If you can’t answer that question before you begin typing, you need to do some more thinking, and probably some more reporting.
It’s easy to throw words onto a computer screen without much thought of what you’re trying to achieve, but that’s probably not the most effective way to write the news.
Before you begin writing, ask yourself: “What is the goal of this story?”
Do you want to:
- Inform readers about a new museum scheduled to open?
- Show why a specific person is important to your local area?
- Bring to light the questionable accounting practices of a public official?
- Explain a new or quirky phenomenon taking place in your area?
There are different types of news stories to fulfill each of those goals. Here’s a sampling of the most common types of news stories:
- Basic news (informative): Announces basic information, such as a change in bus fare, election results, or a crime report.
- Investigative: An in-depth look at a topic that uncovers information that was hidden or not easy to find. An investigation could reveal the financial problems of a political candidate, a secret military policy or environmental contamination caused by a local business. In the U.S., investigation stories often make use of documents found through Freedom of Information Act requests.
- Enterprise: An in-depth look at a single topic. An enterprise story might show how farmers are struggling under a federal policy that was designed to help them, or the challenges AIDS patients face when they search for jobs. Enterprise stories often include some investigative elements.
- Feature: Soft news that often shows how culture is changing. A feature could highlight a local gardener who is transforming a neighborhood’s backyards, the recent boom in cupcake shops, or a cultural event. Features often have anecdotal leads.
- Trend: Are more people than ever struggling to have children? Are hotels building mini-rooms, with all the comforts of home including houseplants and pets, for businesspeople who don’t have time to commute home each night? Are all the local teenage boys playing the same video game? Each situation is an example of a trend story. A trend story can be serious or light, sad, funny or downright quirky, but it always shows a cultural shift.
- Profile: The man who has played his saxophone on the street corner each night for 45 years. The young politician who promises to bring big changes. The volunteer who travels around town to rescue cats stuck in trees. Each person would make a great profile subject. Profiles usually involve shadowing the subject, and interviewing additional sources. If the subject is a controversial character, the profile should reflect that.
- News obituary: No, this isn’t like the obituaries that families pay for. When someone of local, national or international importance dies, a reporter often writes a news obituary. This is similar to a profile, but for a person who is deceased. News obituaries do not gloss over controversy. If a national or international person has died, a local news obituary examines local angles. (For example, if a former president dies, a reporter might interview the local man who once acted as that president’s personal chef.)
- Column: An opinion piece, sometimes first person. The best columnists focus solely on writing opinion that is reflective of the day’s news, and rarely move between news writing and column writing.
Once you decide the type of story that is most appropriate to your topic, think about the type of reporting you need to conduct. Do you need to talk to public officials? Do you need to find average people to interview? Where should you go to get your information? The reporters with the most successful stories think carefully through each question before they begin reporting.
