Trend Story Pitch

1, 2, 3, or 4 names

1. Make a case for the story in a PP.

2.The editor hates trend stories so you have to be persuasive.

3. Highlight the most interesting finding you have up front, explained in terms of what you expected, what you found, and why your readers will care.

4. Decide on the MSS’s approach for the question you are following.

5. Look for a way to expand upon, divide, or deepen that approach in your own research.

6. Formulate the questions you will use in your survey, and consider how you will collate the answers.

1. Make a case for the story.

2. The editor hates trend stories so you have to be persuasive.

3. Highlight the most interesting finding you have up front, explained in terms of what you expected, what you found, and why your readers will care.

We were surprised to see that deep involvement in youth sports in our community is not rising. We assumed that the rate of involvement would have risen sharply.

1. Make a case for the story.

2. The editor hates trend stories so you have to be persuasive.

3. Highlight the most interesting finding you have up front, explained in terms of what you expected, what you found, and why your readers will care.

This will make a good trend story because we can easily demonstrate that the trend is real with MSS numbers.

Since 1994, the MSS has asked the “club or community sports” question.

For boys, all categories have been flat or slightly declining except “every day” which has posted a slight increase.

For girls, all categories have increased slightly with a more substantial increase for “every day.”

When you consider the total numbers and term “involvement” at one time or more a week, involvement has remained very flat over the past 15 years.

This is sufficient to power our story, but there is another angle.

The survey:Community clubsand programs(4-H, Park andRec, CommunityEd., etc.)

School sportsTeams

Club orcommunity sportsTeams

Fine arts activities(lessons, band,choir, dance,drama, etc.)

The MSS only asks about team sports.

We wonder if the trend will be continued if other activities are included.

We will follow the trend of this question. The key term will be club or community sports involvement

This question’s value is toward student health. The approach is to gather data on exercise. These terms are a bit narrow and might be misunderstood by respondents.

We will expand the term and gather data that will not miss involvement with other healthful outdoor exercise, such as church teams, individual sports like golf and tennis, and other activities such as fishing, hunting, swimming, skating, and even outdoor play.