making important news interesting
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MAKING IMPORTANT NEWS INTERESTING:GOING BACK TO THE BASICSAndrew Chavez, Texas Center for Community Journalism
TWO TYPES OF STORIES
Important• City council• School
board• Numbers
and studies
Interesting• Crime
stories• Profiles• Lifestyle
features
TWO TYPES OF STORYTELLING
Important• Just the
facts• In order of
importance
Interesting• Color• Detail• Narrative
style
BACK TO THE BASICS
IMPROVING THE PYRAMID STARTS AT THE TOP
HOW? FIND THE NEWS
What would you tell your friends?
Think about the headline
FOCUS ON THE NEWS – AN EXAMPLE
The City Council met Friday and unanimously approved six new ordinances.…One of the ordinances bans smoking within 15 feet of public buildings.
The City Council voted unanimously Friday to ban smoking near public buildings.…The smoking ordinance was one of six approved during the meeting. Others included:
Boring Interesting
A METHOD
Outline your 5WsRank themFit what you can in the lede
Finish in the nut graf
SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU
NO. 1
Could you have written this story last week? Or before the event? If so, rethink.
NO. 2
Is this a story or information? If it is, then make it a story. Find the narrative.
Is this one story or two?
NO. 2
The Baytown Dogs defeated the Bayside Cats 35-5 on Saturday night.
Scruff McGruff put up 30 points Saturday night leading the Baytown Dogs to a 35-5 win over the Bayside Cats.
Information Story
NO. 3
Where is the conflict? Who are the winners and losers? Your story should include both
NO. 4
Who stands to gain from this? Follow the money. Do the math.
NO. 5
What’s going on in the background? Don’t forget the affected
BEING YOUR OWN EDITOR
DO THE FINGER TEST
Analyzing your story … does my lede reflect it, etc.? Finger test?
DO THE FINGER TEST
Does your nut graf tell people why they should care?
Is it a fair summary of the story? Does it introduce the main ideas early?
COUNT ‘EM UP
What’s the story really about? Look at your finished copy
Should this be two stories?
WRITE YOUR HEADLINE & CHECK YOUR LEDE
Make sure it matches what your story is about.
Q&A TIME