MIDTERM ON CHAPTER CAPTIONS , HEADLINES ,DIGITAL JOURNALISM

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MCM 206 Introduction to Writing for Mass Media

Captions

About course part 2

Ledes (2 weeks)

Captions Headlines

About course part 2

Captions appear next to photos

1. Websites, blogs, etc.

2. Instagram

Captions

The three C’s of media writing

Clear Concise Compelling

Why captions matter

Which grabs your eye on the phone?

Why captions matter

Which grabs your eye on the phone?

 Text

 Picture

Why captions matter

Which grabs your eye on the phone?

 Text

 Picture

Thus, the caption is more important than the lede

Caption like lede, etc.

1. Short sentences: 25 words max

2. Short graphs: 2 sentences max

3. Get right to the point

4. Statement, not a question

Four caption rules

1. Complement, don’t repeat, beginning of story

2. Don’t state the obvious (walks, talks, points, etc.)

3. Who: name people, from left

4. Where: indicate location

Captions

Our caption style

Two sentences:

1. First identifies person (if present) and describes action in present tense

2. Second complements story by offering new information

Example 1

CNN, January 31, 2019

Grand Egyptian Museum under construction near Pyramids, opening end of 2019

CNN, January 31, 2019

At the edge of the ancient pyramids of Giza, some 5,000 construction workers labor around the clock to finish the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum.

Expected to open by the end of this year, the 5.2- million-square-foot structure will become the world's largest museum devoted to a single civilization.

Costing more than $1 billion, the museum will re-house and restore some of the country's most precious relics.

Photograph by Dana Smillie / CNN

1. Identify person

1. Identify action

2. Complement story but don’t

repeat

For sentence 1:

• Who: Rami Magdy

• What: Restoring chariot from King Tut’s tomb

• Where: Grand Egyptian Museum

• When: Yesterday

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

Who

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

Who

What: Verb in present tense

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

Who

What: Verb in present tense

Where: Location

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

Who

What: Verb in present tense

Where: Location

Additional information

For sentence 2: Complement, not repeat, lede

Let’s look again at story …

At the edge of the ancient pyramids of Giza, some 5,000 construction workers labor around the clock to finish the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum.

Expected to open by the end of this year, the 5.2-million-square-foot structure will become the world's largest museum devoted to a single civilization.

Costing more than $1 billion, the museum will re-house and restore some of the country's most precious relics.

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

OPTION 1

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Elaborate on King Tut

OPTION 1

The museum will feature a display of thousands of treasures from the tomb, many never before on display. (18 words)

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Elaborate on King Tut

OPTION 1

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

OPTION 2

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Elaborate on museum

OPTION 2

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Elaborate on museum

Egypt is spending $1 billion US to build the museum in hope it will bring back tourists who left after the 2013 military takeover. (24 words)

OPTION 2

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. (24 words)

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Elaborate on museum

Egypt is spending $1 billion US to build the museum in hope it will bring back tourists who left after the 2013 military takeover. (24 words)

OPTION 2

Rami Magdy restores the chariot from King Tut’s tomb in the Grand Egyptian Museum, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Egypt is spending $1 billion US to build the museum in hope it will bring back tourists who left after the 2013 military takeover.

Sentence 1: Describe action in present tense

Sentence 2: Complements story

Sentence 1: Describe action in present tense

Sentence 2: Complements story

Like a lede, sentence 1 can stand by itself

Sentence 1: Describe action in present tense

Sentence 2: Complements story

Like a lede, sentence 1 can stand by itself

Each sentence 25 words max

Example 2

Adapted from a Jan. 14, 2019, story in Gulf News

Up-and-coming Kuwaiti author Layla Al Ammar makes international debut

Layla Al Ammar is a Kuwait author whose debut novel, "The Pact We Made," will be released internationally in March, reflects her inner conflicts.

Her heroine is Dahlia, a young Kuwaiti woman who hides a secret she can never reveal because of the shame it would bring her family.

Similarly, Al Ammar was born to an American mother and a Kuwaiti father and struggles with balancing family and personal freedom.

