1st Place, News Brief
2021-22, Division 3, News Writing
By Gabby Miller
North Pointe
Grosse Pointe North HS
The end of the first semester brought a new protocol to midterm week. With the exams only being able to maintain or improve students’ grades, students and teachers were uncertain of what to anticipate.
Spanish teacher Jennifer Spears had originally hoped for a normal midterm experience, but due to the recent peak in COVID-19 cases, her feelings altered. She felt it was necessary for there to be a change in midterms in order to accommodate the numerous students absent and stressed.
“Of course I am disappointed not to have a normal midterm week,” Spears said. “I completely understand that we have to somehow recognize that this is not a normal year.”
As for Spears and the other teachers in the language department, the preparation and grading was kept the same as previous years with the addition of the scores received being harmless to semester grades. Spears believes that midterms went smoothly.
“I’ve actually been very pleased to see students have come this week and have been preparing for the exams.” Spears said. “It has been the best experience that one could hope for given the recent surge in COVID.”
NW-04. News Brief
News briefs should be 150-200 word stories that report on events and issues that have news value and timeliness to the publication’s readers. Coverage should include quotes or other attributed information from at least one human source.
Judging Criteria
- Meets word count limit
- Does not sacrifice accuracy for the sake of timeliness
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance
- Uses inverted pyramid
- Sentences are carefully constructed to be as concise as possible
- Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence
- Uses direct quotes or attributed information from at least one source