Photojournalism Project - Harte

Goals:

• Investigate your topic through newspaper articles, books, & websites.
• Answer the questions you listed under "What I want to know."
• Learn something interesting about your topic!
• Write down at least 3 facts, statistics, or quotes (from experts) that you think would make your newspaper article better.

Google Tips:
- Try Google News Archives (From Google:  "News archive search provides an easy way to search and explore historical archives.")
- Under Advanced Search,
           try searching within site or domain .edu or .org
           try typing in UNwanted words

Statistics:

• County of LA Dept. of Public Health
• Center for Disease Control & Prevention: Fast Stats
• The FastStats site provides quick access to statistics on topics of public health importance and is organized alphabetically. Links are provided to publications that include the statistics presented, to sources of more data, and to related web pages.
• CA Dropout Research Project 
• USA.gov 
• http://www.fedstats.gov/
• CSUN - List of Resources (San Fernando Valley Statistics and Facts)
• CSUN - List of Resources (Educational Statistics)
• 
  
• US Environmental Protection Agency - You can find general info. about environmental issues, as well as specific information about your area.
• Science.gov
• US Census - Los Angeles
• CSUN - San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center

US Dept. Of Labor -- Consumer Expenditure Survey

Website ideas by research topic:

Women & Baseball
NY Times Article w/ stats for girls playing high school baseball
National Federation of State High School Associations --Data about participation in high school sports

Plaid:

• http://www2.nau.edu/~wew/celt-clothing/
• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/25/sunday/main3537971.shtml 

Divorce:
Census Bureau Statistics: Scroll down to "Marital Status of the Population 15 Years Old and Over, by Sex and Race: 1950 to Present"

Farmers Markets::

• From EBSCO Database: "Farmers markets seek wider niche in a craggy economy: Buying locally even in hard times appears to be a growing trend"  Item: 2W62W62559039678
• Certified Farmers Markets in LA

Soccer:
US Youth Soccer stats

Shopping as Stress Relief:
"Stress Relief for Caregivers" - advice from a mother of a child with special needs
Research from psychologist at Harvard University

Ways to start your feature article, from johnwatsonsite.com:

Narrative
The narrative lead tells a story.
Sometimes a short piece, often from the writer's own experience, will lead the reader into the article.
Though it is also descriptive, the narrative lead is more like a play with a scene, characters and dialogue.


Description
Descriptive leads often focus on what it feels like to be at an event by highlighting the sights, sounds, textures, tastes and smells that evoke clear images in the mind of the reader.

Direct Address
This is when the writer tries to engage the reader immediately. This can be done by asking questions or asking the reader to imagine something in particular. It is as though the writer is expecting some direct response from the reader.

Shocking Statement
This type of lead is also known as ' the teaser ' .
A shocking or striking statement is one that will produce a strong response in the reader. Often it will challenge some accepted belief, or simply be provocative. Statistics are often effective.
It involves the reader by building suspense before revealing the focus of the story.

Quotation
A relevant and effective quotation can introduce the reader to the theme of the article. The quote should compel the reader to go further into the story.

Question
Should be used only when the question relates directly to the Feature angle and compels the reader to seek the answers further in the story. Unfortunately, most question leads can be answered with another question.