More on Story Generation
Connie has made some very valid points regarding story generation.
There is one thing to keep in mind regarding your reference to the different generations and what they are talking about, and that's a good understanding of who is in your listening audience. If there is more than one station in the market, then there are particular things that may appeal to some, but not to others. A story about Lawrence Welk is totally useless on a rock station, but just about everyone is affected by education, health, municipal government decisions and it's up to you and me to tell them the how and why.
You are SO right about digging for stories being a tough job, but it can be very satisfying. In your case, I expect it's also very helpful for your jock shift to have an even better handle on what's happening in the community.
Another means of information-gathering is to get the newsroom on the mailing list for any local newsletters that may be floating around. You’ll notice that I’ve posted one such example: The Shoreline News. I picked it up at my mother’s house and I noticed one potential story lead in the Letters to the Editor section. I found myself wondering if the snowplow issue might be relevant anywhere else in the listening area. Even if it isn’t, it might be worth a call to the local Department of Transportation office to talk about snow clearing in general. We Maritimers do like to talk about the weather, so I could file away a story or two along those lines and then use them on slow news days or in advance of a major storm. That type of story might also be relevant in other MBS markets.
4 comments:
That's actually a really good idea. We just got about 30cm or more of snow here in the past two days, and I know that even at my house, finding someone to get out of bed to come plow me out so I could go to work was tough. That's definitely a great idea!
You could also check with the local hospital spokesperson to see how many people end up in the ER with back problems after a big snowfall. I'm sure there's a local doc or physiotherapist who would like to talk about how to avoid such injuries. How are shovel sales this year compared to last? Any worries about the snow-clearing budget? This list of potential stories goes on and on...
You know, even though I had great teachers in school that really did teach me a lot of useful information, I didn't have anyone here to steer me in the right direction. The person that did news before me had been a member of the local police with the communications department, so he already had all the contacts. But when I stepped in, he wasn't here to train me, so I kind of had to figure it out as I go, and any help I can get anywhere, really does help.
Something else to keep in mind when generating stories for radio; you can continue a story throughout the day or week by adding different slants. Given our time constraints, it is all but impossible to get every point of view in every story. There are a couple of ways to deal with this: you can write several versions and run them in rotation or you can stretch the story out over several days. This is particularly relevant when sending stories in to MNN for regional casts.
Think about the potential audience for your story. How much do folks in Moncton (for example) care about a new business (for example) opening up in Campbellton? With only 2:30 allotted for news per cast this becomes the big question when we decide which stories will be used in any given cast. Another 'pro' regarding the several stories/slants option, is that one of those points of view may have a wider audience. For instance, the new business is getting a large amount of money from the government for start-up affects all taxpayers in New Brunswick.
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