Journalism Support

Today's the last day to enter the Journalism Open 2011

2011-01-31T21:06:14Z

The procrastination must come to an end. There are only hours left to enter The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011.

Entries must be published by 11:59 p.m. You must tag your article open2011.

There are hundreds of dollars in prizes waiting to be doled out to the winners. First place prize is $700, second place is $500 and there are cash prizes for photos, too!

If you would like to have your article copy edited, it must be sent to journalism@sacramentopress.com by 6 p.m. Any articles sent after 6 p.m. will have to be published without copy editing.

One last thing: there are three judges for this year's contest. One of the judges changed from what we announced at the Journalism Open Workshop. David Watts Barton will no longer be judging. The judges are Managing Editor Colleen Belcher, Copy Editor/Reporter Brandon Darnell and Recruiment Manager Casey Kirk.

Check out the splash page for any last minute questions. Below the page are all of the entries we've received so far for the contest.

The clock is ticking. Entries published after 11:59 p.m. will not be counted as part of the contest.

Winners will be announced Monday, Feb. 14 on our site.

Good luck!

How to enter photos that accompany someone else's article in the Journalism Open

2011-01-03T23:52:38Z

Many articles posted on our site are a collaborative effort, with one person writing the text and another person taking photos.

This brings up the question of how a photographer can enter his or her photos in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011 if the article has the byline of the writer.

To enter your photos from an article with someone else's byline, use this tag:

photosyournameopen2011

So if your name is Joe Schmoe, the appropriate tag would be: photosjoeschmoeopen2011

E-mail support@sacramentopress.com if you have any other questions.

How do I get another Storyline?

2010-08-10T00:24:36Z

All Sacramento Press community contributors are given four storylines when they first sign up for an account.

Some users never go through all four storylines. Most active writers will use up their storylines quickly.

To get more storylines, send an e-mail to support@sacramentopress.com.

Here are instructions on how to create a new storyline:

1. Click on the "Write" button at the top of the Sacramento Press home page.

2. This will take you to the screen that lists all of the stories you've written. Scroll down to the very bottom of this page.

3. You'll see that you have remaining storylines. Click on the button that reads "Add New Storyline."

4. Name your storyline and add a description if you'd like. This is NOT where you paste your article. You paste your article in the next page. After you've named your storyline, click "Create Now!"

5. This will take you back to the page that lists all of your articles. To write an article using your new storyline, click "Write New Article."

6. Make sure you click on the box next to your newly created storyline.

7. Once you've selected the storyline, paste your story in the content box below and publish as you normally would.

How do I fix an error in my story?

2010-07-19T19:37:51Z

Once you publish your story, it’s final, so we encourage you to save it as a draft or view it as a preview before hitting the publish button to make sure you haven’t overlooked any typos or mistakes.

That said, we all make mistakes, and we want your published work looking its best.

If you ever catch a spelling error, typo or spacing issue, send an e-mail to support@sacramentopress.com and we can fix it.

We also offer free copy editing. Send your story to journalism@sacramentopress.com, and we’ll get it edited and back to you within 24 hours.

How do I become a Sacramento Press editorial intern?

2010-07-16T20:04:47Z

At any given time, The Sacramento Press has six unpaid editorial interns reporting on local events and writing much of our daily content.

Editorial internships last 15 weeks and can earn students college credit. California State University, Sacramento; University of California, Davis; and other colleges have given units for students participating in our internships.

The internships aren’t limited to college students. Anyone interested in gaining more experience in journalism is welcome to apply for an internship.

What does the internship entail?

Our interns participate in weekly editorial meetings and are assigned multiple stories per week. Topics for stories range from previews of events to event coverage to exploring city issues. Most of what we cover falls in the Midtown/downtown area.

Interns are also expected to generate their own story ideas and work closely with the editorial staff to brainstorm ideas and edit their stories.

Many of the story assignments require interns to work in the evenings and on weekends. We provide digital cameras and digital voice recorders for the interns to use when interviewing people and attending events.

The weekly commitment is roughly 20 hours. We are flexible in working with your work and/or school schedules.

