Cynicism is to be avoided at all costs. A community journalist can have all the ability, compassion and integrity in the world, but those are of little value in the abstract. Community journalists must act, and not only in areas they enjoy but also in areas that they merely tolerate. For example, community journalists may enjoy college sports, but their bread and butter is in school and recreation league sports. Try them, you'll learn to love them, and your readers will love you for the effort.
Local heroes are more interesting and relevant than professional heroes.
Class picks theme. Berner, R. Thomas, Language Skills for Journalists, Houghton Mifflin, 1984. Bernstein, Theodore M., The Careful Writer, Atheneum, 1977. Bernstein, Watch Your Language, Pocket Books, 1965. Brady, John, The Craft of Interviewing, Vintage Books, 1977.