I noticed that the top five news sites all have one thing in common.
Herman Cain says he didn’t sexually harass women.
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are reproducing again (that makes 20 children, in case you’ve lost count).
Joe Paterno is in hot water at Penn State.
Meanwhile, the Italian prime minister is promising to resign and a woman I’ve never heard of is suing the producers of “Spiderman.”
The uniting element in these stories is not controversy, although that certainly doesn’t harm the news value.
The bond is people. All of these top stories are about people.
We are interested in reading about people so much more than processes. Imagine the stories listed above without the people angle.
There’s a sex scandal in government and a general scandal in athletics. Wow. Shocker, right?
A woman is pregnant. Not really news. Now, if a man was pregnant… that’s interesting.
A politician is resigning and someone is getting sued.
Who cares? Not I.
Once you identify a subject as having news value, it’s time to determine how to tell that story. The best way is always by finding the people impacted by the happening. People want to read about people, not processes.
My challenge to you is to think about this with every story you write.
If you’re a student journalist, probably every story you write will be about a student or a group of students.
You should see what happens when you shift the focus from the process and tell the human side of the issue. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.
Linky, Linky!
Do you have a great example of when you or someone else focused on the people instead of the process or issue? Please share the link below.
ClarkSchafer says
Great wisdom in your post Prof KRG! Story telling in journalism is always effective because we’re “wired” to learn and relate through story. I was pointed to an outstanding book entitled “Tell To Win” by Peter Guber. It’s not a journalism book but a very read on the topic of storytelling.
classycareergirl says
Sounds interesting! You just gave me an idea of what to write next. Thanks for sharing this Prof KRG.