News Cube Fliers

8/14/2019 News Cube Fliers

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NEWS CUBE

gatehouseN E W S S E R V I C E

GATEHOUSE NEWSROOM TRAINING

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MORE NAMES & FACES: Of course readers want the news: Whats up with taxes? When

will the new school open? Is my water safe to drink? But the more names and faces on

your pages, the more your publication will truly have the feel of the community you cover.

2MORE LOCAL CONTENT SUBMITTED BY READERS: Community members can pro-

vide even more content more local names and faces by e-mail if we reach out to

them and provide clear direction and instructions. Business owners, schools, non-prof-

its and other community organizations can be tapped to provide a steady stream of

news and event information plus simple profiles and photos of their members.

3MORE LOCAL READER-FRIENDLY FORMATS: Much of the information you draw

from community groups and individuals can be packaged in graphic, easily digestible

Alternative Story Formats. These formats should find homes in your publications readers want them in the mix, they look great, and they can save you time.

TomMikula, seniorwaterpl ant operator,showswaters amples.The plant isop erated byTauntonPublicUtilities,which provideswaterto homes inTaunton,BerkleyandDighton. JOHNSHISHMANIAN/TAUNTONGAZETTE

ByJ [email protected]

(555) 123-4567

Today we sit downwithBonnieFuller, a longtimeteacher who last yearwaselected president oftheCanandaigua CommunitySchoolB oard.F uller saysher3 4years asa teacherwillh elp her lead the dis-trict in the yearsa head.

Todaywe sit downwithBonnieFuller, a longtimeteacher who last yearwaselected president ofthe

CanandaiguaC ommunitySchoolB oard.F uller saysher3 4years asa teacherwillh elp her lead the dis-trict in the years ahead.

Today we sit down withBonnie Fuller, alo ngtimeteacher who last year waselected president oftheCanandaigua CommunitySchoolB oard.F uller saysher3 4years asa teacherwillh elp her lead the dis-trict in the years ahead.

Today we sit down withBonnie Fuller, a longtimeteacher who last.

Taunton Bakery takesthe cakeTauntonBakeryLocation 1355W.ChicagoAve.,Taunton

HoursMon-Sun9 a.m. to 6p.m.Years in busi-ness76

SpecialtyPer-simmona ppletarts

PhilosophyonfoodWhatevermakesy ou sayyum

GOOD EATS TAUNTONBAKERY

Thee questions

1What do you enjoy aboutyour work?Connecticutswaterq ualitymeets,a nd in somew aysexceeds, national drinkingwaters tandards, according

2Whatd o you enjoya boutyour work?Connecticutswaterq ualitymeets,a nd in somew aysexceeds, national drinking

3What do you enjoy aboutyour work?Connecticutswater qualitymeets, and in some waysexceeds,n ational drinkingexceeds, national drinking

TKH

i

More local faces, more local content submitted by readers & more new story formats

Three places to make it happen in your newspapers

THE FRONT PAGE: Use AlternativeStory Formats as the centerpiece or alow-art package. Solicit reader content photos and copy.

PAGE A3: Each week, run a reader-submitted ASF featuring a member ofthe community volunteers, students,teachers, professionals, town.

OPINION PAGE: Solicit reader content.Set up an E-board, as a Kids question ofthe week and tell readers five things youwant to see happen next week.

QUESTIONS? Contact Chris Biondi at [email protected] or David Arkin at [email protected]

News Cube fliers.qxd:Layout 1 3/2/09 3:47 PM Page 1


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NEW STORYFORMATS



NEWS CUBE TRAINING: THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT: A story broken into its essential elementsand presented to readers in an organized andeasily digestible graphic package.

WHY: Readers now want their stories in a varietyof formats. The narrative news story is still theprimary form, but ASFs must be in the mix fortheir graphic presentation, multiple entry pointsand quick reading. Think of how many opportuni-ties in daily life potential readers are presentedwith information. How can your work stand out?An ASF is a great way to jump out and pull in thereader.

WHEN: Almost any topic can be presented in anASF. Q&As and Profiles are favorites, but newspa-pers are increasingly using ASFs for breakingnews and updates. With a piece of art and three

breakouts, in many cases you can provide read-ers all they need and want to know. In CNCWest, there are several templates in place for youto choose from, and all are Quark-based andadaptable to your content.

HOW: In most cases, it is important to know be-fore you start reporting that the content will bepresented in an ASF. Study the format, decide ex-actly what information is needed, what questionsneed to be asked, what art is required. This is cru-cial to saving time. Package the content with theappropriate headings and work with pagination inthe production.

ABOVE: An example of how the follow-up formatcan work successfully even for a hard news event.

LEFT: A simple question and answer interview witha local school teacher on a host of topics from herbackground and what she loves about teaching.

