• www.jou.ufl.edu William McKeen

  William McKeen. He is chair of the journalism department at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. He also writes books about popular culture and literary journalism, the most recent of which is called "Highway 61: A Father-and-Son Journey through the Middle of America."
• His session: "Gonzo with the wind: Dead outlaws, living rockstars and other stuff I can't believe I get to write books about"
• His work: McKeen on teaching young people to read the newspaper in print, the music of his generation and Bob Dylan. Also, a list of his books.

• John Hendren. For nearly a year, he has served as Pentagon correspondent for National Public Radio. Before joining NPR, he worked as a reporter for several print publications, including the Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times and The Associated Press.
• His session: "From Palo Alto to Iraq to the Pentagon: What radio has taught this print reporter about writing"
• His work: recent NPR stories
  

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• bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com Chauncey Mabe

  Chauncey Mabe. He has been book editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for nearly 20 years. He also writes cultural commentary and reviews of movies, television and pop music for the newspaper.
  
• His session: "Interview with Lester Goran, award-winning author"
• Further reading:
• Some of his columns
• His review of the new Charles Frazier (of "Cold Mountain" fame) novel
• A recent National Book Critics Circle interview with Mabe
• Lester Goran's bio

• Kenny Irby. He is the visual-journalism group leader and diversity program director for The Poynter Institute. He has served as photo manager at two Olympic Games and has contributed as photo editor to three Pulitzer Prize-winning projects at Newsday. He founded Poynter's photojournalism program.
• His session: "How partnering with visual journalists will help you find untold stories"
• His work: Examining the integrity of images, Gulf Coast photojournalists and the loss of Gordon Parks

• www.sptimes.com Lane DeGregory

  Lane DeGregory. She writes features for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, where her work appears in the Floridian section of the newspaper. Before coming to Florida, she covered news and features for The Virginian-Pilot.
• Her session: "They're everywhere: Finding great stories off the beaten path"
• Her work: Her newspaper stories

• Mary Ann Hogan. She become a writing coach, after years of writing for magazines and newspapers. She now conducts writing seminars in newsrooms and online.
• Her session: "10-minute Enterprise: How a few minutes of right thinking can turn your run-of-the-mill daily into a gem"
• Her work: An essay on photography and the lunar landing for the Newseum; more on her consulting at her Web site

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• Lyn Millner. She has contributed to NPR's "Morning Edition," "Weekend Edition" and American

  www.marketplace.publicradio.org Dan Grech

  Public Media's "Marketplace." Millner also contributes to USA Today -- read her articles here.
  
• Dan Grech. He is a correspondent for "Marketplace" and was a Buenos Aires correspondent for The Miami Herald. Grech teaches radio writing at the Florida Center for Literary Arts.
• Their session: "Writing for radio: Telling stories with sound"

• Stephen Hunter. He won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. He is a film critic at The Washington Post. He worked at The Baltimore Sun for 26 years.
• His session: "Six words to enlightenment: How to write a novel"
  
• Further reading: books and articles

• www.baltimoresun.com Jean Marbella

  Jean Marbella. She is a metro columnist for The Baltimore Sun. She's also worked there as a features writer and national correspondent.
  
• Her session: "How to get fresh angles, cover an event or trend that sets your piece apart from everyone else's"
• Her work: recent columns

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• thevillagesdailysun.org Curt Hills

  Matt Fry and Curt Hills. They are managing editor and assistant managing editor, respectively, of The Villages (Fla.) Daily Sun.
  
• Hugh Dermody. He is the news directors for Villages News Network (VNN), the cable telelvision station serving the community of about 50,000 residents.
• Larry Croom. He is the executive editorial manager of The Villages Daily Sun and content director for The Villages Media Group. He oversees editorial content for VNN.
  
• Their session: "Multimedia journalism: How to take the perennial story and make it a first-rate multimedia adventure"

• Kathleen Pellegrino. She is recruitment editor and staff attorney for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. At that newspaper, she has also worked as an assistant city editor and a metro reporter.
  
• Her session: "Internships: Making the best impression to land that job"

• palmbeachpost.com Frank Cerabino

  Frank Cerabino. For more than a decade, he has written three local news columns a week for The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post. Before that, he was a reporter at The Miami Herald.
• His session: "Beyond the interview: Why the interview is less important than you might imagine"
• His work: Peruse his columns, blog, television appearances and novels here.
  

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Beer.

It's stuck to NPR media reporter David Folkenflik's computer.

Reminds him to write as if he's telling a story to his buddies at the bar.

And there's radio lesson number one, according to print-reporter-turned-NPR-correspondent John Hendren:

Write conversationally.

Ask yourself: Would I say it this way?

You don't have to sacrifice detail for style, he said. "You can be descriptive and still write conversationally."

Number two?

