CSPCA+Portfolio+Project

Portfolio Project #2 CSPA Critique: Bradford October 2007

__//**Jeremy Granoff**//__

Overall Coverage 1. Publication emphasizes materials of consequence to most students... √ 2. Publication tries to each the whole school community... √ 3. Publication effectively combines background reading, direct... √+ 4. Publication furnishes students with information that has... √ 5. The publication puts its main emphasis on school news and... √ / √- 6. Events are analyzed, with an emphasis on why and how... √ 7. The publication projects a lively, entertaining personality. √- 8. Regardless of its format, the publication’s primary emphasis is... √ 9. Content shows the variety in the school community. A range of... √- 10. Content shows coherence, but not undue predictability. √ 11.Successive issues provide continuity in coverage of…	√ 1. The publication maintains balance between briefs and more…	√ / √- 2. News coverage indicates that the staff has made extensive and…	√ / √- 3. Advance stories take precedence over coverage of past events. √ 4. Reporters cover spot news along with relatively predictable…	√ 5. The publication expands some news stories for in-depth treatment. √ / √+ 6. Major stories sometimes run with sidebars that help clarify…	√- / X 7. The publication effectively covers the school’s curriculum. √ 8. The publication effectively covers student government, clubs…	√ 9. For student-related news outside the school, the staff thoroughly…	√ / √- 1. Features stimulate and reflect students’ thoughts and interests. √ 2. In features, the publication presents original, thoroughly…	√+ 3. When warranted, the staff expands coverage of single…	√+ 4. Features contain timely news pegs. √ 5. Personality profiles on students, faculty and others offer realistic…	√ 6. The publication covers students’ jobs, social service projects and…	√- 7. Coverage of school-related fine and applied arts programs…	√ / √- 8. Coverage of student opinion polls emphasizes a summary of…	√ 9.Only appropriate personal narratives are used. √ 10. Puzzles, jokes, horoscopes, gossip columns, etc. are omitted…	√ 1. Content reflects the diverse aims and objectives of competitive…	√ 2. The publication puts its primary emphasis on coverage of…	√ 3. The publication provides readers with information concerning…	√ / √¬- 4. Stories about varsity, JV and freshman sports include interviews... √- 5. The publication offers well-rounded, in-season coverage. √ 6. The publication covers opposing teams thoroughly. X 7. Any material about community, collegiate and professional…	√ 8. Coverage shows originality and includes related interviews…	√ 9. Coverage often includes summaries of statistics. It also…	√- 1. Editorials provide leadership through responsible comment on…	√ 2. Issues include at least one editorial based on a timely and…	√+ 3. Editorials reflect thorough research and suggest, when…	√ 4. Opinion coverage provides a useful forum though letters to the…	X 5. Each issue carries a masthead, which contains the schools…	√ 6. The publication presents reviews of student concerts, shows, etc…	√ / √+ 1. Writers consistently use style that is appropriate to subject matter…	√ 2. Fairness is a top priority. √ / √- 3. Attributions appear whenever warranted. √ 4. Third person predominates. √ / √+ 5. In stories and cutlines, people are completely identified. Full names…	√ / √+ 6. Publication distinguishes between formal titles and false titles. √ 7. Writing is concise. √ / √- 8. Staff avoids triteness. √ 9. Paragraphs vary in length and are usually short. √ 10. Successive paragraphs in a story do not begin with the same words. √ / √- 11. Sentence structure is clear and varied. √ 12. Subjects and verbs agree, pronouns and antecedents agree…	√ 13. Punctuation is correct and unobtrusive. √ 14. It is obvious that editors have meticulously used a stylebook. √- 1. Except in columns, letters, news analyses, reviews and editorials…	√ 2. Stories appear to be factually accurate and to contain information…	√ 3. Stories do not contain flowery language and unsubstantiated…	√ 4. Writers use a strong, plain style that facilitates understanding. √ 5. Leads do not begin with “a,” “an,” “the,” or other dull words. √ / √+ 6. Leads vary in grammatical construction, using as few words…	√ / √- 7. Stories are lively enough to catch the casual reader. √ 8. Stories stick to a central focus. √ 9. Stories contain transitions. √ 10. Writing style holds readers’ attention. √ / √- 11. Direct and indirect quotes appear early in stories and are used... √ 12. Stories reflect sound interviewing techniques. Writers…	√- 13. Writers do not “pad” stories with trite comments about interviewees. √ 14. Stories avoid summaries of general circulation material. √ 15. Stories avoid copying previously published material. √ 16. The active voice dominates the writing. √ 17. Word choice shows sensitivity to tone connotation. √ 18. School’s name or nickname is omitted except when necessary…	√ / √+ 19. End-of-story summaries do not appear. √ 1. Stories emphasize timely changes. √- 2. Stories are as free of editorializing as possible. √ 3. Leads emphasize the Ws and H that underscore stories’ impact…	√ 4. Stories about breaking news usually follow order of descending…	√ 5. The publication also uses featurized, chronological and…	√ Feature Stories 1. Stories show variety and originality in style. √ 2. Leads set the tone and the focus. √ / √+ 3. Stories develop a central idea. √ 4. Writers bring individuals to life with vivid details that show their…	√- / X 5. When appropriate, anecdotes add life to stories. √ 6. Interesting conclusions tie up stories. √- 1. Stories emphasize hows and whys and action. √ / √- 2. Leads avoid combining team name, school name or nickname…	√ 3. Seasonal coverage generally follows order of descending…	√ / √+ 4. Stories have strong, clear themes. √ 5. Style is colorful, but generally stays objective for straight…	√ / √+ 6. Columnists provide a refreshing change of pace and avoid preachy…	√ 7. Stories are fresh and lively; they avoid clichés and jargon. √ / √- Opinion Pieces 1. Editorials, which are unsigned and uninitialed, represent the…	√- 2. Editorials aim to influence members of the school community…	√- / x 3. Editorials are concise, logical and polished. √ 4. When editorials concern topics covered elsewhere in the issue, the…	X 5. Editorials published throughout the year show variety in structure…	√- 6. Reviews present incisive opinion based on thorough, learned…	√ 7. In reviews, writers support generalizations with specifics and…	√ 8. Review writers take their readers’ interests and tastes into account…	√+ 9. Through commentary that clarifies current concerns, columns…	√ / √+ 10. By putting the basic principles of journalism to work, columnists…	√
 * I.	Coverage**
 * News Coverage**
 * Feature Coverage**
 * Sports Coverage**
 * Opinion Coverage**
 * II. 	Writing and Editing ****Basic Journalistic Principles**
 * All Stories**
 * News Stories**
 * Sports Stories**

