Sweeet.

I really liked writing my story. I feel pretty good about it, getting the interviews was the hardest part, because i was so nervous at first, but the more i kept doing them, the more i liked it. This has been a great way to explore whether or not i like doing this, totally in depth, and i really do. The whole process of it is really awesome, and in a way it builds your self-confidence because you can't be people shy. It just gets you out there. If i could write about anything, i would probably choose something that i can put my opinion in. Something that'll teach people about all the wonderful things there are in the world that have yet to be discovered.

This Too Has Passed

Another day, another eleven cents. Today's been strange for me. Along with last night, the passage of time has made the entire camp a family. Brothers, sisters, weird uncles, senile grandparents, quirky neighbors you only talk to when you get the mail-they're all here, and in abundance no less. I'm supposed to talk about my dreams of writing in the future-I like it, journalism that is, in particular, otherwise I wouldn't be here; my stories are good for my experience level and are as to be expected-but what interests me at this moment is the rate of assimilation here. Everyone knows everyone else. I have inside jokes with people I didn't know forty-two hours ago. I don't know if it's beneficial or not, but I find it extraordinary how quickly a group of complete strangers can come together, individuality paradoxically intact, and do amazing things only because they have a minute vague ambition in common. That's all; I guess it's just food for thought, but there you go.

See you guys back at the dorms,
Steven Dufour

P.S. I swear to God, if one more person asks me how to spell my name I will shove my name tag down his (his is simply grammatically correct; I hold no bias for gender) throat.

day number four

I liked my stories. For one of them I didn't have to do much research because I already knew a lot, but I had to do a good amount of interviewing for my second story and that gave me a wider range of experience and different styles of writing stories. I liked the process. Going out and getting interviews was fun and I feel like I learned a lot. I can say that I am satisfied with my final pieces. If I could write about anything, it would have to be sports if I was writing about news. But I would also like to write some features stuff because I like that too.

Jason

Thursday!

I did like my story. My article over Muslims in America was quite an exciting experience. There was a lot of information to be presented to show the injustices committed towards the Muslim community. To begin my article I had to interview many people. It delayed me a little bit, but it was worth it considering I received a plethora of useful, insightful information to aid me on my article. Although interviewing isn't my favorite duty of the journalist, it's the most rewarding. The final piece was adequate. I think it could have been better. Now having learned about news writing, I really want to exercise my editorial writing skills. A topic I would love to write an editorial about would most likely be immigration reforms.

Day 4

I really enjoyed my story assignments because they were all so interesting. My favorite was the Grady campers piece because it was so cool hearing what all the returning campers had to say and writing the story came really easy to me and my partner. The process getting the interviews was more difficult but it was still really fun. It was easier writing with a partner to get both of our ideas into the story which made it more interesting in the end. The overall three articles turned out pretty well for me and I put a lot of effort into them to make sure they would turn out okay. I think as soon as we recieve the papers it will pay off all the hard work we have been doing this week. I wish I could have written more about entertainment because I'm really in to pop culture.

Day3

So, first of all yesterday was the best day yet. Pauly's is my new favorite restaurant because it serves my new favorite food: crepes! When we got back from downtown we worked on our articles into the night, fueled by those tiny cupcakes. As much fun as this class has been, I really have decided that I would be more suited for feature writing. I think it's far more interesting than "just the facts". If I could write about anything it would probably be arts, some science, and current events the way I percieve them. However, I am proud of my piece, and I cannot wait to see our final product. This has been a pretty awesome week, I really can't believe that it already Friday. Tomorrow is the last full day!

Day 4: N.E.W.S. (Never Ever Without Swag)

Well last night, I finished my second story and I finished my 2nd and a half story today. I really like all of them. I feel happy about my product and I believe it will be very beneficial to my portfolio for colleges. I like the newswriting process a lot. If you have the chance to write about something you like, then it makes it a lot more enjoyable. That's why I was happy to write about sports. If I could write about anything, it would be the meteoric rise of the word "swag." It really has taken on a form of itself and now it's virtually unstoppable. I think that would be a pretty legit article. As a result of newswriting, I'm going to be Never Ever Without Swag, which comes out to be N.E.W.S. which is pretty dope if you ask me.

Be N.E.W.S.

-Alex Lewis

THURSDAY!

My stories were pretty good. I liked my article about single-sex education because I got to use some humor. My story about campers and their musical talent was okay, it was a little dry though. I loved my article on the vending machine because it was funny-ish.

