Week 2 Abstracts
“Where Do Story Ideas Come From?”
Like Roy Peter Clark declared when he visited our campus last year, there are merely two types of journalists: those who come up with story ideas and those who don’t. This is a timely issue that I think has gotten lost in all the talk of “convergence” and “new media” we’re hearing as journalism undergoes its latest transformation. But it doesn’t do any good to have reporters who are expertly trained in thinking for online when they can’t generate fully developed stories of their own. Most importantly, you’re giving your editor more work to do when you rely on him or her to hand out every story assignment — never the wisest thing to do when you’re trying to earn points with your superior. Instead of just bemoaning this problem, however, The Simcoe Reformer’s Gregg McLachlan actually lists 50 places for writers to find inspiration for fresh and innovative stories.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m guilty of waiting around for stories to come to me. This past fall, I interned for The Gainesville Sun, and although I came up with a few interesting stories of my own, I’d often revert to the role of what McLachlan terms “the perennial assignment receiver.” Most of it was laziness, and I knew I could be doing better. Here I was surrounded by desks filled with full-time staff writers, many of whom were excitedly pitching enterprise stories to their editors and bouncing ideas off of each other, while I was simply hoping my editor would go easy on me that week and send me off to cover an event story. McLachlan’s list of 50 places (of which there are tons more) is testament to the fact that all it takes is a little effort in order to get out of the slump of passive assignment-getter. Just being observant of what people are saying around you on a daily basis (a nice euphemism for eavesdropping) can be a great jumping off point for generating original story ideas. As journalists, our job is to always keep our eyes and ears open for what could possibly be a good story, and McLachlan shows that there are concrete ways to get out there and find one. But, as he stresses, it just takes some effort. It’s certainly isn’t accomplished by passively sitting at your desk. Going to vet offices, walking through downtown – all of that requires curiosity and a proactive work ethic that is hard to come by.
While McLachlan suggests several more unusual places that I wouldn’t have though of, he does leave out an important point. Besides making you a valuable commodity in the news business, being able to come up with your own stories almost always makes the writing process more enjoyable. With that enjoyment comes taking more pride in your work. You feel more connected to the stories that you’ve seen go from an idea to a total package. You take more care to see that it fairly, accurately and comprehensively tells a great story. I think journalists would enjoy their jobs a great deal more if they weren’t simply churning out stories crafted by other people and took an active role in what they write for their audiences.
“Revamping the Story Flow for Journalists”
The online world is quickly becoming that of “wikis,” which are bits of software that allow users to create, edit and link various web pages easily. The best way to think of a “wiki” is as a collaborative Web site. Not only does the original author get to edit his or her own content but so does the rest of the online community, who’s granted the option of adding bits of extra information and knowledge where appropriate. It only makes sense that this “wiki” theme is gradually infiltrating the world of journalism. It allows for real-time reader feedback, and, more importantly, provides an open environment for sharing information, which is what every journalist’s professional goal should be anyway. MediaShift’s Mark Glaser, in his Dec. 3 blog entry, “Revamping the Story Flow for Journalists,” shows us how the Internet gives us new and innovative ways of doing story generation, reporting and follow-up. The pre-Internet journalist’s workflow of sifting through paper records and relying on letters and phone calls to the editor for feedback has recently given way to a new workflow of looking primarily to the Internet for story idea generation, background information and reader feedback.
Glaser is right on target in predicting that as more and more people look at the Internet as a collaborative space, this idea of wiki journalism will change the way future reporters find, write and follow-up on their stories. An online story will no longer be a static space once it’s published. It can be edited, corrected and retooled to provide links to outside sources. I see this as only helping journalism become more accurate, open and interested in what readers want – and without as much of the newsroom bureaucracy that can bog down a thoughtful story.
Of course, drawing upon the equally loved and criticized use of Wikipedia as an example, it must be realized that not every wiki could produce quality journalism. The reliability of reader-generated information is probably the biggest roadblock to the spread of this kind of participatory journalism. After all, if you leave a wiki open to anyone, you’re bound to get some questionable edits. However, as long as access is restricted to registered users who are required to cite their sources for anything they add to the story, I don’t see why wiki journalism can’t help improve the breadth and quality of news. It could also be used to help streamline the news-gathering process. Wikis could serve as a great tool for compiling password-protected lists of helpful (and equally unhelpful) sources. Any reporter about to start on a story could look at his or her news organization’s wikis for feedback, advice and background information.