CAPTION

Layla Al Ammar is a Kuwait author whose debut novel, "The Pact We Made," will be released internationally in March, reflects her inner conflicts.

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

CAPTION

Layla Al Ammar is a Kuwait author whose debut novel, "The Pact We Made," will be released internationally in March, reflects her inner conflicts.

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

Let’s dissect first sentence of caption

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

Who

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

Who

No action to describe

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

Who

No action to describe

New information

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

SENTENCE 1

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Layla Al Ammar’s first novel is being published by a literary imprint of Harper Collins.

The Kuwaiti author will start her PhD program in English this fall in England.

SENTENCE 1

SENTENCE 2

Example 3

CNN, February 8, 2019

Executives say ‘digital detox’ retreats are key to their success

The story is not about the picture

Executives say ‘digital detox’ retreats are key to their success

The story is not about the picture

The picture exists to illustrate the story, to make it more appealing to the reader

Executives say ‘digital detox’ retreats are key to their success

No people or action is identified, so no need for sentence 1

Executives say ‘digital detox’ retreats are key to their success

No people or action is identified, so no need for sentence 1

The caption is just one sentence, like our sentence 2

Executives who struggle to disconnect from their phones and dedicate mental energy to business planning are turning to ‘digital detox’ retreats.

LEDE

CAPTION

Executives who struggle to disconnect from their phones and dedicate mental energy to business planning are turning to ‘digital detox’ retreats.

Hikes like this one in Italy allow guests at Time to Log Off retreats to absorb the world through their senses rather than their phones.

LEDE

CAPTION

Your turn

Use the Emara handout:

1. Identify the audience

2. Write a story of 3 paragraphs

3. Write a caption of 2 sentences

Audience:

People who care about how Arab women are portrayed in popular culture

Story:

Fatma Almheiri of Abu Dhabi has created the first Emirati cartoon superhero, Emara, to offer the television character she did not get to see in her childhood.

By day, Emara is a typical teenage girl named Moza. By night, she fearlessly fights crime on the streets in the United Arab Emirates.

Almheiri has voiced Emara in Arabic and English. A majority of the 75,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel are in the United States.

Caption:

Fatma Almheiri draws Emara, a hijab-wearing teenage girl from the United Arab Emirates who fights street crime at night. Emara joins two other female Muslim superheroes: Latifa from Saudi Arabia and Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani American.

Caption:

Person identified

Caption:

Person identified

Present tense

Caption:

Person identified

Present tense

Caption:

Person identified

Present tense

Details so can stand alone

Caption:

Person identified

Present tense

Details so can stand alone

Complements (not repeat) story

Alternative:

Fatma Almheiri draws Emara, a hijab-wearing teenage girl from the United Arab Emirates who fights street crime at night.

Alternative:

Fatma Almheiri draws Emara, a hijab-wearing teenage girl from the United Arab Emirates who fights street crime at night. “I think the rest of the world needs to see proper representations of us (Arabs),” she said.

Alternative:

Quotations can be good for sentence 2

Two sample quiz questions

1. Choose the best caption.

A. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday. Workers assemble the main stage today.

B. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday. Workers assembled the main stage today.

C. Workers assemble the main stage today. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday.

D. Workers assembled the main stage today. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday.

1. Choose the best caption.

A. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday. Workers assemble the main stage today.

B. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday. Workers assembled the main stage today.

C. Workers assemble the main stage today. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday.

D. Workers assembled the main stage today. The Ministers of Magic shows start Tuesday.

2. Choose the best caption.

A. Because of their poverty, Egyptians are being targeted in an organ donation scam.

B. Because of their poverty, Egyptians have been targeted in an organ donation scam.

C. Some people are donating their organs as a way to raise money.

D. Why are Egyptians being targeted in an organ donation scam?

2. Choose the best caption.

A. Because of their poverty, Egyptians are being targeted in an organ donation scam.

B. Because of their poverty, Egyptians have been targeted in an organ donation scam.

C. Some people are donating their organs as a way to raise money.

D. Why are Egyptians being targeted in an organ donation scam?