“News Writing and Reporting,” Chip Scanlan and Richard Craig. Second Ed., Oxford University Press

“Reporting for the Media,” John R. Bender, Lucinda D. Davenport; Michael W. Drager, Fred Fedler. Tenth Ed., Oxford University Press

“The Basics of Media Writing,” Scott A. Kuehn and Andrew Lingwall. CQ Press

“Writing and Reporting News,” Carole Rich. Seventh Ed., Cengage Learning

“The Responsible Journalist,” Jennie Dear and Faron Scott. Oxford University Press

“news peg.” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/news-peg

These are suggested activities for use in your Lab courses.

Which is more newsworthy? Why?

1. At a local high school a student backs his car into the front of a passing school bus. No injuries but the rear of student’s car is crunched and sheet metal crumples onto a wheel. The bumper on the bus is just dented. The student’s car now blocks the exit out of the parking lot.

2. A motorist tries to beat the yellow light at an intersection by a high school, crashing into the side of a school bus packed with students. Five students with injuries are transported to the hospital. Police arrest the driver after administering a field sobriety test.

Exercise: Go to a news website (it can be sports, business or politics but not entertainment or lifestyle) or watch a TV news show. Review the content on the home page, opening up some of the stories you find interesting. Pick two stories. Based on what you learned in the chapter, what made these stories newsworthy?

Exercise: Go to a news website (it can be sports, business or politics but not entertainment or lifestyle) or watch a TV news show. Review the content on the home page. Find a story that is an example of the news peg. Briefly defend your choice.