Associated Press Reporting Handbook

1. Associated PressReporting Handbook Ideas and How to Get Them Chapter 3

2. Main Street Welcomes McDonald’s -- but WorriesA Story by Ted Anthony • What was unusual about a McDonald’s restaurant in Coudersport, Pa., that made it worth a story? • What was the community’s main concern? • What were some of the positive aspects of a McDonald’s in Coudersport?

4. What brought Coudersport into existence 192 years before McDonald’s came? • In the mid-1980s, something happened that helped Coudersport survive population drift, fading industry and youth exodus. • What concept does Gene Walsh believe makes McDonald’s work in communities that favor independent business?

5. What does Edward McMahon mean when he says, “There is no place in America today that will remain special by accident.”? • Why do you think the tables are full at Mickey’s Diner? • What does Bill Caldwell, the retired jobs officer, think has been the lifeblood of Coudersport?

6. Ted Anthony on Story Ideas • Some of our best ideas come directly from the world around us … we see hundreds of things … most of those things just pass through our minds and go out the other end. • That’s weird! That’s interesting! I wonder what makes that tick! • Record those thoughts on a digital recorder or in a notebook.

7. Nine out of 10 of those ideas may become nothing, but one may be a great story idea. • Reporters often “put down their antennas” when they aren’t in the office. • We have an “idea mill,” through which we should funnel all facets of our lives, from the grocery store to the Little League field.

8. “I try to write stories that take the everyday and explore what it means … Everything doesn’t have a deeper meaning, but many things do.” • Two ingredients make a story exceptional: • Unique • Something that is universal • The real trick is to combine them

9. “When you’re reporting in a rural town and trying to get people to trust you, you can’t go in with cameras rolling.” • Hang out at the hardware store! • “When I report in the Midwest, I take out my earring … a reporter from New York with an earring is probably the kiss of death.” • Dress plain, at least not flashy, so you can deal with all kinds of people.

10. A digital camera can record the scene for you. It helps write description with accuracy. • Gather as much background information about your topics, or sub-topics as you can. • Anthony read a book about McDonald’s history; interviewed folks at their headquarters; spoke to franchiser Gene Walsh; and conservationist Ed McMahon.

11. Anthony has accumulated an electronically searchable list of experts and persons with great insight. • He adds keywords, like FRANCHISING or MAIN STREET, to make searching easier and more fruitful. • Always be on the lookout for sources, the same way you are for ideas.

12. “It all channels into one big database of not necessarily definite sources but potential sources that are just kind of waiting in the wings for when I might need them.” • The toughest part of writing, for Anthony, is what is left on the editing room floor. • “Whenever you think you’re done with a story, you can always cut 10 percent.” (Pete Mattiace)

13. “Take out everything that’s good in a story when you’re done with it, and all that’s left will be great.” (Bruce DeSilva) • “ … I fight and scream and curse and throw things at my bosses when they want to take” things out of a story. “But, ultimately, it’s probably a good idea.”

14. Associated Press Reporting Handbook Ideas II: Listening to America Chapter 4

15. Death of a BullyA story by Jules Loh • How would you rate Loh’s lead into this story? Did it prepare you for the story? • Did you get a good mental picture of Ken McElroy? • What struck you hardest about McElroy? • Did you get a good mental picture of Skidmore, Missouri?

16. Why did the town want McElroy in a “well-barred jail?” • Did anyone see this story, which was done was made into a movie?

17. The Movie: Without Mercy • A murder in Skidmore - winner of "The Standing Ovation Award" at Quinnipiac University. The film is based on a true story and examines the last six days in the life of a sex predator - Ken Rex McElroy - the self-proclaimed "King of Nodaway County." Ken McElroy was a violent sexual predator who was shot dead on the main street of Skidmore, Missouri on July 10, 1981. Fifty-five people watched, no indictments followed, no trial was held, no one came forward to reveal the killer or killers. What caused Skidmore's "decent citizens" to murder one of its own? • Director: Ralph ServerGenre: DramaLength: 113 min

18. Were you surprised when “Ken Rex McElroy” was killed? • Were you surprised that there were “no witnesses” to the shooting?

19. Were you surprised that Loh did not identify the person, based on what McElroy’s wife had told him? • What did you glean about McElroy and Trina’s relationship? • Although it is said directly, where do we feel McElroy got most of his money?

20. What do you think happened to Skidmore? • Do you feel the town did what Lois Bowenkamp wanted it to do: “… go back to doing what we do best, which is minding our own business.” • From his story, what do you think of Jules Loh?

21. Listening to America • Jules Loh was author of the twice-weekly column “Elsewhere in America” for AP for eight years. • Each column was basically 600 words, based upon “the nicest or most interesting or most perplexing person in every town.” • He burned out.

22. “A spot reporter’s looking for one or two things. I don’t know what I’m looking for. And so I’m looking for talk -- just conversation -- and whatever comes up.” • “They would tell me things that they haven’t told before. But it’s not because they didn’t want to -- it’s because nobody pursued them …”

23. “… I know that I can outreport anybody. Because that’s something you can learn.” • “I always thought that writers were born but that you could learn to report. And I was just determined that I would do that. Ask all the right questions.” • Bird-watching helped him prepare to look for details, no matter what the subject.

24. So when he reported a story, he went in with his eyes wide open. • “There were certain things that I tried to include in every story, whether it was 600 words or 6,000. I always felt that I owed the reader a description of where I am or who I’m talking to.”

25. After 39 years, Loh retired. • “I was printed in 600, 700 newspapers … But I really cherished my anonymity. There were a lot of people who read it, and I wound up on many refrigerator doors and got a lot of Christmas cards and things like that, but I could still go into any town and be utterly anonymous.”

26. The story he didn’t write: The Coffee Shop • “But, I never did write that, because I knew I always could.”