In reality, no single person can understand all the world has to offer. Even the world’s population combined does not know all the information of their surroundings. I, as this blog’s writer, can safely say that I am unsure of 95% of knowledge found in the field of Journalism. Taking Journalism in high school is one thing, but attending a Journalism class in present day college builds a higher structure. From high school I learned about ending articles with kickers, but in this college year I discovered quote kickers. An idea such as using a quote to finish the article might be a small step to take, but every skyscraper needs that one vertical brace for structural integrity.
In a Chapter Eight class textbook summary from my Journalism instructor Hiatt, a quote kicker means, “a quote that sums up the mood of the piece.” Before this year, I never formally thought of a quote as the last material of an article. While I am familiar with the basic idea of a kicker, re-education about the subject increased my knowledge. Since articles are non-living typed words on a piece of paper, ending any article with a quote gives humanity to the piece.
Recently, I have completed an article assignment about a local film festival. Understandably I struggled with an ending to complete my assignment, and chose to include a quote. Using a quote kicker in my event preview moves along with giving humanity towards assigning voice. Yes, a preview can work if its entirely a third person perspective, but the article holds a tighter grasp with quotes from event organizers. The following is a section from my work on the 72 Film Fest of 2008:
“According to 72fest.com, the competition’s mission statement is ‘To bring under-screened and independent films to Frederick, MD, and to provide an outlet for the creative community by hosting challenges in the fields of filmmaking, stage, writing, and other arts.’”
The preceding quote is not a direct quote from a human being, but its a combination of ideas from the film festival’s event organizers. Personally, I felt this quote as a kicker succeeded in projecting human thought into the non-living article, and summarizing the main idea for the whole film festival. In a hard news piece such as my article, a quote kicker fits right along a walking path.
Basically, my previously unknown knowledge of quote kickers led to a learning of great possibility in Journalism. Unknowing and learning share such a connection with incredible strength that for however long civilization may hold on, humans will learn a thing or two.
