Excellent questions for Jason. He was full of good advice: reaching the ‘canopy’ to test an idea, aiming for propulsion in your writing, and employing the first person as a guide to hold the reader’s hand (not dragging them). I also love how he pulled back the curtain a bit, confirming that, no matter how successful you become, it’s still really hard to come up with good ideas. And, regarding that cosmic graf in the Harrison story, “It’s possible that’s just some bullshit I wrote.”
For Next Week:
- Prepare for Warriors practice on Monday. More details at the bottom of this post
- Keep working on your stories. You should be deep in the reporting by now, and don’t forget that your ledes/written chunks are due in two weeks. If you’re struggling, let me know and let’s talk
- I’ll be sending a very brief survey around about the class. Please fill it out so I can best plan for the second half of the semester and make this class as valuable as possible both going forward and in years to come.
Warriors Info:
When: Monday, March 5th, 10:50 AM-roughly 2 PM
Where: Warriors practice facility at the Oakland City Center Marriott, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607.
Meet in the lobby of the Marriott at 10:50 sharp (directions below). Easily accessible by BART. We may be meeting with either Marcus Thompson, Anthony Slater, or both beforehand
Guidelines (some are obvious):
Please dress and act professionally. That means:
* No Warriors gear.
* No posing for pictures or selfies with players
* Keep in mind that you are representing not only yourself but also this class, me and the Cal Journalism program.
* No autographs.
* Bring reporting tools.
* Prepare ahead of time by familiarizing yourself with the team and protocol. The best way to do this is to keep current – watch the game against Atlanta on Friday night and/or read coverage and watch highlights. Look through the Warriors media guide, which you can access here. Read the bios so you’ll be able to recognize staffers and are familiar with all the players. Familiarize yourself with the personalities. As you know, the Warriors are an interesting, opinionated group. Just this week, two stories came out that touch on this. This one on Steph Curry and this one on assistant coach Ron Adams.
* Send me your cell phone #s in case we need to coordinate. Mine is 646-342-7072.
Goals: During the media availability (on the record), you can ask questions, take photos and participate in group interviews. Just make sure to follow protocol, which we’ll go over, keeping in mind that we are guests and that there will likely be many other working journalists there, some of whom are on deadline.
Assignment: Write down observations, notes, and thoughts as you go. When you get home, type them up, including your impressions, and email them to me. We’ll spend part of class talking about the experience. Length: 300-500 words is fine. At the bottom, list three (or more) story ideas the trip generates.
Beforehand: Familiarize yourself with the writers and reporters who cover the team including Connor Letourneau, Logan Murdock, Anthony Slater, Marcus Thompson, and Janie McCauley (who’s AP but often covers the Warriors; if she’s at practice she’s agreed to talk to our group).
ALSO: Prepare thoughts and questions, in particular for people we may be speaking with, including David West, Raymond Ridder, Steve Kerr, and Bob Myers.
Directions and information:
This is from the media guide. We’ll be going to the practice facility.
Storytelling Through Sports 