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Things every reporter must ask:

Money!Money matters in stories concerning

operations, procedures, budgets, new stadiums, projects big and small.

Nothing is ever ever free. If funds were not federal, then they must be

coming from some other place.If they are donated – who donated them?

Why? How much?

What’s in a name?

John Smythe Jon Smith Gion Smyth Jonathan “John” Smithe

It is absolutely crucial to ask how to spell someone’s name.

Is it rude to ask a person their age. No. You need to ask, even if you think you

don’t need it –because you may find out halfway through your story that it actually does matter how old they are.

What about a person’s race?

Tricky – AP style rules say only to include a person’s race if it is necessary to the story.i.e. – There is an increasing number of

Hispanics and African Americans that are starting to participate in politics. What does this mean? It could mean a shift in the political atmosphere, a shift in agendas, etc.

’Scuse me. Can I get your number? Here’s some advice from a Pro – http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=kTFZyl7hfBw

“Gimme your digits.”

Why do you need someone’s number? Because it’s important. Do not question this. You WILL at some

point in time think about a question you forgot to ask. Don’t be arrogant and think you asked everything you will ever need to know because the fact is – there are always things you didn’t ask that will come to you later.

Isn’t it rude?

NO. It’s your job. Don’t feel like you are “imposing” on them. Just do it. Ask for their number.

How to ask At the end of the interview simply say:

“If there I have any additional questions that come up or if I need to clarify something with you to make sure I have it right, is there a number I can reach you at?”

100 percent of the time people, including the most nervous person, will give you their cell number.

If you are working toward a PR profession you should automatically give the reporter your “digits.” That way if they put that you didn’t answer your calls, the phone log will give you a history to see if they actually did try to call you. You have to hold reporter’s accountable too.

What about Email? In the digital age it is easy to send questions

via email and receive a quick response.Allows you to have a paper trailProblem: Things can get lost in translation.

Example: YISD lawsuit story by yours truly.

That being said – it is ALWAYS important to follow up with a phone call.

Texting?

Use it to set up interviews. Get tips Reference in stories if there are official

documents. Not officially used for an interview.

Why: Because it’s lame and lazy.

What about interviews via chat

Can be done via Skype or Facebook.Pros – get answers quickly and efficiently.Con – you don’t get to hear the person’s voice on

chat.

Skype and Facebook: This should only be done to get quick questions answered.

If you are doing a feature on someone this is lazy reporting. You need to get them on the phone or interview them in person.

Few exceptions for skype include – interviewing an outstanding person that is out of the country or state.

What every story should have…

Sentences that transition into one another. If there are no connections you lose the

reader.

Think of it like a train….

Stories should have …

A human element. People don’t care to read stories without a

person in them. ○ Why? Because why does it matter then? Why

should they care?

DO NOT ignore the White Elephant in the room.

He may have something interesting to say…This is the question that all people want to

ask but are afraid to.You need to ask it.Ignoring it makes it seem like you are

covering for this person.In a feature it makes it look like you don’t

care about their story.

Stories should not have Your opinions.

Save it for your blog. In this industry you are paid to NOT have an

opinion. You are paid to report fairly and diligently.

If there is statement made in a story it needs to be attributed to someone. You can’t just decide that this is how this person feels or how this issue should be perceived.

Why? Because you could be misquoting someone, misrepresenting their opinions and that will lead to possible lawsuits.

Personal tidbits need to be in the story. This is what makes the story interesting. People don’t care about a timeline

biography. They will get bored and move on with life. In addition it looks like your trying to sell them which will damage your credibility.

People are interested in quirky things real people say and experience.

Bring LIFE to your story!

DO NOT

Make claims your sources don’t support. This is your personal biases getting in the

way.Just because YOU think it’s true doesn’t

mean it is. YOU NEED data, documents and studies

and interviews to back up your information. DO NOT editorialize. This damages your

credibility and shows your biases.

Stories should not

Read like an English paper. Read like a novel. Have jargon.

Stories should

Read like your telling a story to your grandma.

Listen to NPR – perfect examples:

Short, concise and to the point, and yet with sprinkles of details and quirky points along the way that keeps you interested.

Reporter’s should

Learn military jargon, police jargon, legal jargon, medical jargon.

And know how to interpret it in Lay man’s terms.

Remember pretend like your telling your Grandma a story.

Reporter’s should

NEVER ASSUME.Never, ever, ever ever assume that

EVERYONE should know what a certain topic or issue, a person or disease is.

If you are reporting on a difficult concept figure out a way to explain it in a maximum of two sentences. More than that and the reader gets lost.

Reporter’s Should Be aware of a person’s demeanor.

Are they laughing? Crying? Getting defensive? Upset?

And why are they feeling this way? Are they twiddling their fingers? Looking away?

Going out a back door? Running away from the media…

You need to be aware of this and include this in your story because it adds “oomph” and as you practice you become aware of when someone is lying or telling the truth.

This is a people business

You are not paid just to sit behind a desk and type out copy.

You are out there in the world gathering information, researching.

Scheduling your time

First: Know what your deadline is.Then use the time between to schedule your interviews, (over the phone or in person).

Figure out how much time you will need to write your story, edit it and then submit it.

Ooops…I can’t make my deadline what now? Simply put – nothing now. Thanks for

working here. In this industry there is no time to waste.

If a story can’t come to fruition you need to inform your boss by noon that same day.

This allows them to see you are working, you are responsible and allows them to find other stories elsewhere.

Assignments

For Tuesday – We’ll have a combined current events and AP quiz. The AP Style portion will touch on: Race, numbers, academic degrees and

proper sentence structure.Remember your 2nd story is due Sunday,

March 3rd. Take the lessons you learned from your first story and apply them to improve.