There will be no paper pushing or getting coffee for editors in this internship. Our editorial interns arrange for their own press passes, coordinate interviews, take their own photos and publish stories after making edits.

The editorial internship provides a solid foundation for news reporting in an online news medium. Upon completion of the internship, participants will have made valuable connections in the community and have developed a greater awareness of the potential for stories and how to pursue them.

How do you apply?

We accept applications and interns year-round. If you are interested in applying, send your resume and up to three writing samples to journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Writing samples can be clips from other publications, essays from classes or personal writing samples.

Political campaign fliers NOT from The Sacramento Press

2010-06-04T23:17:46Z

It was brought to our attention that mailers were sent out by the Sacramento Building Trades Political Action Committee with our name and logo.

The Sacramento Press had no part in it. We did not print the mailers. We did not write those words. The quote " We're being hoodwinked, bamboozeled, led astray, run amok as it appears District One candidate, Angelique Ashby, goes with the Hustle and Flow of dirty politics," came from an opinion piece, written by a community contributor on our site. We did not write or solicit the article.

Our site is a mixture of professional and community reporting. We have a small staff of paid reporters, but the majority of our content comes from the community without any censoring.

We want to make it very clear that we have NO part in this flier.

If you receive these fliers in the mail, they did NOT come from The Sacramento Press.

Thank you to those who called and came to our office to bring this to our attention.

Online journalism survey by Reynolds Journalism Institute

2010-06-03T01:34:15Z

For our readers and users who have an interest in online news sites and community journalism, we have a survey that we would like you to take.

Reynolds Journalism Institute is doing a research project on local news sites and online community. On their website it states their mission as "reconnecting journalists and citizens around the importance of journalism in a democracy, and using technology to enhance methods that help journalists reach citizens in many ways."

The institute is part of the University of Missouri and the Missouri School of Journalism.

RJI reached out to Sacramento Press to participate in their research and created a survey tailored to our site.

The survey has 36 questions, 22 of which directly deal with Sacramento Press. The remaining questions touch on current events and demographic information.

The survey will ask you about how useful Sacramento Press is, how you benefit from it, how often you visit the site, the quality of coverage, your satisfaction with Sacramento Press, and whether or not it is engaging.

It also seeks to get your opinion about online community, users interacting with journalists and commenting on articles.

It is completely voluntary and confidential. You have the option of leaving questions blank or stopping the survey altogether if you don't feel comfortable with it. You will not be contacted after the survey unless you choose to include your e-mail address.

If you can spare 10 minutes of your time to complete the survey, it will help with the research to improve journalism and technology to better serve you and news consumers.

Click on the link below to access the survey:

http://rjisurvey.sacramentopress2.sgizmo.com/s3/

Citizen journalism at work

2010-03-19T19:52:43Z

The Sacramento Press is a hybrid site of professional and community-contributed journalism. One recent event that we could not cover in-house is a perfect example of how citizen journalism works best:

One of our reporters, Kathleen Haley, was unable to attend a debate scheduled for Thursday night.

Our editorial department e-mailed a resident Haley had met at another event who had shown interest in the debate. This resident suggested that a friend of hers, Chris Shannon, who had already planned to go to the debate, write about it for The Sacramento Press.

We asked our interns to see who was available, but none of them were to attend either.

Chris Shannon e-mailed us and called to confirm that he could cover the District 7 debate.

He took pictures and wrote a great story.

We are very lucky to have community members who are willing to write about events and issues that affect all of us. Our staff is very small and it's impossible to cover everything in our area.

Thank you, Chris Shannon, for the great coverage and we hope this example will encourage more writers to share stories on The Sacramento Press.

Feb. 2, 2009 Intro to Journalism handout

2009-04-19T04:02:33Z

There’s news right under your nose!
Feb. 2, 2009
Holly A. Heyser, Professional Journalist in Residence, Sacramento State

Questions that help you find news

Do you see a problem that needs to be solved?
Is something happening that changes how you and your neighbors function?
Did you see an unusual event or happening
Can you see a new trend? (Magic Number: 3)
Is there an interesting new business or person in your neighborhood? (Or has one left the neighborhood?)
How are national trends (e.g., the economy) affecting you and your neighbors?
Do you know about something being planned?

