Clarity and succinctness should punctuate a journalist’s work, said a national reporter for the Associated Press to students as he spoke to journalism students today at the University of Georgia. “You have to say to yourself,” he suggested, “‘why not try this little, snappy, four-word lede?’”
Journalism is a rapidly-changing field, said Erin McClam, so clear, concise writing has become that much more important. Morning and night versions of a story, he said, have been consolidated into an on-the-spot piece of journalism, publishable immediately.
With this evolution, he said, must come an appreciation of the full value of multi-media news presentation. “If it’s not interesting, you’re just going to jump to another thing,” said McClam.
To cultivate interest in readers, he said, observation of the reporting environment is the most important skill to master. He emphasized that a small detail, or a quote
not widely-overheard can convey the mood. Observation can make your story.

An "exciting time" in local government

Now is an “exciting time” in the study of Georgia’s local governments, said Harry Hayes, an authority on those local governments, as he spoke to students last Monday at the University of Georgia.
The formation of four new cities in the last three years alone, said the project director at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, constitutes an interesting trend. As these cities begin their lives, said Hayes, it is interesting to track the formation of their governments and how those governments will mesh with those of the counties in which they reside.