News meeting! Oct 26

Halloween themed News workshop at 4 pm today! 🎃

October 26, 2020

Happy Spooky Season! It's almost Halloween for real!!

News Meeting at 4 pm today!

Hello News Team! Happy almost Halloween!(or, Happy last day of obnoxious Halloween gifsand references in News emails!)I hope those of you who also love Halloween are finding safe, socially distant ways to celebrate Halloween! I know there are lots of socially distant things you can do ( Harry Potter movie marathon at Telus World of Science, Haunted Ghost Tour in Old Strathcona, Deadmonton Haunted house), but if you're looking for some fun things from the safety of your home, here are some suggestions:

  • Do a virtual Zoom party with a costume contest! You can incorporate zoom backgrounds into your costume and you don't have to wear pants! 

  • Buy a bunch of candy and just eat it yourself! Trick-or-treaters who? This is also a great thing to do the day after Halloween when candy is discounted! 

  • Do a virtual haunted house tour! Some of the most famous haunted destinations have virtual tours you can take! 

  • Perform a seance and make your own home a haunted house! (I'm mostly kidding about this one... be safe!!)  

  • Don't forget the classic horror movie marathon! This can be combined with any of the aforementioned ideas! Here are some Halloween movie suggestions: 

    • the 1978 Halloween featuring Jamie Lee Curtis (the OG Scream Queen!)

    • the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (a personal favourite! the 1974 version is the BEST version)

    • Halloweentown and Twitches (for nostalgia)

    • Hereditary and Midsommar (if you like a more complicated horror movie)

    • The Shining and it's sequel Doctor Sleep (Y'all don't sleep on Doctor sleep it's sooo good! )

    • The silence of the Lambs (which was just added to Netflix this month!) 

    • Get Out and Us (*Chef's kiss*)

Hope everyone has a great and safe Halloween! 

Now that most of you have managed to write articles and, therefore, have done at least one interview, I thought it would be fun to do a workshop on creating interview questions for different scenarios! Often I give you guys source material with a pitch, but there is quite a range to what that looks like! Sometimes we're lucky enough to have a full press release, but sometimes we have to formulate questions based off a tweet! Hopefully, this interview will give you the tools to create a great set of questions despite the source material. 

And, like last meeting, there will be a Halloween twist to this meeting! (I know, I know, it's getting old. It's my last one I swearrr!)

Writing a great set of questions can really elevate your article because you can learn new details that other news coverage on the same topic misses, find new and unexpected angles for your article, paint a really vibrant picture for readers, and avoid doing those pesky follow-up emails when you realize you missed a fact or two in your interview! 

Here is the Zoom invite for the meeting:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81177625854

Meeting ID: 811 7762 5854

Hope to see everyone there! 

As per usual, don't be afraid to send message me on slack or send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns!