In-depth stories are fun to do. When an editor assigns you or accepts a long-term assignment from you, and gives you time to make it exactly what you want, you take ownership. You get the photos set up. You suggest fact boxes so the presentation really stands out. But if newspapers relied on in-depth stories to fill their pages, they wouldn't get very far. That is where daily stories come in.
Whether the story tells of their village board's efforts to help the community become more environment-friendly or the village's plans to convert its wells to soft-water wells, the daily story helps readers keep up with the events that affect them personally and directly.
When the internship began, an adjustment period helped me get acquainted with the beat. Past stories on the beat tell what issues are important. A lot of times, those will give the daily stories. They are considered stories that move a particular issue along. At times, the editor brought stories that were months old and said, in no uncertain terms, "find out what's going on with this today."
Another place to find daily stories is village board and committee meetings. Although you'll need a follow to the meeting to let readers know the important events, other agenda items can turn into a story for the next day. It mimics a sidebar in sports. When a game finishes, a reporter writes the story called a gamer. As expected, the gamer describes what happened in the game. The second story focuses on a more specific aspect of the game. Reporters can use this same strategy for meetings. The meeting follow - or the gamer - is due the night of the meeting. The other story taken out of the meeting - the sidebar - can then be worked on and refined the next day.
This was something I almost learned the hard way. When I was at my first meeting, I thought "OK, just do the meeting follow and I'm done." That was until the next day when my editor asked what I was working on. I told him I had found a story idea from the meeting. This was true but I wasn't sure if he wanted me to work on it. I pitched it and got the OK.
A third way reporters fill their daily quota is frequent conversations with local officials. This part is a little intimidating until you remember it's part of the job. A phone call or three a week accomplishes two things: it keeps your name in the official's head so he feels comfortable with you when the news starts getting heavier. It also gives daily story ideas. Officials will talk to you at length about upcoming programs.
Finally, a fourth place to get daily story ideas is the community at large. Unfortunately, interns don't get business cards. But the more you throw your name out there, the more you keep your name in the forefront. People like to know they have a connection at a newspaper and will use it - and at times, try to exploit it - as often as they can.
Not all of these methods of getting stories are simple. In fact, a couple of them are still difficult even after working a couple of months on the same beat. Maybe some day it will be second nature to me the way it is to some of the reporters I work with. But I have time.
If these four things are followed, within a couple of months, the schedule will fill with daily stories. Put enough beat reporters together with enough daily stories, and a newspaper fills up quickly. Then add to that in-depth pieces and the newspaper is complete. Simple, right?
Monday, July 16, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Wonderful world of village meetings
Board meetings. Committee meetings. Special meetings.
Covering a city beat means a lot of meetings. They seem daunting at first. After all, most meetings will have along with it a deadline story in which the reporter has to summarize a meeting that lasts as long as 2 hours in nine inches - or about 290 words. Not to mention sometimes the reporter must do it in about 20 minutes.
As with any story, preparation is important. But with deadline stories, it is necessary. All villages and cities are required to make their agendas available for the public. Most times, the city posts the agenda on its Web site. Merely reading the agenda, however, doesn't end your preparation.
For Monday's meeting in West Dundee, Ill., the agenda had a very long consent agenda. Villages and cities are allowed to package several items in one line item - the consent agenda - and pass them in one overall vote. This helps move the meeting along. Of course, sometimes they abuse this. But this post is about meetings.
After the consent agenda, an item I've been following through the summer was listed. I had known quite a bit about it. As you proceed in your internship or job as a beat reporter, there will be several issues that you learn a lot about. Because it's your job to follow them. Before I began the internship, I didn't know anything about TIF districts. Now, I could teach you - and some village officials - a few things about them.
The first step after determining, with the help of my editor, that this agenda item was the subject of tonight's story was to look up past stories about the issue. A brief refresher always helps. I took note of anything about TIF districts - whether I wrote them or somebody else wrote them - to help in prewriting.