If I could write about anything.... I would write about....something. I have no idea what I would write about but I do know that it would be an opinion because those are my favorite. I would probably write an opinion on something that I could make into a satire but my brain is fried like chicken so i can't think of anything.

If it had to be a news story I would write about...probably Weiner just because it would be funny or our buddy Arnold Swart. because that would also be funny.

Getting Better

So, I've found out that this may be the weirdest type of, well...type for me to grasp. I'm two real days into writing news and I pretty much have the main concepts of organization and style committed to memory already. Granted, it's not immediate; both articles have taken several hours to create a first draft, but it's generally correct. I guess I don't really know how to just write informally like blogs demand (FYI, this is the first blog I've ever read, let alone paid attention to or studied). What can I say, though? Formality has been crammed into my head since third grade; I never had a chance.

Right, I'm supposed to write about my experiences in news writing though, which is, well, none up until now, and you guys probably have experienced this along with me. It's mostly new with pieces of familiarity and memory scattered here and there, but I'll get it with time.

So, I realize there was no real point to any of that ramble (I'm on my way to being a good blogger!) and it doesn't really matter anyway. I guess.

Peace,
Shalom,
Praise Allah,
Buenas noches,
Ari Vaderci,
Semper Fi,
Ciao,
ayyyyy dawg, latuh mayn,

Your friendly neighborhood superhero,
SteVen DuFOUR
aka scuba steve
aka sexy steven
aka that white dude
aka pretty much anything else as long as its shouted in my general direction

Writing my thoughts together

When I write, I use the stream of conscious technique. When I write news articles, I restrict it, but i just write what feels natural.

When I begin to write an article, I like to have some research and interviews at  hand to bang out something to start with. Most of the time, everything I write is usable.

News writing is pretty new to me... as I am writing my 3rd and 4th articles ever here at Grady. Yet, I feel like I have gotten the hang of it, but you, my friend, will just have to wait for the Grady Generation (rumor has it, that's the name of the paper) to come out.
Well,
I'm all "writed out"
Jaclyn :)

third day

I haven't really learned too much that I didn't previously know, but doing this is making me better at news writing. The thing that is most hard to figure out is how to organize my articles, where to put certain information and quotes. That takes the most time after I have all my information. I am trying to work faster and more efficiently.

Jason

Day 3

I'm going to be a news editor next year so the class is helping me learn how to set up a news story correctly. I've learned how to conduct an interview and other skills. The hardest part is doing the research for what ever I'm writing about. The style of writing is really easy because all of the information is in front of you.
-Molly

Any Way You Want It

Sorry for my title it's a tribute to my camper buddy Kori!

Anyways... I am supposed to blog about what I have learned and what has been hard and stuff. Hmm... I have learned how to effectively interview someone and how to blend quotes better.

The hardest part? My organization. I am way to ADD to put my paragraphs in the right order, it's just not going to happen but I will try to organize my thoughts but I'm not promising anything.

What makes it a great way to write? Well normally when your article is organized it flows better and makes more sense which is always good.

Okay so ways the newsroom workflow can be divided...I mean each person should have an equal amount of work. I think it would be helpful to have a person who works on setting up interviews.

Okay that's all. Peace out cub scouts!

-Caity

Day 3: Yo, Sum It Up For Me

Today, I finished my first ever article. I was surprised by how fast it took me to finish, but I'm glad that I finally have something to put in my portfolio. I've learned how to make an article consice, but also fully descriptive. I had to edit my article over and over again until it could near 550 words, which was my goal. I ran to and from the printer over and over again. It was worth it though. It was hard how to figure out how to shorten it down, but it turned out good. I really enjoy newswriting and hope that I can continue to learn more as time goes on.

The swag is still in effect.

-Alex Lewis

Hello, may I ask you a few questions

For my two news peices that I shall be writing this week, (I just finished one, WOOHOO!) I must muster up the courage to interview people and gain research. But, that shouldn't be too hard as I am a very friendly and outgoing person.
I interviewed the Dean of Grady College at UGA, Cully Clark, about the gap between prosperity and poverty in Athens today during his annual press conference. My questions really provoked his thinking at 10 am in the morning. Yet, I got my questions answered and my news story rolling.

I am also writing a peice about teenage unemployment and the the job search. I had to think of a way to gain research besides study online. So, I polled 53 students asking them if they had a job, were looking for a job, or did not want a job in the near future.

