News Reporting &
Writing
Event backgrounder
Lab Exercise
Lab Exercise - backgrounder
Brief background paragraph on the speaker, Alec Ross
(one or two sentences) NOTE: Do NOT just copy and paste
from existing material. That’s plagiarism.
- Pull this information from Factiva, Google, or
other search tools to research the background of the event.
Industry sites such as Columbia Journalism Review and
Poynter Institute also are useful. Be sure to cite sources.
(According to the New York Times…)
•
List at least five questions you would like to ask the
speaker.
Uses of backgrounders
To ensure you’ve done the necessary research
To prepare “boilerplate” for the final story in
advance
To use in writing a “curtain-raiser” story ahead of
the event
To understand the issues before the event, and be
better able to judge what’s “new” (hence: news)
Deadline
Deadline is the same: 10 a.m. Friday
Please email to kevinvoigt@netvigator.com Name
Word document and subject line: JMSC 0108
Backgrounder (Your Name)