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Essentials in Online Storytelling (2024)

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  1. Introduction

    Welcome
  2. Keynote Speaker & Guest Editor
  3. Get Ready
    Get Oriented
  4. Upload Your Profile Photo
  5. Complete Your Student Profile
  6. Explore the Course Group
  7. Assignment Vision & Guidelines
    Come Prepared
  8. Learn On Assignment
  9. Access Learning Resources
  10. The Story Innovation Framework
  11. How to Submit Assignments
  12. Submit Work Samples
  13. Receive Feedback
  14. The Power of Storytelling
    Why Storytelling?
  15. Let's Talk about Popcorn
  16. A True Story
  17. Storytelling Culture
  18. How Your Brain Responds to Stories
  19. The Hollywood Perspective
  20. Journalistic Storytelling
    Journalistic Style
  21. Imagine a Journalism Career
  22. The Power of Blogging
    Where is Blogging on the StoryInnovation Canvas?
  23. The Power of Blogging
  24. What Exactly is a Blog?
  25. Why Blog?
  26. Own Your Topic
  27. Be Specific
  28. Getting Started
  29. WordPress Can Do More Than Just Blogging
  30. Know Your Audience
  31. Identify Your Target Audience
  32. Create a Customer Persona
  33. Should I Use a Byline?
  34. Blog Often & Link with Others
  35. Perfectionism is the Enemy
  36. Write Like You Talk
  37. Be Specific & Write Short
  38. Choosing a Title
  39. Blogs Evolve
  40. Assignment: Develop an Audience Persona
  41. Assignment: Envision Your Blog
  42. Cultivating Curiosity and Finding Story Ideas
    Cultivating Curiosity & Finding Story Ideas
  43. Novelty & Mystery
  44. Questions Inspire Curiosity
  45. Question-Asking Exercise
  46. Childhood Curiosity
  47. Start with a Question
  48. Topics vs. Story Ideas
  49. Digging Deeper with the 5 Whys
  50. Assignment: Find 20 Newsworthy Story Ideas
  51. Evaluating Newsworthiness
  52. News Values
  53. Timeliness
  54. Proximity
  55. Localizing News
  56. Prominence
  57. Conflict
  58. Impact
  59. Oddity
  60. Interest
  61. Creating Story Proposals
    Completing Your Story Proposal
  62. Planning Stories
    From Story Proposal to Planning
  63. Interviewing
    Learning from Master Interviewers
  64. Three Keys to Interviewing
  65. Follow-Up Questions
  66. Probing Questions & Preceding Statements
  67. Taking Notes
  68. Pro Tip: Practice Taking Notes
  69. Finishing
  70. Writing Compelling Leads
    Writing Compelling Leads
  71. Lead or Lede?
  72. Types of Leads
  73. Good Reporting Leads to Good Ledes
  74. Frame the Lead Early
  75. A Promise
  76. Tips for Writing an Effective Lead
  77. Leads to Avoid
  78. Creating Transitions
    Why Transitions are Important
  79. Understand Your Story's Structure
  80. Four Basic Transitions
  81. Designing Effective Transitions
  82. When Transitions Fail
  83. Formulating Powerful Endings
    Writing Compelling Endings
  84. Endings Do Three Jobs
  85. Types of Endings
  86. Barriers to Writing Good Endings
  87. Attribution
    Attribution - Who's Doing the Talking?
  88. What is Attribution?
  89. How to Attribute Sources
  90. Why Said or Says?
  91. Using Quotes
  92. Why Verify a Quote?
  93. Paraphrasing
  94. Interrupted Quotes
  95. Organizing Attribution
  96. Attribution by Hyperlink
  97. Tips for Punctuating Quotes
  98. Verify Accuracy
  99. Partial Quotes
  100. Incomplete Quotes
  101. Quotes Missing Information
  102. When Should You Attribute?
  103. How Accurate Does the Quote Have to Be?
  104. Structure, Unity and Tone
    Each Story Has a Unique Shape
  105. Structure, Unity & Tone
  106. Journalism Before the 20th Century
  107. A New Invention Changes Journalistic Style
  108. Understanding the Inverted Pyramid
  109. The Inverted Pyramid
  110. Inverted Pyramid Example
  111. Analyze an Inverted Pyramid Example
  112. Activity: Order the Facts by Importance
  113. Basic Components of a News Article
  114. The Hour Glass
  115. Narrative
  116. Unity
  117. Unity: Point of View
  118. Changing Perspectives
  119. Unity: Tense
  120. Navigating Time
  121. Unity: Mood
  122. Balancing the Need for Showing and Telling
    Story Structure Checklist
  123. Show vs. Tell
  124. Why is Showing Important?
  125. The Difference Between Showing and Telling
  126. Transform Telling into Showing
  127. Choose the Most Significant Details
  128. Prioritize Showing
  129. Introducing Characters
  130. Study the Masters of Showing
  131. Show in Context
  132. Don't Fictionalize the News
  133. The Showing Equation
  134. When to Tell
  135. Eradicating Clutter from Your Storytelling
    Eradicating Clutter
  136. Clutter in Everyday Life
  137. Clear Thinking Equals Clear Writing
  138. Tip: Combine Sentences to Simplify
  139. Remove Clutter with a Simple Process
  140. How to Simplify
  141. Developing and Verifying Sources
    Whispering Chain Sources
  142. Where is Source Development on the StoryInnovation Framework?
  143. What is a Source?
  144. Primary & Secondary Sources
  145. Being an Eyewitness
  146. Be Careful with Online Sources
  147. Identify Key Players
  148. Engage Sources
  149. Find the Best Source
  150. Evaluating Sources
  151. Attributing Sources
  152. Attribution Levels
  153. Verify Accuracy
  154. Assignment: Identify & Verify Sources
  155. Visual Communication Ideas
    How Storytelling Applies to Visual Journalism
  156. Some Ideas for Organizing and Editing Visuals
  157. Learning Resources for Visual Journalists
  158. Study the Masters
    Tips for Eradicating Clutter
  159. Know and Emulate the Masters
  160. Learn from Everyone and Everything
  161. Study the Best
Lesson 15 of 161
In Progress

Let’s Talk about Popcorn

Alan Murray April 16, 2024

Which is More Persuasive?

Imagine that you work for an organization that does scientific research. You are a watchdog to keep America’s food safe and healthy. Your researchers uncover an alarming fact about popcorn sold in movie theaters. You need to communicate a message that will convince people that movie-theater popcorn is unhealthy. Which of the messages below do you think is the most persuasive? Explain why you think that the option you chose is the most effective. Then enter the discussion below and respond in two to three sentences.
___________________________________________

  • The Department of Agriculture suggests that you should not consume 20 grams of saturated fat in one day. Our lab has recently discovered that one bag of popcorn sold in most movie theaters has 37 grams of saturated fat. The reason why they have so much fat is that theaters are using coconut oil to give the popcorn a nicer texture and a more pleasant smell.
  • A medium-sized bag of typical movie theater popcorn has more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries at lunch, and a steak dinner combined.