February 11, 2008 Archives

Full details TBA. In general, this exercise (2-3 pages) asks you to set personal goals for your growth as a student journalist during this semester. If you have taken EL200 before, multiple times, what can you do to make this class  -- intended to give you practical skills and leadership training -- worthwhile to the long-term good of The Setonian, and meaningful for you?

Be realistic, specific, and creative.

Use the Google News Elections page to find two different news stories covering the same event.

Write a blog entry that links to both versions, examining the differences.

1. How does each author show creativity, within the framework of news reporting? 
   
2. Use these stories to demonstrate your knowledge of some area of journalism -- accuracy, objectivity, clarity -- where the reporters differ. If possible, incorporate reader reaction to the articles.

Later tonight, Dr. Rosen will be giving a speech sponsored by the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education. I encourage you to attend.

What have been the various kinds of literary responses?

How have literary responses to the Holocaust changed from the time of the war to the present day?

How do the different languages of this literature shape the response to the Holocaust?

 These questions and others will be addressed in Dr. Rosen's presentation. Dr. Rosen lectures in Holocaust Literature at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Authority. He has also taught at universities, colleges, and middle schools in Israel and in the United States, as well as written a number of books on the subject, including Sounds of Defiance: The Holocaust, Multilingualism and the Problem of English.

I have invited Dr. Rosen to our class, so that you can have the experience of writing a local story (400 words, due as part of Portfolio 1) that uses Dr. Rosen as a source.  Don't think of your article simply as promotion for Dr. Rosen's speech -- by the time you publish your article, the speech will be over.  What angle can you come up with that will take advantage of Dr. Rosen's presence, in order to make a good news story on a topic of interest to our local community?

An obvious source for information is our own National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education.

The announcement about Dr. Rosen's speech came in the same press release that mentioned a related event:

 "A Taste of Judaism," a special three-part series for non-Jewish friends, unaffiliated Jews or interfaith couples will be offered at Congregation Emanu-El Israel, Main Street, Greensburg on February 10, 17 and 24, 2008 from 7-8:30 p.m. Rabbi Sara Rae Perman will teach the sessions which are sponsored by Reform Congregations of Greater Pittsburgh and the Unio of Reform Judaism. Admission is free and space is limited. For information or to register, contact TasteInGreensburg@urj.org or 412-373-1273.

I'm not requiring you to work this event into your story, but you might look up Rabbi Perman (you could use the Lexis-Nexis database at Reeves Library in order to search news sources within the past few years), see what sorts of things she typically talks to the media about, and try to contact her yourself.