Having finally achieved the Intern Grail of having a story on the
front page, I got to thinking: what factors go into making a story
front-page worthy?
I clearly am not the authority on this, having broken A1 all of one
time in my 10 weeks here, but here’s what I’ve gleaned from being
around People Who Know Stuff.
How to crack the front page during your internship, In My Humble Opinion:
1) Cover a really big breaking news story. The setback to this plan:
You are an intern. Depending upon what paper you’re interning at, you
might not have the opportunity to cover the big news stories. Those
stories will often go to reporters who have proved their ability to
cover big stories on deadline.
2) Do your research. Find out what issues are important to the
community. I knew the animal shelter story had created controversy
before, and it’s on my beat, so I thought I would pursue it. If you
can dig into something high-profile, the potential is greater for that
story to have better play in the newspaper.
3) Be newsy. Even if you’re working on a feature, tie it to something
happening now. It might be interesting, but if you don’t have a news
peg, your story is likely to be buried.
4) Be original. Another story on how cool long-lasting lightbulbs are
or the potential for ethanol research, even if you have a valid news
peg, probably won’t make your section front. I’ve found that even
weaker “news” stories with an original angle usually get section-front
play, if not better. Combine Nos. 3 and 4, and you’re gold.
5) Be enterprising. Many of my best stories so far have been stories
I’ve found on my own. As cheesy as it sounds, you bring your own point
of view to the news, and that’s valuable. If you think something is
interesting, pitch it. Not having been in the same newsroom for years
gives you fresh eyes on the issues that editors often welcome. Plus,
enterprise gives you a clip that shows off all your skills as a
reporter, from conception to execution.
5 responses so far ↓
tandrew // July 23, 2008 at 6:47 pm |
Thanks for this Hilary, I could have really used it as an intern. Seriously McKeen should give this to everyone doing internships.
John Zhu // July 24, 2008 at 3:27 pm |
Good list. Perhaps add one more to that: Think about visuals and work with your photographer. During my internship (all the way back in 1999), I covered the Special Olympics, which was having their world games in our area that year. Two of the fluffiest of fluff pieces I’ve ever written ended up making A1: One about Special Olympic athletes visiting the zoo and another about a gymnast. The common link that I think got those onto A1 — great photos.
Hilary Lehman // July 24, 2008 at 10:51 pm |
John, I thought about putting “Art” as one pointer, but got distracted. Thanks for pointing that out.
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