Cedarville students producing meaningful stories

When students begin to produce stories -- either written or through video or photos or some other means -- that go beyond the obvious, you realize they are beginning to see the bigger picture of what journalism can be.

In my advanced reporting for print class, it is starting to happen. We are studying "The Elements of Journalism" this semester as we always do in this class. Yesterday we discussed Chapter 8 (Engagement and Relevance) and the idea that the best stories are meaningful, relevant and engaging. The element of this chapter states "Journalists must make the significant interesting and relevant."

Learning to find deeper themes and meanings in stories will help all students and working journalists distinguish themselves as reporters. It's a learned skill that takes much practice.

My students this semester have certainly not arrived, but I am seeing steps in that direction from each of them as they apply themselves to the task.

Once I get these stories graded and they post them to the portfolio sites, I will post the links.