1. Finding Stories & Angles
Lizabeth A. Walsh, MJE

2. Stories are everywhere
Be interested to create an interesting story.
If you act like you care about people, you will have
opportunities to care about them.
If you care about them, you will want to tell their
stories.
Whole school surveys
Assigned beats
Focus groups
Randomly selected students
Specifically selected students
Teacher recommendations
Open your eyes and ears
Ask people about themselves

3. Video 1
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500617_162-
6084880.html

4. Whole school surveys
 Obtain administrative approval
 Get teacher buy-in (bribes can work)
 Have teachers support your goal
 Do it on one day, collect it that day
 Sort& read all the surveys as a sponge
activity or “bonus time” activity (this can
be extra credit, an assigned grade, or a
“work night” activity)

5. Assigned beats
 Journalistic approach to coverage
 Setup a system for getting and reporting
information
 Have share time so staffers are made aware
of interesting events (overlap coverage)
A regular beat report IS a grade and has
academic merit

6. Video 2
 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?
id=618642n

7. Focus Groups
 Invitations- specific vs. general topics
 Scheduled events- organized & prepared
 On-the-spot- stop in to a meeting
 Surveys- tailor questions to each group
 Infiltrate the group- have staffers join

8. Randomly selected students
 Throw a dart
 Every Nth person
 Color of the day
 Musical pointing

9. Video 3
 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?
id=618642n

10. Specifically selected students
 Everyone who had only 1 entry last year
 Students
who are in a given group or
demographic designation
 Students our staffers know (1 degree)
 Students staffers’ friends know (2 degrees)
 Students the friends know (3 degrees)

11. Teacher recommendations
 Emails to teachers
 Don’t just ask for “kids who are different”
 Counselors also have access to students
 Can be standouts or just interesting

12. Video 4
 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?
id=618642n

13. Open your eyes & ears
 Hallway observations are valuable
 Stay IN at lunch
 Go OUT at lunch
 Come to school extra early
 Stay extra late
 Make it a contest to find the best story

14. Ask people about themselves
 Insteadof staying in your comfort zone,
begin conversations with others
 Comment on a piece of clothing, an
accessory, a homework assignment, a
situation, the weather- whatever
 Learn to ask questions and listen more
than you talk- the one who leaves with the
most information wins, and you want to win.

15. Angles & Approaches
NEWS VALUES
Proximity
Currency / Timeliness
Impact
Prominence
Conflict
Entertainment

16. Video 5
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?
id=6083691n

17. Proximity
 How close is the event to your school?
 Isthe event in your town or surrounding
area? (city, county, region, state, country, etc.)
 How much is it reported in local news?
 Ifit’s not close, it doesn’t have proximity,
but that doesn’t remove it from the list, it
just doesn’t get full points for MOST
IMPORTANT

18. Currency / Timeliness
 Since
the book comes out in May (or
August), it needs to be a story that still
matters.
 Historical content matters.
 Evergreen material matters.

19. Impact
 How many people were affected?
 In what way were they affected?
 How significant were the effects?
 How many people could relate to this?

20. Prominence
 Important people matter to others.
 Famous people anchor the year in their
timeliness or popularity
 Student Body Officers, Elected Queens &
Kings, Teachers & Administrators, etc.
 Politicians,
School Board members,
Superintendent, etc.

21. Conflict
 If it bleeds, it leads (gross!)
 Teenagers can relate to drama
 We like to hear about a problem- we get
emotionally involved
 People who overcome tragedy are inspiring

22. Entertainment
 Funny isn’t universal, but it’s close
 Bizarre traits or events catch our attention
 Thisis pretty much the excuse for telling a
story when it doesn’t have any other news
value at all

23. All materials presented…
 Remain the property and copyright of the various
owners of the original works.
 These yearbook samples were presented at BALFOUR
workshops for the benefit of their clients and
customers.
 Please do not alter these presentations.
 Use of these shows is intended only for individual
adviser-to-staff classroom teaching, not for publication
or reproduction in any form for any type of
presentation at a conference, camp, convention, or
gathering of multiple schools’ staffs.