Reporting and Writing IMaking the news

Making the news

Never expect stories to arrive on your desk fully-formed and ready to write.The quality of your journalism will depend on two factors:

Your ability to find original storiesand Finding distinctive angles or themes

No matter how the story arrives – as a press release, a phone call or a brown, unsigned envelope – you shouldbe thinking about what else you can do to make the story better.

Making the news

Diary Off-diary

Diary stories

Examples Stories that can be anticipated in advance:Court, council or government meetings, inquests, press conferences, publications of official reports, photo ops, auctions, sports matches etc.

In practice These stories are almost never exclusives, as all journalists will know they are happening. You mightoccasionally be the only reporter sat in court for a great

case, but generally your job will be to find ways to create a unique angle to the story.

Often, these stories will be assigned by a news editoror chief reporter who controls the office diary.

Diary stories

Every Febrary, district and borough councils across the country meet to set their spending plans for the coming financial year.The date of the meeting is known months in advance.. It’s the ultimate diary story.Worse still, reporters know this story backwards. It’s the one about whether council tax is going up, and by how much.

Diary stories

The agenda for the meeting includes all the figures and the answer to that council tax question. By attending, you will fill your notebooks with quotes from the inevitable debate. All your rivals have this, too.Your story needs all this key information – but you also need something more to make it really stand out, and make it meaningful to readers.

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Thought process…

Details Council tax gives you an easy angle on the story, but it’s a predictable and rather flat one. The agenda for the

meeting gives you full details of how the council wantsto spend its money in the coming year, and where spending will be cut. Digging into the detail can bring out a better angle.

Council tax going up by 2.94%Average house will pay £1430.04 per year£48,000 bus travel subsidy for older people cut£50,000 fund for young athletes establishedCommunity grant fund cut by a third

Thought process…

Sources The next step is to identify sources who will be able to help develop the angle you have decided is strongest…You need all the facts of the story, supporting and opposing views on an issue, and case studies of people

who will be affected.

Think about Politicians on both sides of a debateOfficial sources of facts and figuresCharities (for facts, reaction and case studies)Campaign groups (facts, reaction, case studies)Who will be most affected by a story, and how best to

find them.

Thought process…

Angle £48,000 bus subsidy for older people cut

Sources Council leader & cabinet member responsibleWhy the decision was taken

Opposition leader & shadow cabinet memberCriticism & alternatives

Age UK (Age Concern & Help The Aged combined)Number affected & case studies

Arriva (Bus company)Financial impact, number of users etc.

The story

The extra work means I can do more than just tell readers what their council tax bills are going to be – I can tell them a story.The travel scheme cuts give me an angle for a narrative that also includes all the key information from the meeting.

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One for you…

On Thursday night Medway Council’s cabinet will debate its policy for issuing sexual entertainment licences within historic Rochester.There are two licensed premises (The Casino Rooms and the Queen Charlotte). Some councillors want to impose a limit to make it easier to reject any future proposed venues. Your paper’s got a deadline before the meeting. How do you cover it?

The scenic, historic Casino Rooms

• Are sex venues a threat to Rochester’s reputation?

• Do sex venues lead to higher crime?

• How popular are Rochester’s existing sex venues?

• What kind of people go to them?

• Economic impact

• Councillors in favour of limits• Councillors against• Conservation groups• Shops near licensed venues• People who have made bids to

open licensed venues• Existing licensed venues• Residents’ associations• Police

Sources Angles

A few ideas

Getting the info

Crime Kent Police’s press office can supply crime figures, or many are already available at www.police.uk

Economy If you want to know how a town is performing, you canask Medway Council (under its regeneration portfolio)or the local chamber of commerce.

Background Previous licence applications can be found in archives of Medway Council’s licensing committee agendas.Planning applications can be found on Medway Council’s planning portal at:http://www.medway.gov.uk/environmentandplanning/planning/planningportal.aspx

Diary stories

Diary stories also include community events, sport matches, gigs, etc.Preparation is key to covering these events properly – we know they are coming weeks, months or even years in advance.E.g. the Tour de France coming to Kent in 2007.

