Developing a story about community issues

(and other stories, too)

Judd Slivka@juddslivka

How a story is found

• A boy story and a girl story get together, and they love each other very much…

• If only it were that easy…

• I’m sort of loving on the ellipses now…

…

Finding serious stories

• The first idea of finding good stories is that they’re all around us.

• You can find good stories at meetings. Or walking down the street. Or by reading something from somewhere else and applying it here.

For instance…

• A thin guy riding a bike pulling a basket of copper pipe might get you thinking “Why is he so thin? And why is all that copper pipe going with him?”

• And that can spark a story (in this case, a story about meth heads stealing copper and the impact that’s having on communities).

Or…

• Walking through a shopping center and seeing that half the stores are empty and there’s reconstruction outside could spark stories on rebuilding a mall or the tough retail economy.

• Driving through town and noticing there are five frozen yogurt-type places in a city of 100,000 could spark the story of ‘Why is this such a trend and can the town support it?’

Walking through a story: Step 1

• Figure out the idea, either as a broad theme or as a narrow specific.

• A broad theme will require you to find the example that supports it.

• Starting with a narrow specific can be easier, but it can make the nut graf harder.

• What’s going on nationally?

Identify the story

• As a broad theme: I want to write about the trend of frozen yogurt stores in Columbia

• How do I do that?• First thought: Is this a national trend?• Second thought: Is Columbia an example of it?

Identity the story, add2

• I can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a frozen yogurt place. Have I seen that elsewhere?

• The first step for research, then, is going to be is this happening elsewhere?

• It is. The frozen dessert unit is one of the fastest growing segments of the franchise world.

Identify the story, add3

• Where in Columbia are these places?• Two are downtown, one is west, two are southwest.• I should check begin talking to people and asking

why they’re located there.• Official sources: City planning and zoning, Columbia

Chamber of Commerce, national trade organizations, national businesses

• Unofficial sources: developers, other merchants, local franchisees

FroYo is big

• I should also check to see if there have been any stories written about this elsewhere, since I might be able to use those facts to help my piece.

• I find there have been lots of stories in national publications about this, on a lot of different angles.

• What makes Columbia different that would give my story a strong nut graf and edge?

Who to call?

• In talking to the Chamber of Commerce, someone makes a comment that they wonder if Columbia can sustain this many FroYo establishments over a sustained period, particularly when half the year is not good for business.

• Now I’ve got my conflict.

The actual reporting

• I’m going to need both a local perspective for my angle and a national one for the nut graf. So I should start early. I’ll call the national trade organization to see what they have stat-wise, and begin talking to all the local operators.

• And I’ll see if there’s an expert in restaurant economics somewhere who can lend me some national perspective.

Woohoo!

• I find an expert who quotes restaurant closure rates and tells me how FroYo places, in particular, usually start out great and quickly plateau in terms of customers. And that they need strong summers to make up for slow winters.

• Uh-oh. Doesn’t Columbia empty out in the summer when the students go home?

• Now I’ve got my story – which started as an observaton and now is very narrow and specific. Even though I haven’t done a lot of reporting yet, I have a preliminary nut graf…

Preliminary nut graf

Columbia has one frozen yogurt place for every 20,000 citizens, all of them located in either student-dominated downtown or in the affluent southwestern part of the city. But even though frozen yogurt franchises are now the second-highest franchised restaurant business – right after sub sandwiches – the number of locations in Columbia begs the question: Can the city support five similar concepts, especially in the dead of winter when no one wants frozen yogurt and in the heat of summer, when 70 percent of students go home.

Figuring out who to talk to and where to go?

• Who knows about this stuff?• Who’s affected by this stuff?• Who cares about this stuff?• Who can give me perspective about this stuff?

The Internet is a starting point

• Simple search engine queries can give you leads. Looking for an expert in tuition increases? Search for related terms. Note the names of where people are, then call them as experts.

• Use searches to figure out institutional targets. For instance, if you’re writing about restaurants, find the trade group that represents them. If you’re writing about fashion (for instance, how a Polarfleece mill burning down in Massachusetts changed the performance apparel industry for two seasons), find companies or non-profits that deal with that.