Early in my academic career, I made a decision that seemed fairly minor and local at the time, but it turned out to be enormous and to change the entire trajectory of my 38 years teaching at the college level. I had come to the University of Alabama’s Department of Journalism in 1978 and had • Read More »
Archives: Writing for the Mass Media
Writing for the Mass Media now an all-digital offering from Pearson
June 13, 2015 | By Jim Stovall | Comments Off on Writing for the Mass Media now an all-digital offering from Pearson | Filed in: journalism education, textbooks, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.Writing for the Mass Media, now in its ninth edition and in print since 1985, is now being offered by Pearson, the publisher, in a digital edition that downloads to all formats and devices. This book, which is used as a textbook for courses in about 200 colleges and universities each year, is one of • Read More »
Writing for the Mass Media used in 180+ schools in 2013
February 3, 2014 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, Home, journalism, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.Here’s where Writing for the Mass Media, now in its eighth edition, was used as a textbook in 2013.
Writing good tags should be part of the journalist’s writing process
December 19, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: Home, journalism, journalism education, teaching journalism, web journalism, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.At minimum, tags should include
• all of the proper names and places referred to in your story;
• major ideas and concepts of the subject of the story:
• important actions and processes referred to in the story.
Avoid the exclamation mark! (audio)
November 19, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: Home, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.Deeply into the process of revising the eighth edition of Writing for the Mass Media into the ninth edition, I have just composed the following paragraph on exclamation marks. Listen to the audio below and read more by clicking on the headline above.
Inverted pyramid checklist
October 8, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: writing, Writing for the Mass Media.Before giving you the checklist, we encourage readers to play slots baby whenever you feel bored. They offer many kinds of games from poker, slots, jackpots and many more. So let’s go back. When you write an inverted pyramid news story, use the following checklist to make sure that you have done it correctly. Information • Read More »
Batchgeo.com: Getting data onto a map
May 24, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: Writing for the Mass Media.Getting data onto a map has never been particularly easy — for reasons I don’t understand. But things are getting better. A few weeks ago I tried something called Batchgeo.com. It’s extremely easy. You paste the geographic data you have in an Exel file into a window on the website, and in a few seconds you have a Google map that identifies the location of your information.
Writing for the Mass Media (8th edition)
May 11, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: Writing for the Mass Media.For more than 20 years, Writing for the Mass Media has been introducing students to all of the basic forms of media writing: the inverted pyramid for print, the drama unity form for broadcasting, summaries and other specialized writing for the web, copy platforms and storyboards for advertising. and news releases and other forms of writing for public relations.
25 random things about me
February 8, 2009 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: JPROF, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.Now that the 25-random-things rage on Facebook is about spent, it’s about time I got in on it. Here’s what I just posted. 1. I keep bees. That usually starts a conversation. 2. The TNJN.com kids make me look like a wizard and a genius every day. I am in awe of them. I wouldn’t • Read More »
JPROF celebrates fourth anniversary
December 31, 2008 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: beekeeping, books, JPROF, Writing for the Mass Media.The last day of the year holds a special place on the JPROF.com calendar. It’s the day in 2004 that the site went live. Thus, we celebrate our fourth anniversary today. The site has come a long way from that small study and cold winter in Emory, Virginia, where it was first conceived and built. • Read More »
Memo to self: Writing projects and beyond
November 21, 2008 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.SELF-INDULGENCE ALERT: Warning the following is about what I have been up to lately. Not for the faint of heart. Now that I’ve ushered one big writing project out the door, it’s time to assess and indulge. A couple of things are done, but a couple of others need attention, and some things loom on • Read More »
A seventh edition
May 20, 2008 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, textbooks, writing, Writing for the Mass Media.A textbook that goes into multiple editions can be like a child who grows up but doesn’t leave home. Textbooks can be funny things. If you write a textbook, you want it to be widely adopted so that about four years later the publisher will ask for a second edition (because, while your royalties don’t • Read More »