Step 1

What's your story idea?

Pitch or Assigned

Step 2

Do your research

Background info, timeline of events, previously written stories

Step 3

Who are your sources, or the characters of your story?

During your research, you find contact info and set up times to chat or meet in person

Step 4

Prepare your questions & do your interviews

• Take notes via notepad and/or audio recorder
• Name, correct spelling of their name, age, occupation, contact info
• "Is it alright if I follow up with you?"
• "Who else do you think I should talk to?"

Step 5

Acquire digital media assets

Photo, video, audio, links, social media handles

Step 6

Write your story

• Explain who, what, when, where, how, and why
• Integrate quotes
• Attribute sources, information, assets
• Find your story structure

Step 7

Engage your community

• Share via social media with different headlines, images, video, .gifs
• Hold Twitter chats
• Create hashtags for a topic

The hardest part is writing your lede

aka the first paragraph in your story

Example

As immigration raids continue, hundreds of students from 12 high schools in Minneapolis walked out of school on January 20 to protest the sweeps. In December, it was announced that the Obama Administration would deport adults and children – many of which fled gang violence in Central America – who’d been ordered for removal by an immigration judge.

Students from 12 Minneapolis High Schools Walked Out to Protest ICE Raids, Remezcla

Example

Young Americans are facing higher levels of poverty, unemployment, and student loan debt than the two generations before them, and their predicament is fueling the view that the American Dream is bankrupt, according to the authors of a new State of the Millennial Report.

Young People Are Poorer, Jobless, and Believe That the American Dream Is Dead, Vice News

Example

This week, members of University of California, Los Angeles' Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority got the education they probably least expected. On Tuesday, both greek organizations co-hosted a party called "Kanye Western," at which many students who are not black dressed in so-called "gangsta" garb and painted their faces black. But their night was effectively ruined when actual black students showed up and brought up how offensive the party was.

This Is What Happens When Black Students Crash a Blackface Frat Party, Mic News

Activity

Write a lede:

This morning, Kenneth Lee Chotiner, the presiding judge of the Van Nuys Muncipal Court, noticed that yellow ribbons were tied around five redwood tres that stand near a small parkway next to the courthouse garage. The trees are about 30 feet tall.

The judge said he found out later that morning that the ribbons were put there because the trees were to be chopped down to make room for two stairwells that were going to be added to the outside of the parking strucuture. Distressed, the judge began calling county officials, the contractor who was building the addition to the parking structure, a member of the Sierra Club and a community beautification specialist.

After a three-hour meeting on Wednesday, contractor Derrick Williamson agreed to transplant four of the trees. A fifth one will be chopped down.

Two software developers, who produce software to add additional features to Snapchat on specially unlocked smartphones, recently spotted references in the official Snapchat code to audio notes and the ability to answer incoming video and audio calls. Snapchat has yet to announce such features and declined to comment.

The Times expected adding audio features to be a priority for Venice-based Snapchat this year, as it tries to give users more reasons to open its app.

Snapchat enables sharing of videos, photos and text. Two users who are already communicating by text in the app also may chat by video. But a growing list of apps -- including Dubsmash, Periscope and Unmute -- are peddling new ways for people to stay in touch through digital media. For Snapchat to fend them off, it has to find ways to fill in gaps.

Snapchat’s business is reliant mostly on ad sales, which stands to grow more lucrative as users interact with the app more.

The developers noted their findings on an online forum Friday that news website 9to5 Google first reported. One of them confirmed the information by email, adding that Snapchat also is testing a new video editing tool that reverses playback.

Source: L.A. Times

• 840,000+ boxes of Girl Scout Cookies unloaded Saturday at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa
• 1200 Orange County Girl Scout Volunteers received the boxes
• Girl Scouts will sell the cookies in their neighborhood, and stores
• They will begin selling door-to-door and at grocery stores on Sunday
• They will sell at retail outlets Feb. 12
• The Girl Scout Cookie program ends March 6
• Recent news release stated that 15,000+ Orange County Girl Scouts sold 2 1/2 million packages of cookies last year
• Funds earned from the cookie program goes to troop activities, travel experiences, etc.

Source: L.A. Times

"Inverted Pyramid"

Most Important Facts

Additional Facts

More Facts

Etc., Etc.

Etc.

News briefs, breaking news

Summarize the key facts in a concise lede. Then organize the story as logically as possible, arranging paragraphs in descending order of importance. End the story when you run out of facts.

"Hourglass"

The Lede

Key Facts

Facts

Etc.

Chronology of Events

Additional Facts, Quotes

Kicker

Crimes, disasters, other stories to show how it unfolded

Begin with an inverted pyramid summary of the story's most important facts. Then, shift into a chronological narrative. Detail what happened, step by step. End with a kicker, which is a surprise twist or strong closing quote.

"The Circle"

Anecdote

Nut Graf

Details

Details

Details

Anecdote

Stories on trends or events where you want to show how people are affected or invovled

The story beigns with a quote or anecdote about a specific person. Then it broadens into a general discussion of the topic. It ends by returning to that person again.

