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Writers inspired at national workshop Professional journalists give students opportunity to sharpen reporting skills By CARMELLIA MUNGUIA For the Daily Titan
As the final event of COMM Week, aspiring journalists, young reporters and veterans of the profession filled the halls, corridors and workshops of the Titan Student Union at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
Music by Buddy Guy set the mood for Bruce DeSilvaʼs speech. His dark tinted sunglasses hid his expressions as he spoke before his audience. DeSilvaʼs speech was meant to inspire writers to learn “to do it right, tell compelling stories and not just facts.” Lane DeGregory, a features writer for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, said attendees should look at odd people and find something normal about them, as well as finding something weird about normal people. She said everyone has a story to tell if given a minute. As an advocate of diversity in newsrooms, Victor Merina, a senior fellow at the University
of Southern Californiaʼs Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism, spoke about the power of a personal story and gave tips on how to go about writing one. CSUF hosted the 12th annual National Writers Workshop. The Orange County Register and the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Fla, sponsored the event to help journalists improve their skills through tutorials from nationwide journalists and six Pulitzer Prize winners. This year, the National Writers Workshop celebrated its 14th year in Wilmington, Del. What began as an idea by John Walston, edi-
tor for the News Journal in Wilmington, to create a special experience for his staff and regional writers became a national event after its second year. Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar of the Poynter Institute, has taught writing since 1977. At the second writerʼs workshop, Clark approached Walston about expanding the concept to a national level. “There was so much energy in these workshops; you could feel a good feeling at these conference doors,” Clark said. “I asked [John] Walston for permission to take it all over the country.”
Standing strong
Clark said the NWWʼs special characteristics are.that costs are kept low, so individual writers can afford to attend, the donated time and energy of speakers and the generosity and dedication of people like Larry Welborn, keep the doors “thrown wide open.” CSUF paid tribute to Larry Welborn for his dedication in keeping the NWW in Orange County. Welborn, a legal affairs reporter for the Orange County Register and Chairman and Master of Ceremony of the NWW, said that when young journalists start working for WORKSHOP
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Editors, writers answer criticism
Reversed Press Conference narrows the gap between journalists, non-journalists By NICOLE M. SMITH Daily Titan Staff
JAMIE FLANNAGAN/For the Daily Titan
In conjunction with Thursday’s “Clothesline Project,” students and friends gather at dusk at CSUF in the central Quad to help raise awareness about the violence of sexual assault and to symbolically reclaim the night. With candle light vigils, attendees listen to survivor testimonials. See full story on page 3.
CSUF alumnus lectures future journalists Students encouraged to strike balance between careers, personal lives By MAHSA KHALILIFAR and NICOLE M. SMITH Daily Titan Staff
Tom Gorman has been to the bottom of the ocean in the same submarine that discovered the Titanic. Heʼs driven with emergency personnel, chasing wild brushfires across the southwestern United States. Most recently, Gorman has become an expert on nuclear waste management. Some might call him a Renaissance man, but first and foremost, Tom Gorman is a reporter.
Gorman, of the Los Angeles Times, delivered a guest lecture ironically titled “What I didnʼt learn at Cal State Fullerton,” Thursday in the Titan Student Union as part of Comm Week. In a session that lasted nearly 90 minutes, Gorman revealed tips on reporting, writing and the after-writing process in front of approximately 30 students who were mostly print journalism majors. “Donʼt be afraid to leave the pack and do your own reporting,” Gorman, a CSUF alumnus said. “Even if you miss the big interview, you might get the better story.” Students came to hear Gorman give them the tips of the trade in the journalism world. Arianne Custer, a junior journalism major, said she missed her political science class just to hear Gorman speak. “Iʼm trying to understand the real of world
journalism,” Gorman said. “I want to learn as much as I can to get out there and apply myself.” Gorman informed students on the methods he uses when reporting. Listening to a source, hearing what a source has to say and asking a source to elaborate and explain concepts is necessary while reporting in order to know what follow-up questions to ask, Gorman said. “When you start the day, you know nothing,” Gorman said. “And by the end, youʼre an expert.” Gorman said striking a balance between the reporting and writing aspects of the job is important, encouraging aspiring journalists to “be precise and specific” and add a sense of color to a piece without overwriting it. When the time comes to write the story, Gorman suggested avoiding big words and
convoluted sentences containing big clauses, adding that simple and concise stories allow a reader to walk away with a better understanding of the issue. He also stressed the importance of striking a balance between a professional and personal life. Gorman, who has slept in cars and lived out of suitcases while chasing some stories, said journalism sometimes requires reporters be called in on weekends or for overnight trips on a momentʼs notice. While some reporters find it difficult to juggle their career, a marriage and a family, Gorman said a more common problem reporters have is a tendency to “get married” to a piece of writing. “Donʼt get married to your version of
Pizza and The Continental Room, donated 10 percent of their profits for the night to the Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation, which will use the money to restore the theatre. This yearʼs event set itself apart from the two previous yearsʼ incarnations by encouraging patrons to visit more than one restaurant, boosting business for restaurants and hopefully increasing donations for the Fox. The strung-up lights in the trees on Harbor Boulevard and its side streets were illuminate from 6 p.m. to midnight so patrons could make their way through downtown Fullerton gathering, trading and buying playing cards from any of the 17 participating businesses where they bought food or drinks.