So, what’s interesting? The test is this: Will you mention it to a friend or family member? If it’s worth mentioning to someone you care about, then it’s probably interesting.

What takes this from idle chatter to journalism?
FACTS. You have to know what you’re writing is true. This means you:

Observed it yourself
Were told about it in an interview with someone credible
Verified it with other sources
Found it in official documents

Two rules:

If you don’t know or can’t prove it, leave it out.
Even if you’re writing opinion, you must avoid presenting opinion as fact.

Writing
Getting ready:

Decide what you’re writing about.
Gather and make note of all facts that are immediately available. You’re looking for who, what, when, where, why, how.
Determine what you don’t know. If you can fill in the blanks quickly, great.
Think about how you would share this story with a friend or family member. What are the most interesting parts? They should be your focal point.

Writing

The lead of your story – the first paragraph – should provide key information to the reader. If s/he stops reading there, will s/he at least know what happened?
Write the rest of what you know in a logical order, which may be chronological or in order of importance.
Write what you don’t know. This can be a foundation for further research – or it can invite reader input that answers questions.

March 19, 2009 Interviewing Techniques handout

2009-04-19T03:56:22Z

The Art (and Science) of Interviewing

Martin Kuz, Senior Editor for Sactown magazine, March 19, 2009

Pre-Interview

Deciding what your story is about will help you determine what questions to ask. What are the primary points or themes you want to touch on in your story?
Who is your audience? Understanding who reads the publication you’re writing for – and what writing style that publication prefers — will also help you craft your questions.
Research your subject. Read what’s been written about the person. Depending on the story’s complexity, talk to other sources before you interview the main subject.
Prepare a list of questions and bring it to the interview. Ideally, you’ll have your questions memorized so that you can stay in the flow of the conversation, but the list can help if you forget a question or get sidetracked.
Practical matters: Pick a place that isn’t especially noisy (for taperecording purposes). Find out beforehand how much time the person has for the interview – you don’t want the interview to end with your most important questions left unasked. And always, always, always plan to take notes so that you have backup if your recorder malfunctions.

The Interview

Keep an open mind. Don’t assume you know how a subject will answer a question – you want to try to understand how he or she sees the world. But an open mind isn’t an uncritical one – don’t necessarily take everything a person says at face value.
Establish rapport. Some people are more comfortable than others giving an interview. But either way, you want to make the person feel less like they’re doing an interview and more like they’re having a conversation with you. Start with easy, open-ended questions that can’t be answered with “Yes” or “No” so you can draw out your subject.
Ask your questions and then listen. (In other words, don’t pull a Charlie Rose.) Remember: It’s the other person who’s supposed to be doing the majority of the talking.
Be patient – but not overly so. Always give your subject ample opportunity to answer a question because you never know what may
be revealed. At the same time, remember that this is your interview – if the person is ranging far afield on a tangent, don’t be afraid to (politely) interrupt and steer the conversation back to where you want it to go.
Save the toughest questions for last. If you plan to ask questions that might compel your subject to end the interview, wait until you’ve asked everything else first.
Don’t forget to ask for the person’s e-mail address and cell phone number if you don’t already have them so that you’ll have a way to follow-up if necessary.

Post-Interview

Don’t wait to transcribe your tape or go over your notes. It’s best to have the interview fresh in your mind when you review the tape or
notes for several reasons, including a) It will help you to more clearly see what were the most interesting responses, which in the normal flow of conversation can sometimes be missed; and b) You’ll have a better sense of what follow-up questions you may want to ask.
Organize your transcripts/notes into an outline so that you can see what topics and themes are most relevant and engaging.
If necessary, arrange a follow-up interview, making clear to the subject what points you want to delve into more deeply

Bringing Sacramento Press workshops to you

2009-04-19T03:49:13Z

It was suggested by one of the users of and contributors to the site that the Sacramento Press create a section where people can access the materials from the workshops that we hold. Many people who have been unable to attend the workshops have also requested copies of the handouts from the various workshops.

