Ed Passino is Northeast Region Manager for USA Football.
Ed will talk to us in class on Tuesday Jan. 29 about deadline writing and AM/PM leads.
He is part of the Mason 371 network, having taken this course a few years ago. And he’s one of our real success stories. Ed freelances for the Associated Press, covering George Mason men’s and George Washington women’s basketball.
Ed will be leaving the Metro D.C. area in mid-February to move to Charlotte, N.C.. We’re going to miss him.
GRADED EXERCISE: In the comments section below, add the three things you learned from Ed’s presentation. Deadline is 30 minutes before class on Thursday Jan. 31. No exceptions!
January 29th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Three things that i learned from Ed Passino:
1. You have to relax as much as you can when writing for deadline. Stressing out is only going to lead to more mistakes and slow things down.
2. Journalists at a game are given guides that outline a lot of information about the teams and the players for easy reference. I always thought that the media had to get all of that information for themselves.
3. If you want to write you have to really want to write, and you have to practice as much as possible.
-Jeremy
January 29th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Sean said
Three things that I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Ed’s presentation was very practical, particularly for deadline writers. He emphasized preperation and getting to the game site early to set up and read the media packet. He suggested not wasting time with innecessary information in deadline stores.
2. Ed’s story was very inspirational. He took this class. He is a self-started sportswriter. Ed trained himself at hom to learn to get better and faster by writing stories at home on a timed-deadline.
3. Ed told us about others who did this and succeeded because of their devotion to sports. One example he used were the Albert brothers, Marv, Steve, and Al. Ed’s presentation taught us to be motivated.
-Sean
January 30th, 2008 at 11:05 am
The three most memorable things I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Prepare. Whether it’s reading the media guides prior to tip-off or doing research on an unknown team from out-of-town while stringing, knowing as much as one can about a given game is paramount.
2. Tell the game as you would a friend. The inverted triangle technique is a start, but sometimes that’s not the best well to tell story. We ought to envision reporting the events to a friend — i.e. the biggest story first — then work down.
3. Relax. It seems counter-intuitive, but he stressed the necessity of being able to sit back and enjoy what you’re doing.
January 30th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Three things I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Develop your own voice, develop a style
2. Use the important details early don’t waste people’s time.
3. Am PM Leads. Pm leads are restured leads ahd have more analysis and quotes.
January 30th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
1. I found it interesting how Ed described completeing a competent story. The upside down triangle seems to be a great way of writing an interesting article, and a good way of keeping a reader interested.
2. Having his stories completed with nine outs remaining in a baseball game seems difficult to me. How Ed explained the importance of meeting this deadline was both intimidating and educational.
3. The story about how he used to practice writing game stories on his own time was funny. I actually am going to put this to use this weekend during the Super Bowl. It seems like a great way to practice without too much pressure.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
What I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Know your audience and where people will read your story (such as ESPN or Yahoo Sports)
2. Reread your stories and restructure them during the game.
3. Have someone else read your work. They could find an error that was overlooked.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Three things that I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Relax, know your audience.
2. Have templates on hand.
3. Prepare yourself, be early, read game notes, highlight what is important, talk to the SID.
Josh O.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
3 things from Ed Passino
1. You must go into a game with a hook that you should follow throughout and develop into a story
2. Ed was self taught, which impressed me
3. He told us how he used to write stories about games that he watched on T.V. for practice
January 30th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Words of experience from Ed Passino:
Ed’s discussion was a great experience that I’m sure motivated the class to be better writers. He said that good and efficient writing is a skill that’s acquired through practice, like in any sport.
Good sports writing gets into the important details right off the bat, as if you were giving a friend the ‘skinny’ from a game you just watched. It’s important to know who your audience is.
It’s important to feel relaxed and confident when reporting on a game, because it will reflect in your writing. Let your confidence take over when writing on a deadline. That’s why it’s important to know AP, and trust the work you’ve done in the past.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:02 am
Three things that I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Read other people’s writing. It is important to gain an understanding of what others say not to copy, but to understand the structure of writing for sports journalism.
2. The lede decides whether or not the reader is going to read about the game from you or not.
3. Do not be wordy. Don’t waste space and time, because people are looking for the important information.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:51 am
Ed Passino gave a lot of insight, but the things that I connected with were:
1. Write during the game. This helps in meeting the deadline.
2. Know your audience. Doing this allows you to put yourself in their shoes. You can relate better this way.
3. Have other interests besides sports. They help in expanding your writing.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:48 am
Three things that I learned from Ed Passino:
1.Preperation is the key to deadline writing. A journalist should not still be looking up facts minutes before deadline.
