Weeks 1 & 2 – PRINT MEDIA

Your assignments go here. You can work online in this space as well.

Need a laptop?

To obtain a laptop loan from the FNUniv library, take a screen shot of your U of R registration, and email it to jcliff@fnuniv.ca with a laptop request. If you have any problem, ask Shannon or Trish to help.

WEEKs 1 & 2 - PRINT MEDIA

YOUR INSTRUCTors

Betty Ann Adam

Journalist & Screenwriter

Betty Ann Adam spent 29 years with the StarPhoenix, uncovering stories such as forced sterilization of Indigenous women and the infamous ‘starlight tours.’ She wrote the award-winning feature Scooped: How I Lost My Mother and co-wrote the NFB film Birth of a Family. She is a member of Fond du Lac Denesuline Nation and co-chair of the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Saskatchewan.

KERRY BENJOE

Editor of eagle feather news

Kerry Benjoe is from the Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation. Her journalism career that spans nearly two decades. Her first degree was in English, and she attended the INCA Summer Institute. In 2002, she wrote her first freelance article for Eagle Feather News. Four years later she became the first full-time Indigenous reporter in the Regina Leader-Post’s history. Afte working there for 13 years, in 2019 she returned to school and received her Master of Journalism degree. In 2021 became CBC Saskatchewan’s first Indigenous Storyteller, before stepping into her current position as Eagle Feather News editor.

Week 1

Day 1

Assignment: INCA bio and picture

250 words max. due Friday AT noon

Tell your classmates about yourself in a personal yet professional tone, written in the third person (eg. Jane is from Mars). Include something about your life, you interests, experience, skills, goals, etc. Upload or create in the Google Drive Workspace folder labelled ‘Bios.’ Use your name as filenames for your photo and writing. Include social media handles, if you have them. If you have any trouble accessing the drive space, talk to Trish or email her at pelliott@firstnationsuniversity.ca

Opening Day panel guests

Day 2

CREE DICTIONARY ONLINE (with syllabics converter)

First Voices – Language Preservation Site

First Voices – Keyboard App

Assignment: NEWS interview & Story

300 words, due at 3 p.m.

Interview a classmate about something newsy that happened to them. Write a 300-word news story with a simple lede that explains what the story’s about, further details and at least one quote. Upload to the assignment folder in our shared Workspace. Create a file name [name of classmate] by [your name]. Include social media handles, if you have them.

If you have any trouble accessing the drive space, talk to Trish.

Day 3 & 4

Study how these stories are put together

Saskatoon homeless count tries to put a face to poverty

Cuthand: Indigenous population growth must lead to increased education

MMIWG Inquiry delays is not holding back the work on the issue

Punchlines and life lessons: sometimes a story is more than just a story

ASSIGNMENT – A STORY FROM A NEWS RELEASE

Assignment #2 – due Thursday, May 4 at 3 pm

A 300-word news story, with a news release as your starting point.

Write your story in the Day 3 Assignment folder in our Workspace. Click on the plus sign to create a new document.

SAMPLE APPROACH

My name is ____. I’m a journalism student working on a story about _____. I got your name from a press release. Do you have a moment to answer a few questions?

Recording

Devices and SD cards are available from INCA

Summer Institute students “scrummed” Jane Philpott in 2018, when she was the minister of Indigenous Services Canada.

Day 5

Congratulations!

You’ve written your professional bio and two news stories in one week. Here are a few points to remember:

Your lede will define what your story is about. It’s your first and most important sentence.
A lede is more than a fact. It describes something that is happening.
If you aren’t sure whether to include something, read your lede again. Everything in your story should help fulfill the promise of your lede.
Put the most important information at the top of your story. Less important details can be saved for later.
Stories are about people. Put at least one quote in your stories.
If a quote is too long or confusing, you can paraphrase it. But make sure you accurately describe what the person was saying.
Always be trustworthy in how you report information.