In order to better arm our readers with the tools that will help them write, there will be a section where all of the materials from the past workshops can be found. If you type in "SP workshops" in the search field, all of the articles and handouts dealing with our workshops will come up.

Also, in the future we will upload a video feed of the workshops, if people are interested, so that you can watch the workshops from your own home as if you were really there.

We still encourage people to attend our workshops, as we'd like the chance to meet you in person, however, we understand it's not always possible to make time in your busy lives.

If you have any other suggestions on how we can improve your experience with our site or feedback on how to make our workshops better, please email journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Sacramento Press workshop gets community writing

2009-04-10T05:19:43Z

Ballpoint pens wiggled, keyboards clicked and seven community members fought writer's block during the Intro to Journalism and Article Composition workshop at the Sacramento Press office Thursday evening.

Holly Heyser, faculty adviser for The State Hornet and professional journalist in residence for the Communication Studies Department at Sacramento State University, was on hand to help writers develop their stories and flesh them out onto paper.

Attendees brought ideas such as how to get a motorcycle license, what it's like to be a delegate for the Democratic National Convention, the Assembly bill that would legalize marijuana and the positive aspects of RT, among others.

Heyser gave basic advice about writing news stories and tailoring them to the Sacramento Press. She stressed the importance of good grammar, accuracy and breaking up your story into simple, easy-to-understand sentences and short paragraphs.

The headline and lead should also grab the reader's attention. Depending on the way your headline is worded, you might attract some people who are just searching on Google, according to Heyser, and even better, they might keep coming back to the blog or website.

Heyser also encouraged people to read their articles out loud after writing them.

As the workshop ended, participants walked away with stories in hand and the story-writing process know-how.

If you were unable to attend this workshop and would like to receive the powerpoint presentation, please e-mail journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Sactown magazine senior editor gives interviewing workshop

2009-03-21T00:15:49Z

Experienced journalists, students, photographers and community members delved into the art and science of interviewing during the Interviewing Techniques workshop given Thursday at the Sacramento Press office.

Martin Kuz, Senior Editor from Sactown magazine provided an in-depth approach to interviewing. Kuz has been a journalist for 15 years and has worked for alternative weekly and daily publications such as the Los Angeles Daily News, the Cleveland Scene, the Las Vegas Sun and has also been a staff writer for SF Weekly. He has won awards for a variety of stories, including a profile on Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson, the U.S. Military's reluctance to divulge details on non-combat deaths in Iraq and an investigation into the hardball legal tactics of Wal-Mart.

The workshop covered pre-interview preparation, during-the-interview techniques, and post-interview tips to make sure you get the most out of the time you have with your subject. Kuz shared his experience interviewing Mayor Kevin Johnson, Darrell Steinberg, and even a pedophile and the victim and family.

Attendees enjoyed food from the L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen. Many of the people who came for the workshop were former journalists and were looking to get back into writing.

Our next workshop will be held on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. It is perfect for those of you who have been intimidated or hesitant to post on our site. Geoff Samek, our editor-in-chief, will go over how to get the most out of the tools on our website. You can bring articles that you've been wanting to publish. If you have had any problems with our website, we can address and resolve them.

We will be serving food at 6:30 p.m. and will start the workshop at 6:45 p.m.

We hope to see you next week at our office, which is located at 431 I Street, Suite 107 in the Amtrak station. Please RSVP to colleen@sacramentopress.com.

How to avoid plagiarizing on the Sacramento Press

2009-03-11T23:38:42Z

While I was cleaning out my apartment over the weekend, I stumbled across a handout from my college days. I found it very relevant to what I'm doing now at The Sacramento Press, so I thought I would share it with our readers.

It was a handout on how to avoid plagiarism. Many of you may not take the time to read over these, but we at The Sacramento Press feel very strongly about credibility and transparency. While we are unable to fact-check and copy edit everything that gets published on our site, we still uphold a high level of integrity for our newspaper.

For those of you who may not be aware, we offer copy editing for anyone who wants to publish a story on our site. Simply email your article to journalism@sacramentopress.com and we'll send it back to you with edits.