The cards were returned at the end of the night, with the best poker hands winning prizes, most notably New Line Cinema press packets, Sephora makeup and a $200 gift certificate to the Outback Steakhouse. “Everybody wins something this way,” volunteer Ann Rebentisch said. “There are great prizes for everyone, and itʼs helping the Fox at the same time.” Anaheim resident Michael Montez said the biggest prize would be to see a movie or performance at the completely restored theatre. “This place is just amazing,” he said. “You can tell just by walking by it that it was something special when it was in its prime.” “Itʼs still special to me,” said Montez, who
had dinner at Angeloʼs & Vinciʼs that night. And while the past two “Fox Trots” have danced their way down Harbor Boulevard on Thursday nights, the foundation decided to move the event to a Wednesday this time. “Thursday night is usually busy in downtown Fullerton anyway, so we changed this yearʼs ʻFox Trotʼ to Wednesday night,” said Robert Gonzalez, Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation board member and “Fox Trot” organizer. “We wanted to show the businesses in the area that we have pull, and that the theatre will impact them and their traffic. We wanted to give them a glimpse of the muscle
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Local restaurants donate to Vegas-themed fundraiser
Patrons of Downtown Fullerton eat their way to a new, restored Fox Theatre By SHANNON HEWKIN Daily Titan Staff
Gift certificates, tickets, press packets and a chance to save Fullertonʼs Fox Theatre were all up for grabs if the right hand was played Wednesday night during the Vegas-themed “Fox Trot” fundraiser. Restaurants in downtown Fullerton, including the Stadium Tavern, Plush Café, Big Slice
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Issues of ethics and journalistic integrity were hot topics at the Daily Titanʼs Reversed Press Conference, as students and faculty finally had the chance to roast the news hens who produce the school paper. The event, sponsored by the Daily Titan and the Society of Professional Journalists, took place in the Titan Theatre on Friday morning as part of Comm Week. For two hours, those in attendance were encouraged to voice concerns about Cal State Fullertonʼs student-run newspaper. A panel of Daily Titan staff members, including executive editor Marti Longworth, advertising sales director Kevin Cook, political reporter Tommy Purvis and former opinion editor Robert Rogers, fielded questions. The first issue for discussion debated the appropriateness of printing four-letter words, inspired by an opinion piece from last semester that addressed the social stigmas surrounding the F-word. “This is the time to take chances, to step out of the box, push the envelope a little bit,” said Longworth of her executive decision to print the F-word without asterisks. Rogers defended his “renegade stance” on the word and the piece that was published, saying he wanted to be controversial because it generates readers and responses. While the issue essentially leveled down to a matter of taste, Rogers said he wanted his opinion section to be a reflection of “who we are, what we do, what we say and why we say it.” Boaz Carmi, president of the campus political club Titans for Israel, said overall, the reverse press conference was a positive experience. “Itʼs usually a one-way communication. The Daily Titan can talk to us, but itʼs hard for us to talk to them,” Carmi said. During the conference, Carmi expressed concerns about a misrepresentation of the Jewish student group HILLEL, referring to an article published in the Daily Titan on Feb. 28, 2005. The article described a controversial poet, Mark Gonzales, who performed at a campus event sponsored by the Association for Inter-Cultural Awareness, despite objections from HILLEL. Carmi, a group member, said lyrics in Gonzalesʼ poems were offensive and antagonistic and that is why HILLEL was opposed to allocating funding for the performance. He said the Daily Titan failed to contact any representatives from the group and printed without accurate accounts of both sides of the story. “When you work on a newspaper, you have to work on a deadline and unfortunately deadlines are not always conveHOT SEAT
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