2. Writing a story during the game is important so that you can meet the deadline.
3. That game recaps are mostly formula writing.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:01 am
Three things I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Be efficient. When you are writing do not get wordy. Get to important details and do not waste your editors space and readers time.
2. When writing for a game show up early normally an hour. Allow yourself time to go over game notes and highlight whats important.
3. Really develop your voice and develop your own style.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:04 am
Three things I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Type story in different form (such as e-mail) then copy/paste it into word to revise it.
2. I liked the suggestion of having a template set up before a game, so the writer can plug information into it.
3. Be sure to note key stats before the game for easy reference while writing the article
January 31st, 2008 at 11:48 am
1. What to look for when you’re covering a game. The things to focus on.
2. How you get a story in five minutes after the game has ended. Some tips on how to get that done.
3. The more you practive the better writer you become. Experience is the key to most effective journalists.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
1. Prepare – Know everything you are writing about.
2. Have confidence in yourself. Know AP.
3. Be efficient – Don’t waste time. Get to the Point.
Elliot Fox
January 31st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
The three things I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Don’t be nervous!. There is no time to be anxious, when you are writing on deadline. Just relax.
2. Prepare yourself. Get to the games at least an hour early and read the game notes and prepare yourself mentally to write the story.
3. Read your work out loud. When you read your story out loud, it is easy to find the errors.
Mike
January 31st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Three things I learned from Ed Passino:
1. Develop your style through reading other people’s work. Read a variety of sections in the newspaper to develop your own voice.
2. As obvious as this may sound, I leanred that it takes a lot of hard work, devotion, and dedication to be a good writer — as it is for anything you want to be good at. I guess I already knew this, but I really enjoyed hearing Passino talk about how he got where he is today.
3. Do your best to relax! Don’t get too stressed or nervous when writing becuase then your story will not turn out as good as it could be.
February 6th, 2008 at 11:18 am
1.You should have most of your story written before the game is over.
2. You should always do as much preparation as is possible before a game, much of the information needed can be found in the media guide.
3.Always know your audience.
June 26th, 2014 at 6:24 am
* Click on the author’s name to view their profile and articles.
Volkswagen plans to install a stronger fuel line in place of the
current number 2 injector line as well as installing
vibration dampeners on all of the fuel injector lines.
However, when you lease a car, you can pay in small fixed payments
per month while you get to enjoy the benefits of driving a car.
June 26th, 2014 at 10:33 am
I used to be able to find good info from your blog posts.
My web-site – Click Here For more info
June 27th, 2014 at 3:49 am
Naturally, the subsequent query would have something to do with the price.
0 liter 4 cylinder turbo diesel engine and a 6 speed automatic transmission. Compared to gasoline-run engine, a diesel engine is 30% better at delivering great fuel economy.
June 27th, 2014 at 4:58 pm
This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!!
Finally I have found something that helped me. Appreciate it!
Herre is my web blog :: causes insomnia
June 29th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
For most up-to-date information you have to visit the web and on world-wide-web I found this site as a
finest website for newest updates.
My blog Karmaloop Reviews – stream.6te.net –
June 29th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
I am really impressed along with your writing abilities as well as with the format to your blog.
Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent high quality writing,
it’s rare to peer a nice weblog like this one today..
Take a look at my homepage: Twitter followers for $1
June 29th, 2014 at 11:57 pm
The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my apple ipad and tested to see if
it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views.
I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
June 30th, 2014 at 3:14 am
It’s remarkable to pay a quick visit this web
site and readng the views of all friends on thhe topic of thuis paragraph, while I am also
eager of getting familiarity.
Feeel free to visit my page – Dope New Karmaloop Codes
June 30th, 2014 at 9:39 am
Also visit my web page … skypesex (http://www.pilgrimchurch.org)
June 30th, 2014 at 10:59 am
Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for
your next write ups thank you once again.
July 1st, 2014 at 8:42 am
I’m extremely inspired together with your writing abilities as neatly
as with the format in your blog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you modify it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice high quality writing, it is uncommon to look a great blog like this one nowadays..
Feel free to visit my page :: Titanelec.Co.Kr
July 1st, 2014 at 1:09 pm
It is perfect time to make a few plans for the longer tertm and it’s time to be happy.
I have learn thuis publish and if I may I want to suggest yyou few interesting things
or advice. Maybe you could write next articles regarding this article.
I wish to read even more issues about it!