If you have been unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, here's a few reminders, a refresher course if you will.

The tips below are taken from the UC Davis, Division of Student Affairs, Office of Student Judicial Affairs, Mastering the Art of Scholarship - which cites a section of J.R. Hendrickson's book, The Research Paper. Direct links to other resources on plagiarism can be found here.

What is the definition of plagiarism?
Plagiarism means using another's work without giving credit. If you use others' words, you must put them in quotation marks and cite your source. You must also give citations when using others' ideas, even if you have paraphrased those ideas in your own words.

Why should you be concerned about plagiarism?

If you plagiarize, you are cheating yourself. You don't learn to write out your thoughts in your own words, and you won't receive specific feedback from others geared to your individual needs and skills.
Plagiarism is dishonest and/or misleading, because it misrepresents the work of another as your own.
Plagiarism devalues others' original work. Using and submitting a professional's work as your own is taking an unfair advantage over students who do their own work.
It is wrong to take or use property (an author's work) without giving the owner the credit due. Further, copyright violations can result in damages, fines, or worse.

Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism

Use your own words and ideas. Practice is essential to learning. Each time you choose your words, order your thoughts, and convey your ideas, you can improve your writing.
Give credit for copied, adapted or paraphrased material. If you copy and use another's exact words, you must use quotation marks and cite the source. If you adapt a chart or paraphrase a sentence, you must still cite your source. Paraphrasing is restating the author's ideas, information, and meaning in your own words.
Avoid using others work with minor "cosmetic" changes. Examples: using "less" for "fewer," reversing the order of a sentence, changing terms in computer code, or altering a spreadsheet layout. If the work is essentially the same as your source, give credit.
There are no "freebies." Always cite words, information and ideas that you use if they are new to you (learned in your research). No matter where you find it - even in on the Internet or in an encyclopedia - you cite it!
Beware of "common knowledge." You may not have to cit "common knowledge," but the fact must really be commonly known. That George Orwell was the author of the anti-totalitarian allegory Animal Farm is common knowledge; that Orwell died at age 46 in 1951 is not.
When in doubt, cite. Better to be safe than not give credit when you should!

We will continue to hold workshops on journalism ethics, introduction to journalism, interviewing techniques, etc. We hope to arm our readers with as many tools as possible to improve their writing quality and our article quality. It's a win-win situation.

We hope that you will also take an active interest in keeping the content on our site honest and credible. The great thing about the comment section is that people can point out corrections if information is misleading or not accurate. The more people involved in reading an article, the more resources and knowledge bases are drawn together in one place. When there is a collaboration of resources, the more complete the picture is. No man is an island*.

Thank you for contributing to our site and for elevating the content of our articles by your commitment to integrity and by not plagiarizing.

If you have any questions whatsoever about what is considered plagiarism or writing in general, please email journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Sac Press ethics workshop covers libel, blogs, disclosure

2009-02-26T08:13:19Z

Just under 20 people gathered in a semi circle at the Sacramento Press's office to listen to a Journalism Ethics workshop on Wednesday night. Molly Dugan, assistant professor of journalism and communication studies at Sac State, led the workshop.

Participants enjoyed pizza and salad from Hot Italian and mingled with other professionals from various media organizations.

Dugan covered the basics of libel, public figures, honesty, accuracy and disclosure when writing articles. She encouraged writers to utilize public records and disclose their connection with the story - whether it be revealing that they have made a donation to the political candidate they are writing about in an article, or that they are married to a city official if it relates to the topic being written about.

She shared many of her own experiences as newspaper reporter and discussed the ethical implications of undercover investigative journalism.

Dugan also covered ethical writing in blogs, explaining that the same rules apply to personal blogs as news articles.

Two attendees tweeted the workshop as it unfolded, making the content available to all of those followers who weren't able to make it that evening.

The Sacramento Press will be holding many more workshops. We'll be sending out information soon for the next workshop in March. If you have any suggestions for future workshops, please e-mail journalism@sacramentopress.com

Thanks to those who came out to the Journalism Ethics workshop last night!