Diary stories

We knew it was coming a year ahead – it was announced at press conferences in Paris and London.We planned weeks of coverage explaining the event, where it would go, analysing the potential benefits for the county and profiling key figures.That included designing maps, setting up interviews and travelling to all the major announcements.

Diary stories

When the day finally came, the Kent Messenger decided it would compile a 24 page supplement of coverage to run in every edition across the county. Most editions also ran coverage on their front pages and on extra pages at the front end. That takes a lot of planning….

Diary stories

Top priority Pictures are the story. We identified key places on the route that would be photogenic (town centres, landmarks, areas with big crowds) and ensured our staff photographers were there.Before the event we ran stories in the paper and onlineurging readers to take their own pics, and promising to publish the best ones submitted to us.

Story ideas

Story ideas Reporters on the spot at key areasOne reporter based in the Tour’s caravan, covering therace and key events on the roadHow many hotels in Kent are fully booked?Takings at shops, bars and restaurantsKent County Council: economic and tourism benefitsTV audience figuresSpectator voxpopsHold our own cycling fest for primary school kidsCycling shops and cycle clubs: rise in interest?A column of quirky observations and funny stories…

It appears the free gifts thrown to the crowds during the Tour de France festivities were not enough for some people. Various Tour road closure signs have been stolen and are for sale on eBay in excess of £20.

Adding some character

Heard on Radio Kent: “David Millar is the cyclist wearing yellow” – not terribly useful information to listeners.

A diplomatic incident almost broke out when a French photographer tried to get the perfect shot of the Tour in Maidstone. He climbed through a police barrier to take the snap, only to be hauled back by the long arm of the law. “This is Le Tour de France,” he was heard to sneer. “Not the Tour of Great Britain.”

Off-diary stories

Examples Stories you cannot anticipate:Crime, fires, accidents, disasters, human interest stories, scandals, investigations, some protests and community campaigns, reporter-generated issues

In practice These are the stories that potentially nobody else has.They come from your contacts, from getting out into your patch and talking to people, and from being aware of good issues on your patch. Some off-diary stories become diary stories when we follow them up (e.g. campaigns) or just naturally (e.g.a crime becomes a diary story when it reaches court.)

Off-diary stories

A fire started in a warehouse in Paddock Wood on Monday, July 3, 2005.As it spread, the column of smoke could be seen across three counties.100 firefighters were called.There was no way for reporters to prepare for it, we just had to react.

Off-diary stories

A test In stories like these, the details are not on a plate for every reporter in the area.The journalist who makes all the right phone calls, and does it quickly, will get the best story out first.Then it’s a case of gathering as much extra detail as possible from the scene and other sources.Decisions on how to cover a story like this have to be made in an instant.

Off-diary stories

Pictures are top priorityGet a photographer to the scene straight away, with orders to send one picture back as soon as they get there for the website.

Basic detailsKent Fire and Rescue

When did it start?What is on fire?How many firefighters?Evacuation? Danger?Anyone hurt?

Off-diary stories

On the phone Police (investigating? Evacuations? Road closures?)Warehouse owners (what’s in there? Staff numbers?) Southeastern (a train line goes by the site)

At the scene Workers in the warehouse or nearbyNearest houses (witnesses… how did the fire start?)Firefighters at the sceneThe reporter’s own experience (heat, smell, impact…)People with cameras (Their pictures might be better!)

Submitted picture Staff photographer

Off-diary stories

The story

The story focuses on the dramatic elements – that massive black cloud that hung over Kent.Many of the dry facts – how many firefighters attended etc – are put into a bullet-point factfile.Four bylines: That’s one reporter in the office and three at the scene.

Off-diary stories

Some stories don’t come from something gigantic happening on your patch, or announce themselves in a press release. Sometimes the best stories come from just talking to people.When the Iraq War broke out in 2003 I reported on a protest by pupils at a grammar school in Maidstone. One of the girls I spoke to had family in Baghdad.

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Turning it into a story

Origin The Iraqi girl gave me quotes for a voxpop and the story could have ended there. But she mentioned herfather had been exiled and that she could not even contact her family for fear they would be targeted by Saddam’s regime.