What does a journalist do?

"Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough."

• Seek Truth & Report it
• Minimize Harm
• Act Independently
• Be Accountable & Transparent

Source: Society of Professional Journalists

Seek Truth & Report it

Journalists should:

• Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.
• Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate.
• Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.
• Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting.
• Never plagiarize. Always attribute.

Source: Society of Professional Journalists

Minimize Harm

Journalists should:

• Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes, and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent. Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment.
• Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast.
• Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information.
• Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.

Source: Society of Professional Journalists

Act Indepently

Journalists should:

• Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
• Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.
• Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for access to news. Identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not.

Source: Society of Professional Journalists

Be Accountable & Transparent

Journalists should:

• Explain ethical choices and processes to audiences. Encourage a civil dialogue with the public about journalistic practices, coverage and news content.
• Respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.
• Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.
• Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations.

Source: Society of Professional Journalists

Ethics & Social Media

Buzzfeed

Embeds:

We often embed Instagram images and tweets in news and entertainment. But in the case of sensitive subjects — sexual assault, LGBT, and racial oppression, for example — we should be aware of and respectful to the fact that many ostensibly public Twitter users consider themselves part of distinct communities.

Outside of breaking news situations, writers are encouraged to contact Instagram and Twitter users when embedding a photo or a tweet on a sensitive subject. Contacting the user has the added benefit of giving the story more context for the reader.

In cases where identifying the user is inappropriate but the content is still newsworthy, screenshots with the name and image blurred are fine.

Source: The BuzzFeed Editorial Standards And Ethics Guide

National Public Radio (NPR)

One key is to be transparent about what we’re doing. We tell readers what has and hasn’t been confirmed. And we always ask an important question: am I about to spread a thinly-sourced rumor or am I passing on valuable and credible (even if unverified) information in a transparent manner with appropriate caveats?

And the general standard is simple: Tweet and retweet as if what you’re saying or passing along is information that you would put on the air or in a “traditional” NPR.org news story. If it needs context, attribution, clarification or “knocking down,” provide it.

Always make clear to listeners and readers what has been obtained from our original reporting and what we’ve found posted in social media outlets. And to the greatest practical extent, spell out how the information was checked and why we consider the sources credible.

So when appropriate, clarify and confirm information collected online through phone and in-person interviews. For example, when a social media posting is itself news, try to contact the source to confirm the origin of the information and attain a better understanding of its meaning.

Source: NPR Ethics Handbook

Where are your communities online?

What are they reading and sharing?

How are they sharing their stories?

Listen to your communities.

Examples

New York Magazine

‘I’m No Longer Afraid’: 35 Women Tell Their Stories About Being Assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the Culture That Wouldn’t Listen

Instagram

Twitter

Tumblr

The Guardian

The Counted: People Killed by the Police in the U.S.

Twitter

Facebook

Form

Al Jazeera

AJ+

Facebook

Twitter

Medium

Interviews

How are you today?

Would you mind writing your name down for me?

How old are you?

What do you do for living?

What's your major and year?

What's your phone number/email address so I can follow up with you?

"Tell me more about..."

"What do you think about..."

"What's an example of this..."

"How do you know this..."

Activity

#MyAsianAmericanStory

Story puzzle

Put the graphs in order

Write a lede and headline

List sources (people, stats, reports, press releases, experts)

Tips for your social media platforms

*Keep to a posting schedule

*Don't be afraid to create content only for social media

Instagram

• Engaging/Inspiring/Enlightening/Impactful photo, illustration, video, or screenshot
• Engaging and informative caption, aka a mini article
• Attribute source, photographer
• Use emojis
• Minimize hashtags, but it can depend on your IG growth strategy
• Link in bio
• Share your content, or create/curate content only for IG
• To grow followers, follow other accounts and comment on their posts
• Examples: LA Times, Remezcla, NPR, FEM

Facebook

• Articles: headline, summary, and status
• Photos: create galleries with captions and a status
• Videos: take advantage of automatic scroll and sound off for big text
• Target posts
• Post often to stay in readers' feed
• Examples: Mother Jones, ProPublica, Mic News

Twitter

• Concise text
• Upload photos, gifs, videos
• Minimize hashtags, but use if revelant to story
• Retweet, engage with readers
• Participate in events, i.e. Presidential Debates
• Use your staff's accounts
• Coordinate under a hashtag
• Examples: LA Times Politics

Tumblr

• Images, Vines, Gifs
• Share your content, or engage with the community already on Tumblr
• You can use many hashtags
• Read: How Mic turned Tumblr into a big traffic driver
• Examples: Mic News, Look at This

Snapchat

• Tell whatever story you want
• What's unique to your publication? Content that impacts __________ students
• To build followers, download your Snapchats, and then share them on other platforms + your username or Snapcode.
• Take advantage of WHERE you are & WHEN
• Read: When I was a Snapchat correspondent for the LA Times
• Examples: lacma_museum, losangelestimes, thenytimes