1. Headlines highlight stories and attract the readers’ interest. √ 2. Headlines reflect rather than create information and avoid…	√ 3. The most important words come first in headlines. √- 4. Headlines avoid overuse of school name, nickname…	√ 5. Headlines are written to avoid split infinitives, 	√ 6. Headlines use a minimum of capitalization and punctuation…	√+ 7. Kickers and drop headlines attract interest. √- 8. Cutlines contain enough information. They avoid stating…	√ 9. All photos and art are credited, and all photos carry their own…	√ / √+ 10. Cutlines avoid such clichés as “pictured above,” “are shown…”	√+ 1. Design gives prominence to the news in relation to its importance…	√ 2. Pages are designed to focus the readers’ attention on a major story…	√ / √- 3. Design is arranged so that readers can distinguish separate, unrelated…	√ 4. The publication arranges related stories and artwork in an attractive… 	√ 5. Photographs and other illustrations vary in size and…	√+ 6. Except in packages, the publication avoids such ineffective…	√ 7. Design stimulates reading of the entire publication without making…	√ / √- 8. Design is consistent and orderly, but adaptable enough so that the… 	√- 9. The publication avoids excessive white space and trapped white…	√+ 10. Internal margins are consistent. At least one pica of white space…	√+ 11. Publication uses the full potential of its production process…	√ / √- 12. Design approach corresponds to the publication’s editorial and…	√ 1. Designs of front pages indicate awareness of the readers’ first…	√ / √+ 2. An uncluttered nameplate includes the publication’s name…	√ 3. Lower half of the page is attractive and does not “gray out.”…	√ / √+ 1. All other pages carry folio lines that include the page number, the…	√+ 2. Facing pages, especially the natural fold, are respected as visual…	√ 3. Each issue has an editorial page. This page has no advertising, and…	√ 1. Action photographs of students in the news predominate. √ 2. Candid, natural-looking photographs get more emphasis…	√- 3. Photographs are clear and in focus. They have sharp contrasts…	√ / √- 4. Photographs are cropped effectively to the pictures’ centers…	√ 5. Subjects of photographs face related copy, not off the page or…	√+ 6. The publication makes use of maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams…	√- 7. Cartoons, comic strips and illustrations are attractive and…	X 1. Body type is easy to read. The basic column width has eye appeal…	√ 2. The publication makes longer stories look inviting through the…	√- 3. Avoiding clutter, the publication shows unity through its consistent…	√ 4. Publication varies headlines’ point sizes and/or weights…	√ 5. Cutlines are in a different type face from body type so that they…	√ 6. Borders and lines throughout an issue serve as appropriate frames…	√ Budget Analysis** Judges will allot up to 20 points to publications that report breaking…	Not Sure If publications are distributed free to students and report circulation…	√ Judges can allot up to 20 points based on whether the publication is…	√ Judges will allot up to 15 points if the publication has added more pages…	√ 1. Most ads contain photographs, logos and illustrations that contribute…	√+ 2. Individual ads and ad campaigns are of reader interest. √ 3. Ads are designed to sell readers specific products and services. √ 4. Advertising placement encourages readership and…	√ / √- 5. Ads’ modules are consistent so that all customers get the space they pay for. √
 * Headlines / Cutlines**
 * III.	Graphic Presentation**
 * Overall Format**
 * Page One**
 * Other Pages**
 * Photography, Illustrations and Informal Graphics**
 * Typography**
 * IV.	Business Operations
 * Circulation**
 * Frequency**
 * Flexibility**
 * Advertisements**