Then, I had to interview them about how they were affect by having a job or not. It really wasn't too bad, because I shared some common experience among those who I interviewed. My first interview kind of hit a wall when all I was really able to get out of her was where she had applied and that she needed money.  Later in the day, I learned to manipulate the question to get the answer I wanted. Let's just say I am very content with came out of my interviewee's mouths.

When interviewing an important person such as the Dean of Grady College, it can be very nervewracking. I am sure that I wavered over my name, but by the time I started my question, I had gained my composure back.

Now, I want to ask you some questions:
Have you ever been interviewed?
Were you nervous on the other side?

Well, my advice to anyone who is being interviewed, is take a deep breath and don't worry about saying something stupid. You're only human.

Day2

So, yesterday, I didn't exactly realize that all of my fellow Gleeks would be reading this. Sorry for the essay. More tomorrow, but I thought I'd just take this ocassion to say: HI GLEEKS!

Day 2- HOLY CRAP INTERVIEWS!

These interviews are INTENSE! It's not so much the questions as the actual organization of the interview itself. I've been on the phone with three different offices on campus and emailed two professors-I've gotten two responses-TWO. It's kind of difficult to write two credible stories with only one viewpoint each. So the next day and a half is going to be hell with all the driving, talking, writing, typing, re-typing, and further re-typing. So far though, I've found it's incredibly difficult to not ask "yes/no" questions, for while these are the easiest to ask and answer, quoting a "yes" doesn't exactly help an article about the effects of storm damage. From my limited experience, my only tip to prospective journalists is to converse, not to simply talk; an interview flows much more smoothly if you can have a conversation with a friend as opposed to a Q&A session-it's easier to remember quotations as well.

Tuesdayyyyyyy

The process of gathering information is harder than you think. When first starting my article, I thought it would be an easy step to getting my article started. It's now the second day, and I'm still working on it...
I've faced the challenge of this news writing class, because usually I do creative writing and feauture writing to where I can express how I feel about a certain topic. With news, you just state facts and let the community know what is going on. At my high school, I am the business and public relations manager in my newsmagazine, so coming to this camp and having to write is a whole different experience to me.
I have not yet has the opportunity to give someone an interview, but what I do know that is questions like, "Do you like tomatoes?", they get you no where but to a dead end.

Dos Dia

INFO! INFO! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

That's what "The People" are looking for. They're looking to be in everybody elses business. They want to get into your emotions. See how you're feeling & what you think. They want to get into your thought process.

What do I want to know?

How do you feel about your education?

Was it different coming to America from another country?

Is the learning different?

The teaching?

The kids?

The culutre (Of course it is)?

How am I oging to get this information?

BE NOSEY!

There's no other way than getting information than being all up in somebodies space.

Asking them question after question after question.

Not everybody wants to tell you what they had for breakfast or what they're going to do when you're not with them, so honoestly what really akes you think that they want you to know about there past?

Answer: You don't.

You never know until you try.

You never know until you ask.

Don't be afraid.

When I was in elementary school I had long beautiful hair and people, the kids I went to school with, would always ask me, until this very day, "Oh Kourtney, what're you mixed with?" or, "You're hair is really pretty are you mixed?" my favorite, "You're really light skinned but you're mom is dark, are you mixed?"

They're thinking in the mind set of "Well, if she won't mind answering, it's not offensive."

So, since the approach isn't anything that is life threating, I answer them.

So it shouldn't be any different with an interview. When I went to ask Joe if there where any foreign students on the UGA campus he answered me, and come to find out there were. I wasn't really shocked, they just weren't in sight.

Interviewing just seemed like it was going to be hard, but honestly it didn't. The questions just seemed to flow. They came naturally.

Day 2! One Step Closer

We've begun to think of several names for the newspaper. I think the names Glee Street Journal or because we're located on Hooper street we could be Hooper's Bazzar or Grady Gazzete could catch a reader's eye. I don't think that we should really stick to the Glee Theme for the name of the newspaper but maybe we could incorporate it into our graphics, like the table of contents could have musical notes. I'd write more but I'm a little pressed for time. Journalist Out!

Brain Block Baby

So our little sheet thing says to think of a name for our newspaper... yeah well I just dumped all my creativity into my articles so I cannot think of a name.

For the new section of the paper we could call it like "Looking Out" kind of like looking outside of ourselves or our dorm rooms or whatever cliche you choose. The whole point of news is to inform others so its like "looking out at the world around you" but that would be way to long so I thought "Looking Out" was good.

