Q Using Inverted Pyramid Style Time for Try It #3, organizing the paragraphs in your news story according to the importance of their information, using newswriting's inverted pyramid style! Your next graded newswriting assignment will require you to write a full story using inverted pyramid style. For this Try It, you will practice how to organize meeting information into that organizational format of a hard news story: Select and open or download one of the following scenarios and using only its information, write a full story in inverted pyramid style: Meeting Story Practice Exercise10 (PDF) Meeting Story Practice Exercise11 (PDF) Meeting Story Practice Exercise12 (PDF) (To read the scenarios, you must click on each filename to open or download these PDF documents.) Please make sure you have studied and learned the news story-writing rules before attempt this Try It. Then, begin your story with a summary news lead of no more than 20 words and one sentence with a past tense verb in active voice that follows all of the rules you've learned so far. Use a nut graf (or "graph") for the second paragraph. If you need more help understanding the principle of a nut graf, please review these step-by-step instructions on how to craft nut grafs and this article on how to use nut grafs in hard news stories, both from the Poynter Institute. Write the rest of the story in inverted-pyramid style. Write only one or two short sentences in each paragraph. Follow AP style rules. If you quote someone, follow the punctuation and attribution rules for journalists. Use The Making of a Summary News Story worksheet in the Course Resources to help you organize your facts. Use the Checklist for News Stories in our course resources to edit your work. Attach your completed editing checklist (optional) to your Try It post. Make sure you use the scenarios provided in this Try It. Do not try to complete this exercise using a story you have selected from the news. Deadlines: Post your Try It by 11:59 p.m. ET Saturday. This will give your classmates time to offer you their advice by the Tuesday critique deadline, and it will give you a chance to revise yours at least once by the end of the academic week. To receive full credit for your response, make sure to substantively peer review at least two of your classmates' Try Its (more if you have time) and revise your exercise at least once. Objective: Development of the critical thinking skills needed to select appropriate facts for and construct a fair and accurate news story organized in an inverted pyramid of newsworthiness. Best practice: Before you submit your initial response to the discussion question, click "subscribe to this thread" beneath the message box. This way, you will receive and be able to respond immediately to notices that someone has commented on your remarks, which can help make these discussions more like conversations. A guideline for your critiques: Say what you like first, and then offer your constructive suggestions for improving each lede. Your advice should be friendly, encouraging, specific, and useful, even as you point out areas that need improvement. You must give at least one suggestion for improving each lede your critique. Don't worry about not being qualified to critique someone else's work. You're all learning. Share what you've learned with your classmates. Try looking in their work for the mistakes you've been making; this will help you to learn how to find and repair them in your own writing! Your Try It and your peer reviews of at least two classmates are required. Also: Please check back during the week to see what your instructor has written about your Try It and answer any further questions. If your feedback suggests your grammar needs a touch-up, you can refresh your memory of basic English grammar rules with JOUR 201's grammar practice exercise in the table of contents to the left of your screen or under the Activities & Assessments > Quizzes links in the course navbar before you submit your revised Try It. Best practice: Before you submit your initial response to the discussion question, click "subscribe to this thread" beneath the message box. This way, you will receive and be able to respond immediately to notices that someone has commented on your remarks, which can help make these discussions more like conversations. Keep track of those suggestions for improvement in your writing with an error log like the one in the assignment handouts are of your Course Resources. You can use it in your editing! (Response required.) - 30 - ©2022 University of Maryland Global Campus