My editor encourages - and rightfully so - prewriting. When you arrive at a meeting, the only things you should look for are quotes pertaining to the main point of your story. A lot of background should be complete. After looking up past stories, you should call a village official - village clerks and village presidents often work - and get some quotes dealing with the topic.
Here's the secret: Most boards and committees get all information before the meeting. So by the time you begin your prewriting, a few hours before the meeting, they already know what is going to happen. Not to mention, they all receive meeting packets. The packets help a reporter follow along and most villages will have them available for the reporter. They are, for the most part, public documents. In this case, everybody knew that the village's development coordinator was going to request a public hearing on the TIF. They also knew the date. So the story already had the date of the hearing, what a TIF district is and a quick update on the events leading up to the meeting for those readers who haven't been following along.
Finally, your prewritten story is complete. The next thing to do is know how long it takes to get from the meeting locale to your office and give yourself 15-20 minutes to finish up the story and give it some polish. I can't recall how many times I looked at the clock and calculated in my head how long I would have to write when I returned to the office.
When I got to the office, a quick call to my night editor let her know I was about to begin the story and would be calling in 15-20 minutes with the final version. Seventeen minutes later, just two minutes after my 9:15 deadline, the story was sent. All that was left were phone calls to the area police departments to find out about any late-breaking cop calls.
Again, just another night as a city beat reporter.
Covering a city beat means a lot of meetings. They seem daunting at first. After all, most meetings will have along with it a deadline story in which the reporter has to summarize a meeting that lasts as long as 2 hours in nine inches - or about 290 words. Not to mention sometimes the reporter must do it in about 20 minutes.
As with any story, preparation is important. But with deadline stories, it is necessary. All villages and cities are required to make their agendas available for the public. Most times, the city posts the agenda on its Web site. Merely reading the agenda, however, doesn't end your preparation.
For Monday's meeting in West Dundee, Ill., the agenda had a very long consent agenda. Villages and cities are allowed to package several items in one line item - the consent agenda - and pass them in one overall vote. This helps move the meeting along. Of course, sometimes they abuse this. But this post is about meetings.
After the consent agenda, an item I've been following through the summer was listed. I had known quite a bit about it. As you proceed in your internship or job as a beat reporter, there will be several issues that you learn a lot about. Because it's your job to follow them. Before I began the internship, I didn't know anything about TIF districts. Now, I could teach you - and some village officials - a few things about them.
The first step after determining, with the help of my editor, that this agenda item was the subject of tonight's story was to look up past stories about the issue. A brief refresher always helps. I took note of anything about TIF districts - whether I wrote them or somebody else wrote them - to help in prewriting.
My editor encourages - and rightfully so - prewriting. When you arrive at a meeting, the only things you should look for are quotes pertaining to the main point of your story. A lot of background should be complete. After looking up past stories, you should call a village official - village clerks and village presidents often work - and get some quotes dealing with the topic.
Here's the secret: Most boards and committees get all information before the meeting. So by the time you begin your prewriting, a few hours before the meeting, they already know what is going to happen. Not to mention, they all receive meeting packets. The packets help a reporter follow along and most villages will have them available for the reporter. They are, for the most part, public documents. In this case, everybody knew that the village's development coordinator was going to request a public hearing on the TIF. They also knew the date. So the story already had the date of the hearing, what a TIF district is and a quick update on the events leading up to the meeting for those readers who haven't been following along.
Finally, your prewritten story is complete. The next thing to do is know how long it takes to get from the meeting locale to your office and give yourself 15-20 minutes to finish up the story and give it some polish. I can't recall how many times I looked at the clock and calculated in my head how long I would have to write when I returned to the office.
When I got to the office, a quick call to my night editor let her know I was about to begin the story and would be calling in 15-20 minutes with the final version. Seventeen minutes later, just two minutes after my 9:15 deadline, the story was sent. All that was left were phone calls to the area police departments to find out about any late-breaking cop calls.
Again, just another night as a city beat reporter.
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