So since I joined News Crew, there have been a whole bunch of people on AJ who have been telling me "What's with you name tag?" "I think your name is glitched", and, most notoriously: "Do you know AJHQ?"
Well, obviously, I do not know AJHQ, but aside from all of those questions, the one that I seem to get the most is "How do I get what you have?" (referring to my camera badge). I can tell you, it definitely is not easy. Your first report that you submit will most likely not get featured, and you need to learn from your mistakes.
I think the best advice that I could give to someone who want to get into News Crew would definitely be:
Go with your gut!
Now let me explain myself. I've been trying to get into News Crew for as long as I've been back from my hiatus from AJ. So probably sometime around December of last year. In that span of time, I have written probably around 24-25 articles which have all been rejected, up until my Cooking With Major Spiritmoon one got accepted. In all of those 24-25 articles that got rejected, not
one made me feel completely happy. You know that feeling that you get when you just
know that it's right? It's kind of warm and fuzzy and you get it in your gut? That is the feeling that you're going to want.
If you don't get that feeling when writing your report, unless you're really really happy with it, it's best to start over until you just
know that it's right.
So on to my next tip:
Studying is key!
This isn't mandatory, in fact, none of these tips are. However, they've definitely paid off for me!
Now what I mean by studying is by literally going through all of those past News Crew articles and figuring out what has worked and some of the trends that have appeared and disappeared. What I mean by trends are things like this:
Notice how they all titled their reports? That has only been appearing recently in the News Crew articles. Another trend that was popular for a while was when everyone was using those clich
éd words like "pawsome" and "jamtastic".
It really is up to you whether you follow these trends or not. Personally, I find it more fun to make up my own or do something original to catch the judge's eye. You'll notice that with my report, I decided to put a filter on my screen shot, and add text to the bottom to make it look like it was on a magazine article or something.
Another thing that I did that was original was to change the title of my report. Instead of titling it: News Crew - Hosting a Cooking Show in My Den, I titled it:
News Crew - Cooking with Major Spiritmoon!
Now on to my last tip:
Use common sense
This encompasses a whole range of different, little things that you should, or must do to get you report featured.
1. Separate into paragraphs
If you do not do this already, start doing it! I have never seen a News Crew report that has gotten featured that did not separate their report into those neat little blocks of script.
2. Stay on Topic
If you're talking about a day in the life of of an alpha, let's say, you really shouldn't go off topic and start talking about how you got scammed by this guy called imawesome121198 (NOT a real person by the way). Not that you would, but you get what I mean.
3. Be Upbeat and Exciting
These are not actually required, but it's always good to have some degree of lightheartedness or enthusiasm. No body's going to enjoy reading about your complaints on the trading system.
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Now that we have that stuff out of the way, I'm going to give step by step instructions on how to actually submit to News Crew. I'm sure most people already know how to do it, but you'd be surprised how many comments there still are written by confused jammers who don't know how to write their reports. So without further-a-do, here are the instructions:
1. Check the Daily Explorer for The Current Topic
I'm sure everyone knows how to get to the Daily Explorer already, otherwise you probably wouldn't know about the News Crew! Once you get to the main page, scroll down and on the right hand side, you'll see a red bulletin labeled "News Crew", that's where all of the current and upcoming topics will be listed.
2. Write your report
You can use a Word Document, Google Docs or whatever you have on your computer that let's you type in it. Remember to title it with the current topic. Here's an example of a finished News Crew report:
News Crew – How to
take care of pets in Jamaa
What’s up Jammers? I’m
Happy Hikingviolet! If you live in Jamaa, chances are you’ve adopted at least
one pet. A question may have occurred to
you: How could I possibly take care of this happy little critter? Well Jammers,
today I’m here to answer that question!
Let’s start off with
how to clean your pet! Nobody wants to have a dirty, mud- covered cutie running
around with them! You can find the Pet Wash located at the top of Crystal
Sands. It’s the coolest way to make your pet sparkling clean in no time!
They’ll definitely thank you for it!
After you’ve finished
cleaning your pet with the PAW-some Pet Wash, it’s always fun to go exploring
with them! Take them for a nice cool drink in Captain Melville’s Juice Hut, or,
if you’re more of the hot chocolate cold weather type, the Hot Cocoa Hut!
If you’d like to
pamper your pet just a little, there are itty bitty little houses and rugs for
sale at the Claws ‘N Paws for your little critter to frolic in when you’re out
on adventures with your buddies! Claws ‘N Paws also offers a variety of pet
toys and food bowls. Put them all into your den and VOILA! Your very own Pet Paradise!
Make sure to keep your
pets as happy as a bug in a rug, and keep on jamming!
-Happy Hikingviolet
3. Take a Screen shot that goes with your report
Log into AJ, and try to think of some creative ways to communicate the topic by way of a screen shot. If your topic was How to Take Care of Pets in Jamaa, then you might want to take a screen shot like this:
Or you could take a screen shot of you talking about pets.
This part is really up to you, and it doesn't even really matter what size the photo is or what you say, if anything at all!
Another thing I should mention is that it doesn't matter anymore if your user name is showing in the screen shot or not. AJHQ used to be very fussy about that kind of thing, and would blur out your user name if you happened to leave it in. That doesn't happen anymore, so you're free to use your animal name or your user name!
4. Submit it to Jammer Central!
This part seems to be what messes people up the most, but it's really very simple. All you have to do is go up to this bulletin board thingy in Jamaa Township (preferably on an empty server, to prevent copious amounts of lag).
Click on that Bulletin Board, and then on this button that I've circled in green.
Once you do that, this little menu thing should pop up.
As you can see, I've copied and pasted my report straight into the box using Ctrl and then V. Right clicking for some reason doesn't work with this "submit your work" pop-up. After you've copied and pasted your article, then click the little +cat or dog-like thing button on the lower right corner and upload your screen shot as well.
Click "submit your work" and then you're all done!
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I hope this helped you, if only a little bit! I really should stop making all of these posts shorter, shouldn't I? Ah well :(
I'm also thinking I should sop the masterpiece of the day segment, it's becoming rather boring *yawns*
Anyways, have a great day!
-Pinpun
