Newswriting

Profile Story Assignment

What’s a profile story?

• A timely news story focused on a person who is interesting and newsworthy.

• For example: They might be a star performer or athlete. Maybe they’re a leader of an organization or cause. Perhaps they’ve overcome adversity. Or maybe they won a prestigious award.

Common story type

Class examples

• In the past, students have written about athletes, artists, musicians, dancers, actors, business entrepreneurs, professors, community activists, social media stars and more.

• See Moodle for their stories.

Assignment requirements

• Person must be alive. No obituaries.• Person must be willing to be identified and have story

published. Journalism is for the public.• Person must not have been previously profiled.

Otherwise, they’re old news.• Person must be newsworthy to the general public, not

just you. We’ll cover this later.• Avoid conflicts of interest. No family, friends, SOs, etc. • Story idea is due Feb. 8. Multiple ideas recommended.

No extensions.

Newsworthy?

• Look for extraordinary, exceptional feats.• Simply doing something is not newsworthy.

They should do it well. Or they should be very unusual.

• Being well-rounded is not newsworthy. • Remember: the “Who cares?” test• See samples on Moodle.

Story must be timely• Timeliness is a key element of newsworthiness• Write about people who are accomplishing

things now, not about people who accomplished things months or years ago.

• Without a news peg, the story seems random and readers won’t understand why you’re reporting it now instead of 6 months ago.

• That’s why late night talk shows interview actors who have a new movie out or invite a band with a popular new song to perform.

Choose an angle/theme

• Profile stories are not biographies or Wikipedia entries.

• They’re not a chronological summary of a person’s life. We don’t need every last detail.

• Choose a theme or particular focus.• Go beneath the surface to look at what motivates

people, what excites them, what makes them interesting.

• Show, don’t tell.

More advice• Read assignment instructions online.• Extensive interviewing will be required. Don’t wait till last

minute.• Talk to others who know source well and get quotes.• Be neutral. Keep your opinion out of the story.• Write in third person, never first person.• Story should be a mix of facts, with details and description

in some spots, and quotes. Strike a good balance. • Seek help from the Writing Center and the Comm. Dept.’s

writing assistant.

Pitch your story• Email mgrabowski@adelphi.edu by Feb. 8• Who you want to write about?• Is s/he willing to be interviewed on the record?• Why is s/he newsworthy to the public?• Who else can you interview about him/her?• Has s/he been covered before?• Is there a conflict of interest?• Don’t change topic unless you check with me.• Ideas are first-come, first-served. Propose your idea

before someone else proposes the same idea!

Submitting the Story

• Due March 6• 650-800 words long• Email MS Word document to me• Include photo of person and contact info for

sources• Visit Writing Center or see Comm. Dept. writing

assistant before submitting• Plagiarism and/or Fabrication will result in an

automatic F.