arts, Fine Arts Discovery, Builders, and TV Guide.
Additional experience includes editing an award-winning newsletter, doing volunteer public relations for jazz organizations and serving as judge for the Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association's annual newspaper contest. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English and Journalism Educators Association.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Osborn was page editor of the BG News and assistant editor of the yearbook. She also has taken post-graduate course in television writing and production.

Acknowledgments iii

About the author iii

About this resource iv

Unit 1 Gaining Perspective, Gaining Control

1-1 Priority and progress assessment 5

1-2 Staff application 12

1-3 Application for editor and staff positions 14

1-4 Code and contract for staff members 16

1-5 Staff manual: Job descriptions 19

1-6 Reporters' special duties 26

1-7 Special duty assignment sheet 27

1-8 Portfolio contents 29

1-9 Progress report: Special duty assignments 30

1-10 Daily staff diary 32

1-11 Purpose and advantages of publishing a school paper 34

1-12 How medium affects message 39

1-13 Dialogue box: Your chance to speak out 50

1-14 Checklist for fine-tuning your paper's coverage 52

1-15 It's the law! Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier January 13, 1988 57

1-16 The student press as public forum: Right for schools and students 60

1-17 Sample policy statement 61

1-18 Mission statement 64

1-19 Ground rules for reporting sensitive and controversial issues 65

1-20 Controversial and sensitive issues: What course to take 67

Unit 2 Newswriting Workshop

2-1 Beat coverage of clubs 76

2-2 Coverage form: Department chairpersons 79

2-3 Get the essentials in every summary lead 147

2-4 Organizing straight news, inverted pyramid style 155

2-5 Copy editing via symbols 173

2-6 Steps for organizing complex news stories 178

2-7 Getting your features in focus 206

2-8 Preparation of copy 270

2-9 Tracking sheet 271

2-10 Interview evaluation request 272

2-11 Reporter's assignment sheet 273

Unit 3 Newspaper Layout: The Sense Behind the Style

3-3 Designing reader-friendly copy blocks 287

3-13 Guidelines for marking dummy layouts 295

3-14 Writing effective headlines 305

3-15 Newspaper headline schedule 306

3-16 Character count chart for writing headlines 310

3-19 Headline assignment form 314

3-21 Guidelines for avoiding layout pitfalls 318

3-39 Photo assignment sheet 341

3-40 Photo identification form 342

3-41 Guidelines for better news photos 343

3-51 Guidelines for creative cropping 349

Unit 4 Managing to Find Time, Finding Time to Manage

4-1 Ten reasons today's school newspaper is a vital tool for learning 353

4-7 Letter to potential advertisers 368

4-8 Request letter to past advertisers 369

4-9 End-of-year thank-you for support 370

4-10 Advertising contract 371

4-11 Invoice 372

4-12 Glossary of keyboard shortcuts for computer commands 381

4-13 Glossary of shortcuts for keyboard-generated icons 382

4-14 Self-checking critique: 100 points for judging school papers 384

Appendices

Appendix 1 Glossaries for Desktop Publishing and Journalism 395

Appendix 2 Style manual 399

Appendix 3 Ideas for stories, ads, money raisers 404

Appendix 4 Resources for additional information and support 407