Powerful Journalism
By Jessica Noguera
When you flip through local news stations…
o What kind of news stories do you see?
o From station to station, are the stories the same
or different?
o What stories catch your attention and why?
CBS NBCABC FOX
Planned Events and Response to News
o Press conferences, spot news, breaking news
o Straight-forward story
o Who, what, where and when are answered.
Enterprise Stories
o Beyond the press conference and spot news
o Dig deeper and aims for the heart
o The “why” and “who cares” aspects are answered.
Watch the following video
from a professional news anchor who discusses how he
enterprises news stories.
Think about how you can do this in the classroom.
Think about…o What aspects interest you?
o How is it different from a typical story that
covers this topic?
o What makes the story enterprise journalism?
Watch the following video news story
and think about how it differs from a
typical crime story.
Watch the following video news story
and think about why it
impacts the audience.
Seek ideas of others
Have a little black book
Find new voices and faces
Be willing to interview anyone
Avoid the pack
Send thank you notes
Examine the story behind the story
“More voices add richness, diversity and
perspective to your ideas.” -Al Tompkins, Aim
for the Heart
Who can you speak with to learn what’s going
on in a community?
o School teachers
o Junk yard owners
o Real-estate developers
o Grocery store manager
o Religious figures
Build and maintain a
big, diverse list of sources
that you can contact 24/7.
Collect business cards and
sort through them
regularly.
If you are going to interview someone you
always see on TV, think again!
Find someone who is rarely, if ever, on TV.
Some viewers may be crazy, angry
or annoying, but you never know
what could come of their story.
My personal newsroom experience
“Bridezilla vs.
The Wedding Photographer”
Cover a story differently than other stations.
Get the information and blaze your own trail.
Them Them
ThemThem
ThemThem
You
Personalized thank you notes go a long way.
Lets an interview subject know you care and respect them as a real person.
Byron Pitts, CBS’s 60 Minutes
Author Al Tompkins says Pitts
sends thank you notes
immediately after an interview
and often receives new
stories because of them.
Look at the story through a different
lens – the lens of the viewer.
Go beyond the event to discover
what’s really happening.
Ask why!
Think back to the Fallen Soldier
story – that’s a story behind the
story.
In our school, who do we usually talk to
and go to for interviews? Make a list.
Go talk to someone NOT on that list and
find out what’s going on in our student
community.
Images and Audio
Byron Pitts
Photo by Roanoke College on Flickr May 23, 2011
Camera Lens
Photo by rg1024 on Open Clip Art Nov 19, 2008
Cartoon Head16
Photo by doodleguy on Open Clip Art April 19, 2011
News Theme
Song by Mike Stellas on Jamendo on March 26, 2010
Old Book
Photo by Molumen on Open Clip Art Oct 6, 2006
Thinkingboy Outline
Photo by Ryan Lerch on Open Clip Art Oct 15, 2006
TV Set
Photo by Machovka on Open Clip Art Dec 29, 2006
Videos and Information
Connecting for Crime [Web file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55TmFz8PlFA
Multimedia Minutes: How to Enterprise Stories -- Tips from Anchor-MMJ Marc
Schollett [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8pMZyWhCDg
On the Road: Planting Flags for Fallen Soldiers [Web file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO0WB-RnEus
Tompkins, A. (2012). Aim for the Heart: Write, Shoot, Report, and Produce for TV
and Multimedia. Washington, DC: CQ Press.