Today I did a lot of interviewing which was fun. None of my questions really ended in a dead end, I tried to make sure that I had an open ended questions. I tried to provide background information so that the person would have a clear idea of what I was looking for.

When interviewing people involved in music I got good responses from the question "What do you like most about the music you produce or instrument you play?" and "What is the hardest part about your music?" And also asking how they got involved with music and so on.

Umm...yeah I really have nothing else to say so stay cool gleeks. Keep on gleeking on (Lame I know).

-Caity

Day 2: The Swag Continues

Today, I conducted my first interview. My interview was with UGA's All-American punter David Butler. I was highly nervous, but he was real cool and really made the interview process not as bad. I came across this interview by contacting him over Twitter which just shows how well social networking can connect people. For example, it was able to bring an awkward kid from Mint Hill, NC in contact with a stud All-American football player from the University of Georgia. Only with social networking my friends, only with social networking...

The only real problem I came across when interviewing was being able to write down everything he said, but I feel that it's something in which practice makes perfect. Every question that I asked was able to pull out a great quote that helped in the writing of my paper. I really could see myself doing this as a career after college and even doing it in college. Camp has been really fun already and the crazy thing is that it's only halfway through Tuesday.

And the swag continues...

-Alex Lewis

second day

Getting information to put in my story wasn't too difficult. Because I know a lot about basketball, and closely followed the NBA Finals, I was able to pull information from what I already know and combine it with some statistics that I found online. I only interviewed students, so I wasn't nervous, and they gave me some great quotes. A simple question like "What are your thoughts on the Mavericks winning the finals?" got me great answers.

Jason

Day 2

Getting information for my story is pretty easy because everything was all on one website and it was easy to find everything I needed to know. I learned a lot of new information about my subject and it was cool to piece everything together. My interviews weren't as stressful as I thought and the tips we learned yesterday helped me get more interesting answers from the people I talked to. One question that got a lot of answers was "What makes In-N-Out different from competing chains?" They were willing to add on to what I asked which actually gave me more usable quotes. This is going to help me improve my interviewing on my school staff next year and hopefully make it less nerve-racking!

-Molly

Gleeky Geek

Hi All!


 My name is Jaclyn and I am a rising senior. I am ecstatic to be attending Grady College this summer to augment my journalistic skills. I go to a performing arts high school; therefore, my schedule is jam packed with performing arts credits and I have not had time in my three years to cultivate my journalistic talents. That is why I came to to Grady Glee. This upcoming school year, I have found time to fit my school newspaper in to my schedule. I want to have some backing and experience when I begin and Grady Glee just seemed to be the best match.

Now, I'm here, in a room with a big conference table surrounded by computers eager to begin and learn about how to write the ideal news piece. I also want to learn about feature and editorial work, but that can happen later. This week is all about hard news and interviews.  I am ready to learn how to become a journalist and to explore new techniques. Writing is a passion of mine and I hope to improve my writing and come away from this program with an edge. I don't know what that edge will be yet, I'm just looking for that unique aspect that only us Grady Glee attendees will have.

Until tomorrow,
Jaclyn

KWL

Over the duration of this camp, I hope to grow as a writer. I have written for several audiences in an even larger number of formats, but journalistic writing has evaded my fingertips up until this point. It is what I hope to pursue in college and later in life, so this week is crucial to my future. My goal, specifically, is to master the layout of news writing. Past essays and English projects have not yielded the experience necessary to create material sufficient for a news outlet. I want to adapt to different audiences, learn to interview correctly, and to combine my preceding experiences to develop the skills of an amateur journalist, hopefully to be further modifed in the future.

Sweat Bullets

This summer I planned on learning how to broadcast since that was my initial field of interest, but since I'm in my class for News Writing I might as well try it. Like they say don't knock it 'till you try it. Right?
I mean what could be so hard about this? I'm nosey enough. Always asking why, why, why?! So it shouldn't be that hard to learn "How To Be Nosey" tips from a news writer herself.
(Laughs to self)
But I don't really know what to expect to learn besides dig into peoples private life.
Talk to a complete stranger who's using the stall right next to you.
Ehh, (shrugs).
Like I said, it shouldn't be that hard.
Well besides the fact that if you need to contact somebody REALLY bad, I don't want to come off as a stalker and follow them on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Myspace, ect.
How can I do that without giving too much information, or those really bad conversation killers.
(Which I hate.)
"Okkay""Oh":Yeah"
(Sigh)
How to livin' up an interview/conversation.
Like that one Tom Cruise interview. That was a good one.
(Panicing) I have an interview tonight (phone-phew).
What do I ask?!

