The rest of the story

1. The rest of the story What follows the lead

2. Quick review: The lead • Keep it under 25 words. • Should be direct and simple. Keep the most important info near the front of the sentence. • Should include specific information – concrete facts – about the story. • Should use a strong verb to describe the action. • Should not begin with the “when” – that is rarely the most important piece of information. • Most importantly – accuracy.

3. Now what? • The lead does not, and should not, try to contain ALL the story’s who, what, where, when, why, how information. • In a typical inverted pyramid structure, after the lead, we move on to:- the second most important piece of information.- the third most important piece of information.And so on. • Do not use a chronological approach.

4. The second paragraph • Where you expand or develop on the information in the lead. • Don’t repeat information from the lead. • Like the lead, it should emphasize the news. • It should provide a smooth, logical transition from the lead to the following paragraphs. • Continue this process throughout the story.

5. What else should go in my story? • The rest of the story should try to answer any questions related to the topic of the story. • Organize the information from most important to least. Also, make sure you move clearly and smoothly from one point to the next.

6. A typical structure • Let’s imagine for a second that we have a story about a two-car accident. • In the accident, one person goes to the hospital with injuries. • Possible lead: A 32-year-old Mt. Pleasant man was injured in a two-car accident on Broadway Street in Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday. • Why didn’t we use the person’s name in the lead?

7. The rest of the story • Our lead was on the previous slide. • The second paragraph can identify the injured person. Normally, reporters emphasize people in their stories, and the consequences the developments that are being reported on have on the people involved. • Third paragraph – explains how the accident occurred. The recent action and the main point of the story.

8. The rest of the story, continued • Fourth paragraph – reports any charges filed against the driver who caused the accident. • Fifth, sixth, seventh paragraphs – quote drivers, police officers, witnesses to the accident. • Eighth paragraph – unusual damage to the cars. • Ninth paragraph – describes any traffic problems or delays caused by the accident. • Tenth and subsequent paragraphs – other details related to the story.

9. How does my story end? • In the basic structure, the story ends when we are done answering all the questions. • It does not – and should not – end with any sort of conclusion or summary statement. • When you are done with the facts, stop.

10. Quotations • A good news story normally includes quotations, which are pieces of information obtained from a source. • Direct quotation – the exact words a speaker uses. Those words are packaged between quotation marks. • Indirect quotation – a summary of what the speaker said. Does not require quotation marks, but does require that you give attribution to the person who gave you the information.

11. Direct quotations • Use the speaker’s exact words. • Use direct quotations for interesting insights, opinions, points of view or colorful comments. • There is no need to use direct quotations to present simple factual information. For example, the time, date and place of a school play. Or the fact that three people were involved in an accident. Or the score of a football game. • Direct quotations can give life to a story and increase its readability. • Lets the reader “talk” with the subject quoted.

12. Indirect quotations • Maintain the meaning of what the speaker said. Do not misrepresent what is said. • Used to paraphrase what the speaker has said, so it can be presented to readers in a more coherent and efficient fashion. • Again, make sure you attribute information gathered in indirect quotations to your source.

13. Said? Emphasized? Explained? • When you use quotations, simply use the word “said.” There’s no need to use any other words that carry a similar meaning. • Use the person’s name, and then the word said. For example: Two people in the accident were taken to the hospital, Jones said. • If there is a long title, you can use the word said before the name.- No bunnies were injured in the fire, said Jones, director of the state office of arson investigation.

14. Inverted pyramid story, a checklist • Leads – one sentence, 25 words or less. Should contain the most important information. • Second paragraph – expand or develop on the lead. Should not start down a path to a chronological structure. • AP style – make sure to check numbers, dates, locations, etc. so that they are used in the correct AP style.

15. Continued • Attribution – all major information should be attributed unless it is commonly known, the information strongly implies the source, or it is the observation of the reporter.- Don’t dump a string of direct quotations on the reader.- Direct quotations should be in this sequence – quote, speaker, verb.

16. Continued • Are your pronouns correct? • It, its, it’s. Also make sure we have plurals and singular references correct – its and they. • Use the past tense, not the present. • Name, title – when you put a title before the name, do not separate with commas. Game warden Brad Fisher arrested the trespassers.- after the title, it is set off by commas – Brad Fisher, the game warden, arrested the trespassers.

17. Continued • Short paragraphs – any paragraph more than three sentences long is too long. One or two sentences at the most. • Make each direct quote its own paragraph. • Wordiness – check to make sure you are not using too much verbiage, redundancies, unnecessary repetitions, etc. • Names and facts – double check the spelling of names, and double check your facts to make sure they are accurate.

18. Look for examples • As you read stories for your news journal exercises and for your general knowledge, take note of the structure. • Note how the leads are constructed. • Note how the rest of the story is organized. How quotes are used, both direct and indirect. Pay attention to the word choices and phrasing. • When you notice particularly interesting approaches, break them down, analyze, emulate.

19. Questions?