What makes a story?

1. What makes a story? Who, What, Where, When, Why and How?

2. The Inverted Pyramid • Lead: Captures the readers attention and tells them what the story is about in a sentence. • Nutgraph: Gives more information on the story that wasn’t covered in the lead. • Below – More detailed information followed by quotes.

4. Lead • Report: New Mexico teen had homicidal, suicidal thoughts • SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN,AssociatedPressAssociated Press • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico teenager accused of fatally shooting his parents and three younger siblings told authorities he was annoyed with his mother and had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, according to a probable cause statement.

5. Nutgraph: • Nehemiah Griego, 15, remained in custody Monday on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death. He was arrested following the shootings Saturday at a home in a rural area southwest of Albuquerque where he lived with his family.

6. More details A Bernalillo County sheriff's detective questioned the teen Saturday night and the details of their conversation were spelled out in the statement. The teen allegedly told the detective that he took a .22 caliber rifle from his parents' closet around midnight Saturday and shot his mother in the head while his younger brother slept next to her. Griego told the detective that his brother did not believe him that their mother was dead so he showed his mother's bloody face to his brother and then shot him, according to the statement. He's accused of then shooting his two young sisters in their room. He retrieved an AR-15 rifle from his parents' closet and waited in a downstairs bathroom for his father to come home. The statement said he shot his father multiple times after he passed the bathroom doorway.

7. What makes a lead? • The shorter the better. (About 25 words or less). • But there are always exceptions to the rule. • There’s the feature story – which allows for a more detailed lead.

8. Kinds of Leads • Summary Lead: Combines all 5 W’s into one sentence. • Delayed ID Lead: Withholds key information in the hopes that the suspense will keep the reader wanting to know more. • Anecdotal leads – can be successful from time to time. • Example: ASCENSION - Some lessons can be learned though a book -- others must be experienced. On Saturday, members of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church youth group, in West El Paso, left the comfort of suburbia and entered the outlying colonias just east of El Paso where running water and sewage service isn't guaranteed, to distribute 155 pairs of shoes and other gifts to families in need.

9. Kinds of Leads • Scene Setter: Lacks urgency of hard news. Describes sights and sounds. More for feature and magazine pieces. • Direct address: Directs you as a reader. • Blind Leads: Gives readers a tease by withholding information. (Avoid). • Startling statement: Unless it’s accurate – try to avoid. One example is: A shortage of flu vaccines will leave thousands vulnerable to what can become a deadly virus.

10. Leads to avoid. • Round up lead – You start with an anecdote or example at the beginning of the story and tie back to it at the end. • Word Play leads – Just avoid them all together unless your editor says otherwise. • Question leads – weak, ineffective. Just get to the point. • Topic Leads – Avoid if possible. You see a lot of these in government stories. Usually due to time restraints.

11. Make your own lead With the facts make your own lead: • A 34 year old man was driving westbound on I-10. • Police said the man lost control of his vehicle, causing him to drive his vehicle off the freeway. • The vehicle hit the concrete barrier but speed caused the vehicle to flip over. • The man was driving on the interstate at 3 a.m. on Saturday. • His car was found completely totaled at the bottom of the interstate near Sunland Park. • The man died on his way to a local hospital. • Unknown if the man was drunk, or under the influence. • The man was from San Antonio, TX. • The car he was driving was a 2008 Toyota Corolla.

12. Don’t bury the lead • Always keep the most: • Important • Relevant • New • Updated • Timely At the top. Burying the lead will lose the reader. Example: Francis Hiller, 42, loved to roam through the grasslands of the prairie. She had done this ever since she was a little girl. The wind against her face always made her smile. All that love of the prairie came to a jolting halt when she died on Saturday. Police said Hiller died when a 30 year old man allegedly murdered her with a blunt object while she was sleeping inside her home……

13. And now the rest of the story… • The nutgraph and the graphs to follow comprise of additional information that make up the story. • But how do you keep the reader’s attention? • K.I.S Keep It SIMPLE: Don’t use Jargon, flowery language – just get to the point. Also avoid clichés.

14. Putting it together • A story comprises of: • Information from • Sources • Editor • Cooberation • Documents: Lawsuits, affidavits, medical records, email records, FOIAs and PIAs, Autopsy reports…etc. • Phone calls, emails, tips • Images • Research, research and more research!

15. Accuracy • This is essential! • Only write what you can confirm with hard evidence. • This also applies to feature stories. Key example locally is Angie Gomez.

16. Other elements • Correct spelling of names, places, words in general. • If you get to many of these incorrect not only do you have to write corrections, but it’s embarrassing. You lose your credibility and may end in loss of your job.

17. But what is the news? • Depends on the publication. • And how the stories are picked. • Generally stories are picked to run in the newspaper by: • Immediacy • Relevance • Proximity • Novelty (new research) • Conflict • Emotions • What the readers want (i.e. Living, blogs, food, etc.) • And most importantly – It must answer the question: “Why should I care!”

18. Stories • Features and hard news • Entertainment • Blogs • Reviews • Specialized interest.

19. Typical Newsroom • Publisher • Editor in Chief • Managing Editor, assistant editors, beat editors. • Reporters and photographers • Web staff • Copy editors • Graphics • Advertisers • Customer service • Circulation • Production.

20. Print in the digital age • There is more immediacy. • You need to get your stories online first ASAP and send updates ASAP. • A need to be versatile on all media platforms. • Writing tends to be in present tense. • Know how to write in broadcast form for videos. • Become more social: Twitter, Facebook, Blog. • Accuracy is still a very big deal.