Issues She was 15 – I couldn’t do the story without parentalpermission

The story would in any case be improved if I could talkto her dad

I met him and he told me his story off the recordBut he agreed to let me interview his daughter

Off-diary stories

By the time I could do the interview, she had heard from her family.I talked to her about her fear and the phone call they had to write an emotional story.I needed to be aware of the war and the “Shock and Awe” campaign in Baghdad, but those details are not dwelled on – it’s her story.

Off-diary stories

Sometimes a boring diary story can become a far more serious off-diary one… like this tragic accident at the Kent Showground at Detling.

Origin We found out about the accident from the ambulance service on Tuesday morning, when it put out a pressupdate about a death during a stunt show.

Issues We had sent a photographer to the Kent Showground to get fun pics of the event over the Easter weekend, but he left before this accident happened. It wasn’t the sort of event a reporter would attend – weonly expected to use pictures and a short caption. Wewere playing catch-up.

Off-diary stories

How to do it First, we got a basic story on the website

On the phone Kent Showground: what happened, how, is there going to be an investigation?Stunt company: Who was the victim, how did it happen, what safety measures were there, how often had this stunt been done before?Ambulance: When did you attend, was he alive when you got there?Police: Any investigation?

Meanwhile… Everything rested on getting pictures. Someone who read the web story sent in these:

Off-diary

On the phone: Finding witnesses: we called people we knew and put out appeals on Facebook and Twitter to find people who were there – and did find them.Maidstone council: Will a health and safety investigation be launched?

New stage That last question changes the status of the story: Oncean investigation is launched we can diary the timetable

for reports and conclusions being announced, turningit back into a diary story.

The final story

The final story again uses that extra information, beyond the basic facts of the incident, to create a compelling narrative.In this case, the stunt company were not local. For our readers, the most important angle was the impact on local people in the audience, and the safety implications at the showground.

Off-diary stories

The last one… in 2003 national papers ran a series of stories about celebrities, including the footballer Stan Collymore, going “dogging”.It means going for sex in public places – and usually allowing others to watch. How on earth could the Kent Messenger cover this…?

Off-diary stories

Facts Sometimes reliable sources of fact in a story can hide inweird places. I called the police and asked if dogging was a problemin the area. They said it wasn’t. I didn’t believe them.

So I got my editor’s permission to start research online.I had to go on dogging forums and search for “recommended hotspots” in Kent. The list includedDartford Heath, Cobtree Manor Park in Maidstone and, with a particularly high rating, a layby off the A249 inDetling.

Off-diary stories

What next? I still hadn’t established there was a story. I had to go to Detling.I went back to the police and told them what I found. They said they were aware of the websites and that patrols regularly went to the layby. They never foundanything happening.

I asked if I could tag along on the next patrol…

Off-diary stories

Story ideas

Stories Police: details of the arresthow common is this?what law is it breaking?how can it be stopped?

Council: are you aware of this happening?families use the layby

Background: why is it called “dogging”?what websites promote it?

Reaction: nearby residents/businessesmy first-person account

Health: risks & STD threat

What next…?

Follow-ups Stories don’t die when they are published, there’s usually something left over.

Arrest This was now a diary story. I had to check with police to find out what happened to the dogger, and if he wasdue in court.

Campaigns But newspapers can also set an agenda. After talking tonearby residents and seeing how hard it was to stop illegal activity in the layby, we campaigned for its closure. Six months later, it was blocked off to all traffic.

Developing stories

Key questons Who is most affected by this story?Find them – they’ll give you the best angle

What don’t I know?Always look for unanswered questions

Who is reliable?Make sure facts and figures come from a source you can trust, and isn’t biased

Over to you

Exercise Split into four groups. Each group will be given a storyscenario.Talk it through and decide:

1. The first four sources you would call for more details, reaction or opinion.2. Would you interview them over the phone or in person? What difference does it make?3. Suggest three questions you’d ask to each source.4. Suggest two picture ideas for the story5. Assume you’ve now written that story. Suggest one idea for following it up in the next edition of the paper.