Most times when a teacher brings his or her spouse to a class, it is more of a shameless plug than it is a legitimate learning experience. Yesterday was not one of those times.
Mira Lowe is the senior editor for features at cnn.com, specifically overseeing the entertainment, travel, lifestyle, health, and tech verticals. She came to speak to her husband's, Herbert Lowe, Journalism 2100 class and discuss the ins and outs of profile and feature writing.
I anticipated a question-and-answer type interview, similar to the one my class had done with Herbert Lowe a few weeks ago. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the class progressed into more of a lecture. She went into detail on how projects such as "ATL 24" and "Sandy's Story" were created and all the work that went into them. She discussed how to use photography and video to enhance a story, but that neither should be dependent on the other. My class is fortunate to learn from someone who was once a professional working in the field, but to hear from someone who is there now and is facing the same struggles we are and will be facing in the future, that is special.
Lowe used examples from projects she supervised to show the importance of incorporating social media both in the story itself and to market it and build anticipation. Whenever she spoke it was like a switch was flicked in my head. It all made sense, because it was all true. The biggest question that young journalists have is how to get people to read their work. Lowe outlined all of it in her presentation. The use of original video, photos, social media, and most importantly finding unique stories.
Perhaps Lowe's most useful advice was how to get those interesting stories. "Finding something unusual," Lowe said, regarding her takeaways from one particular story. "Paint a portrait of the people or the place you're in and get there ahead of the competition." She also talked about the importance of meeting with subjects face-to-face and that building trust with subjects allows you to get them to open up.
Lowe summed up feature writing best when she said, "We try to focus on how we we relate, how we love, how we interact with each other." Those were inspiring words for the young journalists in the room and brought an end to a lesson that will not soon be forgotten.
Mira Lowe is the senior editor for features at cnn.com, specifically overseeing the entertainment, travel, lifestyle, health, and tech verticals. She came to speak to her husband's, Herbert Lowe, Journalism 2100 class and discuss the ins and outs of profile and feature writing.
I anticipated a question-and-answer type interview, similar to the one my class had done with Herbert Lowe a few weeks ago. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the class progressed into more of a lecture. She went into detail on how projects such as "ATL 24" and "Sandy's Story" were created and all the work that went into them. She discussed how to use photography and video to enhance a story, but that neither should be dependent on the other. My class is fortunate to learn from someone who was once a professional working in the field, but to hear from someone who is there now and is facing the same struggles we are and will be facing in the future, that is special.
Lowe used examples from projects she supervised to show the importance of incorporating social media both in the story itself and to market it and build anticipation. Whenever she spoke it was like a switch was flicked in my head. It all made sense, because it was all true. The biggest question that young journalists have is how to get people to read their work. Lowe outlined all of it in her presentation. The use of original video, photos, social media, and most importantly finding unique stories.
Perhaps Lowe's most useful advice was how to get those interesting stories. "Finding something unusual," Lowe said, regarding her takeaways from one particular story. "Paint a portrait of the people or the place you're in and get there ahead of the competition." She also talked about the importance of meeting with subjects face-to-face and that building trust with subjects allows you to get them to open up.
Lowe summed up feature writing best when she said, "We try to focus on how we we relate, how we love, how we interact with each other." Those were inspiring words for the young journalists in the room and brought an end to a lesson that will not soon be forgotten.