Number three:

Use different ways to tell the story.

npr.org John Hendren

Radio listeners are passed from one story to the next. The dial is usually inches away from their fingertips, and there's lots of competition for listeners' attention. Stories can't sound the same. So change it up a bit. Same goes for print. Some different approaches:

• Walk the reader through the scene.
• Tell the story the same way it unfolded in front of you. (Even if it means using chronology.)
• ... Or, use a shameless gimmick. (Borrow techniques from other writers, movies or songs that you like. Emulate the greats. See Hendren's story from a U.S. military base's mess hall in Iraq. And keep an ear out for the echoes of "Forrest Gump.")

Lesson four:

Long quotes are sometimes better.

This doesn't always (or even often?) work for print, but Hendren's examples (particularly his work out of the Balad military hospital) were compelling arguments for allowing sources to tell their own stories in their own voices.

Lesson five:

Write like a playwright.

Use exchanges. Dialogue. Parley. Interlocution. Whatever you want to call it. Basically, it means stepping out of the picture for a bit and letting the folks around you do the talking.

Six:

When in doubt, go pithy and short.

Or, call David Halberstam. At least, that's what Hendren did.

Seven:

Go ahead -- enter the story.

Sometimes, listeners (readers) need to identify with a person in the story, especially when there isn't a main character. It draws them in. The reporter acts as the surrogate for listeners, and the "I" -- whether overt or not -- is necessary. (See Mirta Ojito's keynote-- here and here -- for more.)

And, finally, lesson eight:

It can be concise and harmonious with the rest of the story. Make it simple. It doesn't have to be separate or formulaic or jarring.

Who knew it would start with beer and end with history?

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• Michael Schwartz. He manages editorial training for Cox Newspapers and COXnet. He has 34 years of experience either reporting or editing for a number of newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press, St. Petersburg Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• His session: "The three habits of highly effective journalists"


• Tom Davidson. He is general manager of South Florida's Sun-Sentinel.com and other Tribune Company Internet sites. He was the metro editor for the Sentinel. Before that, he was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University and worked at Virginia's Daily Press.

• Rick Hirsch. He is the managing editor of multimedia operations at The Miami Herald. He has 26 years of journalism experience in South Florida.

• www.suecorbett.com Sue Corbett

  Their session: "What and why journalists -- print and broadcast -- need to know about the new media"

• Sue Corbett. She is the children's book reviewer for The Miami Herald. She regularly contributes to Publishers Weekly and People magazines.
  
• Her session: "Getting into children's publishing"
• Her work: "Free Baseball," "12 Again" and some articles

          


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• www.veeckseminar.com John Walsh

  John Walsh. As senior vice president and executive editor of ESPN, he oversaw the launch of ESPN, the magazine, and ESPN Radio. Before that, he was managing editor at U.S. News and World Report and Rolling Stone.
• His opening remarks: "The power of great ideas, innovation and execution"

• Jan Tuckwood. She is associate editor of The Palm Beach Post, where she oversees the features and entertainment sections, special front page projects and the design of the paper. She was named Cox Editor of the Year in 2001.
• Her session: "Get snappy: How to write tight and woo readers"
• Her work:
• "Lost at sea: The disappearance of Jim Trindade," (The Palm Beach Post, January 2006)
  
• "Pioneers in Paradise: West Palm Beach, the First 100 Years," (Longstreet Press, 1994)
• "Our Century" (Mega-Books/Progressive Publishing, 2000)
  

• Paul Davis. He is executive director of the Foundation for American Communications and has served as president of both the Radio-Television News Directors Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. He was news director at WGN-TV, Chicago, for 13 years.
• His session: "Writing for broadcast in thoughts ... not in words"

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• Ken Wells. He is a novelist, and an editor and feature writer for the front page of the The Wall Street Journal.
  
• His session: "Travels with Barley: Serious reportage about fun subjects"

• www.lrei.org Ken Wells

  His work: Katrina dispatches, interview with National Public Radio, fiction and nonfiction.
• Kevin Gale: He is the editor of South Florida's The Business Journal. He worked as a writer and editor for 14 years with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
• His session: "The ongoing business story: Tips on reporting how to develop sources, organize data and writing" 
  
• Brian Bandell: He is a reporter for The Business Journal.
• His session: "The ongoing business story: Tips on reporting how to develop sources, organize data and writing"
  
• His work: recent articles

• www.usatoday.com Matt Cooper

  Matt Cooper: He was Time magazine's White House coorespondent and deputy Washington bureau chief. Now he'll be working for Condé Nast Portfolio magazine.
• His closing remarks: "What a year: Covering D.C., leaving Time for a start-up and his experience as a witness in the CIA leak investigation"
• Further reading:
  
• "What I Told the Grand Jury," by Matt Cooper (Time.com, 2005)
• updates on Cooper from Poynter's "Romenesko" column

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National Writers Workshop -- Fort Lauderdale Archive

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