 * Bradford October 2007 Issue //Critique//:**

For The Bradford October 2007 issue, I feel that it is relatively balanced, as all sections seem to get a fair amount of space in the paper. I do feel however, that there needs to be a Letter to the Editor section where all members of the community, including parents and faculty that would like a say in an issue, can voice their opinions. Until this is done there is no guaranteed way for every voice in the community to have an opportunity to be heard, seeing as the Bradford comes out only once per month, and there isn’t a surefire way for every important news, sports, feature story, etc., to get into the paper. Another way to incorporate all of the voices in the school community into The Bradford is to have an e-mail newsletter, which would basically say: Dear Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so, The Bradford staff was interested if you know of any important Wellesley High School related issues that you would like to see put in the paper. These stories could include local school issues, sports and news stories. If you would like to have any input on this topic if it makes it into the paper, feel free to contact The Bradford’s e-mail at JohnSmith@Bradford.net, and an interview can be set up with you as soon as possible. Thanks again for your help and valuable input!

The Bradford This newsletter would be possible to make up by establishing an e-mail list from the paying subscribers to the paper. We could also place an ad in the paper saying if you would like to be included in the newsletter to contact The Bradford’s e-mail address to ensure everyone has at least the opportunity to have some input. As for writing style, I feel the two best things that The Bradford does are have solid leads, and avoids bias and editorializing. As for the weaknesses, I feel that they are mainly lack of creative writing for feature articles. I also feel that there isn’t very good description of people in the articles, descriptions that wouldn’t make the article too “flowery” or “colorful” but just enough to allow the reader to be able to picture the event happening (even though news stories are supposed to be straight to the point and short, I feel this would make them more interesting). Graphics and captions could always be improved, as they make the articles more interesting, especially ones with a ton of text and a small or boring picture. Polls are always interesting, as well as “Hot or Not” types of graphics and boxes. Finally the process of the producing The Bradford can always be improved, as writers still should be able to meet their deadlines and should have solid interviews with enough time to be able to write a solid article.