The girls learned about some of the different jobs involved in producing a newspaper - reporter, publisher, printer, selling advertising, designing layouts. They also found out how a reporter's story gets into a newspaper and how all the pieces of a front page layout. A group photo was taken and a mock-up front page created to show the girls how this is done on the computer, then each girl received a copy to take home.
We talked about the 5Ws and an H (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) and the importance of being factual and accurate when writing news articles. The story of Cinderella was used to demonstrate the inclusion of the Ws/H. As the story was told, the girls held up signs with Who, What, Where, When, Why or How on them each time one of those questions was answered in the story.
Later, we talked about the difference between a news story and an editorial and about what censorship and liable mean and how they apply to newspapers.
We will be completing the Reporting badge in April with our own "Be a Reporter" night and the creation of a unit newspaper!
