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Journalism 101

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2011-02-11 14:28:25 - Graham Ellis

Lisa does the layout and typesetting for the Bowerhill Villager - that's the news sheet that's distributed to around 1600 homes in Bowerhill - a part of Melksham - 10 times a year. The Villager is a mixture of news articles, sponsoring adverts, quizzes, community information, not to forget the regular "moley" cartoon and police report.

Most of us are neither journalists nor graphic artists, and the raw information feed to Lisa need her to apply some "tlc" - tender loving care - to covert the story that's reached her into something that will grab the reader.

Here (and I'm, rather naughtily, publishing this before it's been through the editorial committee) is an upcoming article- a near-final product:

The Rachel Fowler Centre (http:/ /www. rachelfowlercentre. org/) is Melksham's community centre. It has two rooms, maximum capacity 200, available for hire. The centre is just off the Market Place, and the management committee and their team are holding one of their occasional table top sales on behalf of the centre on Saturday, 12th March 2011 from 9 O'clock until 1 p.m.

They'll be selling books, cakes, toys, household items, collectables and more, and refreshments will be available at the Coffee Bar too. All are welcome - entry to the sale is by donation. If you would like further information, please contact Phillip Ravenhill on 01225 705542


And contrast that to the raw feed:

hi iam philip ravenhill & from time to time i organise table top sales at the rachel fowler center melksham. these are held in aid of the centre funds.is it possible for you to put a small piece in the villager for us please. our next sale is 12 march 9am to 1 pm.entry by donation in aid of center funds.books,cakes,toys ,household items, collectables ect.refreshments available in the coffee bar.contact no 01225 705542 - excellent data that contains everything Lisa needs, but far more of a conversation that would be spoken over the phone.

The picture, by the way, is from my "Melksham Picture Show" - a series of high resolution images that I took last year to show off the town. See the image larger, and jump into the picture show starting at Rachel Fowler, [here]