WJI 2019, Day 4 AM

Even after just two days of journalism sessions and on-the-ground reporting at Orange County’s Tulip Festival, I needed Sunday’s rest. The first two days of the World Journalism Institute were packed from morning tonight, and especially tiring after traveling to Iowa from various parts of the country.

After attending First Reformed Church’s Sunday morning service, I spent the afternoon reading, journaling and getting to know my WJI classmates. Many of us hung out in the lounge underneath our West Hall dorms—which had a cozy, lodge-like feel—and talked, read, shared music and even made a fleece tie-blanket.

Monday morning, Indianapolis Star journalist Russ Pulliam began his session with a short lesson about copy editing. It was a helpful reminder of the cruciality of accuracy and preciseness in good writing—as one of my journalism professors at Liberty University often said, it’s important to be faithful in the little things.

After talking about copy writing, we wrote up short stories based on a police report from Robert Downey Jr.’s 2000 arrest, and Mr. Pulliam offered advice on our ledes and content. He also spent some time answering questions about job searching and social media and developing a journalism beat. Before lunch, he assigned profile partners, and throughout the rest of the day we will write profiles for one another for Mr. Pulliam to critique.