Day1

This week I look forward to learning how to become less biased when presenting information in a piece. I am primarily a feature writer at my school newspaper; therefore, I tend to have trouble transitioning when it comes time to writing a straight news peice that does not require an oppinion. Somehow, I always seem to attempt to spice up a story by giving my oppinion, whether it is at the end or woven through the information itself. This will be the perfect opportunity for me to target one of my biggest weaknesses.

First Day

Classes started today. We looked through different newspapers, including the newspaper for UGA. We learned a little bit about news writing, and then brainstormed different article topics. Throughout this week, I hope to learn the ins and outs of news writing, and add new knowledge about the subject to what I already know. I also want to practice going out and interviewing people to get information for my stories, and perfect my skills of blending research and prior knowledge together to write the best news article possible. This experience will enable me to bring back what I learned here and observed how other people do things to my high school newspaper and make changes and improvements to it. Although I will be the features editor, not the news editor, they are similar and I can use what I learn here to do the job well.

Jason

Georgia Journalism Academy. Glee...Day 1.5

Even after my first day of classes I'm already excited and just a little frightened by the fast pace at which we're expected to work, but I believe that this camp will help me to adapt to a world of journalism where deadlines are king. I enrolled in news writing because one thing I'd like to learn is how to present the hard facts of a story without writing with a monotone voice. I'd also like to develop a sharper sense of which sources are reliable and which ones I should walk...no, run away from. I would love it if the camp could help me gain a sense of ease when I'm conducting an interview. It has been drilled into my head that you must be proffesional when interviewing someone but I would still like to be a little more personal and poised as well as learning how to squeeze the most out of the answers that I receive, which are sometimes little more than, "uh huh...yeah....I ate that sandwich weeks ago." Not exactly riveting news. I hope that as a camp we will grow closer together and produce best newspaper that one can possibly publish with five hours of sleep and a diet of chocolate and pizza. I'll update more if I survive the upcoming rollerskating fiasco. Signing out, DAY 1.5! :)

It's Monday...not Friday, sorry Rebecca Black

This week I hope to learn how to let my voice shine through my writing when writing a hard news article. Instead of writing a cliche and boring article that every other journalist in the world is writing about, I want to make mine that one article that stands out in the pile of paper. I would like to focus on interviewing because I am not a strong interviewer, especially when I do not know the person that I am interviewing or if the person is extremely boring.

I want to become better at writing articles that everyone can relate to and that everyone wants to read. Through my writing I want to promote change within humans or cause them to feel more compassion towards others. Some people in the world are not aware of what is going on around them and that is just stupid, like seriously people, take your head out of the hole in the ground, you are not an ostrich, you can't hide from the world!

Most of all, I would just like to improve my skills and get ideas from other campers about how to make my schools newspaper better because no one reads it which is really sad because our staff puts a lot of hard work into it.

Just in the few short hours of class that I have been in I have learned a lot. I now know how to interview others better without looking like a creeper, which is always helpful. I have also learned that UGA has really hard beds but whatever.

Day 1

I hope to become a much better writer this week. I'm very excited to learn more about interviewing and the actual news writing process. I think this will be very beneficial to me as I go into my senior year in hopes of being a journalism major in college. I feel like I know a lot more than I knew before (which isn't saying much) just in a day of being here. I can't wait to see where I am by the end of the week. Well, that's it.

Stay Classy Gleeks.

-Alex Lewis

Day 1

Today we went over local Georgia newspapers and national papers and chose certain quotes to read aloud that grabbed our attention. We also thought of different story ideas to contribute to our camp's paper. It was interesting to hear what other people were interested in going in depth about. I offered up a story idea about the increasing of In-N-Out Burger restaurants across the country which I found to be easier than I expected because of all the information online. I think interviewing will be more of a struggle for me because it will be hard to find people that can talk about that certain restaurant especially because they live on the opposite side of the U.S. I would like to improve my interviewing skills because quotes are very important to a news story. I want to also like to work on my layout of the story itself and make it more organized and stick to one subject. This will help me as a news editor next year for my own school paper and I will be able to make sure my peers are using correct format and this will help me be a leader.

-Molly Mannes