Pop Culture 101

griots: the storytellers in Africa. "Today, we are the modern griots," St. Petersburg Times writer , Eric Deggans, said to the pop culture class.

Now what is pop culture? It's not just the "things" going on in the media, but the beliefs, practices and traits that comes from "popular" subjects.

The real question now is, "how do I make a great pop culture story?" It's the great ideas. Deggans told us about all the creative spins he's had on typical ideas. Some include talking about how people need to sit back and relax when watching Lost and his own take on the Emmys, the Deggys

It all basically comes down to what take you have on those cliched stories.

• trend piece
• habits
• profiles
• technology
• low/high culture
• curve

And sometimes the best ideas come from a good question, talking to people or looking at an advertisement. Take a story and twist it around to something unpredictable.

The one thing most people forget about - be fair and respectful. Remember, we journalists have ethics, whether we're dealing with Britney Spears or Ellen DeGeneres.

Getting to talk about pop culture for a good amount of time - great way to end
the day.
-Nicole