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INVOLVINGREADERS



NEWS CUBE TRAINING: THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT: Seek ways to ask readers to share photos,stories, and memories through the year on a hostof holidays and special events.

WHY: Readers love to get involved with localnewspapers and asking them to share momentsthat are important to them makes them haveownership of the product. Also, its a great andeasy and quick way to get local names andfaces in print.

WHEN: Any holiday, big life-changing event orspecial community event is perfect for reader in-volvement projects. Examples include:> Asking readers to write in for Valentines Dayabout how they fell in love with their partner.> Seeking photographs of a childs Easter egghunt or photos of kids dressed in their Sunday

best.> Seeking photographs of prom moments

HOW: Using the promotion featured below (of-fered in a six column and two column format) askreaders to get involved, by submitting photos orwriting in. Run the promotion on your front pageand run it for a few weeks, if you can. Also, be sureto run it on your web site and keep it ranked therefor several days. Do your best to run as many ofthe photographs as you can in print. And create agallery of the photos on your web site.

< LEFT:Use thistemplate toask readersto submitnews for avariety ofholidays.

Theres so much for kids and parents for that matter to love about Easter, from Easter egg hunts, photos with the Easter bunny, and dressingup for church. Your local newspaper wants to showcase your special Easter moments. Send us your photos and be sure to include who is pictured.

EASTERPHOTOSPlease send your

Easter photos to

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@

xxxxxxxxxx.com

and well run them

in our print edition

and on our Web

site www.xxxxxx-

xxxxxxxxxxx.com.

WE WANT YOUR SUBMITPHOTOS

}

We asked readers to share their Valentines Day memories

CHECK OUT MORE ONLINE AT WWW.NEWS-STAR.COM

McLOUD Its been 25 yearssince a 15-year-old McLoud girl

was found badly beaten and shotto death, but her mother, Jose-phine Harrison, still clings to thehope that one day the homicide

will be solved and shell knowwhy her daughter was killed.

Lucille Maxine Harrisondisappeared from her home inMcLoud Oct. 3, 1982.

A farmer checking his wheatdiscovered her body about 9 a.m.Oct. 5, 1982.

Who killed her and why re-mains a mystery.

middle name, Maxine. She was atall girl 5 feet, 10 inches and

was a tomboy. She loved to playbaseball and ride bicycles, hermother said, especially with her

younger brother, Scott.All kids loved to play with

Maxine, her mother said. Sheloved to play ball and ride bikes;she was tough and tall.

Born to Adam and JosephineHarrison, Maxine is constantlyon her familys mind. Maxine,

who was part Cheyenne-Arapaho,enjoyed going to powwows.

Lizzie Bell and Brad Bradford

Common coffeeshopsparks love for two

Emily and Bill Tedmond


was found badly beaten and shot todeath, but her mother, JosephineHarrison, still clings to the hopethat one day the homicide will besolved and shell know why herdaughter was killed.

Lucille Maxine Harrison disap-peared from her home in McLoudOct. 3, 1982.

-ered her body about 9 a.m. Oct. 5,1982.

Who killed her and why remainsa mystery.

middle name, Maxine. She was a tallgirl 5 feet, 10 inches and was atomboy. She loved to play baseballand ride bicycles, her mother said,especially with her younger brother,Scott.

All kids loved to play with Max-ine, her mother said. She lovedto play ball and ride bikes; she wastough and tall.

Born to Adam and JosephineHarrison, Maxine is constantly onher familys mind. Maxine, who waspart Cheyenne-Arapaho, enjoyedgoing to powwows and dances with

Long-time college palsfind love in each other

Ashlie and Jake Gilbertson


was found badly beaten and shot todeath, but her mother, JosephineHarrison, still clings to the hopethat one day the homicide will besolved and shell know why herdaughter was killed.

Lucille Maxine Harrison disap-peared from her home in McLoudOct. 3, 1982.

-ered her body about 9 a.m. Oct. 5,1982.

Who killed her and why remainsa mystery.

middle name, Maxine. She was a tallgirl 5 feet, 10 inches and was atomboy. She loved to play baseballand ride bicycles, her mother said,especially with her younger brother,Scott.

All kids loved to play with Max-ine, her mother said. She lovedto play ball and ride bikes; she wastough and tall.

Born to Adam and JosephineHarrison, Maxine is constantly onher familys mind. Maxine, who waspart Cheyenne-Arapaho, enjoyedgoing to powwows and dances with

Worldly travelersfall in love in Madrid

L O V E S T O R I E S C O N T I N U E O N P A G E 1 3



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EASY LOCALPROFILES



NEWS CUBE TRAINING: PAGE 3

Tom Mikula, senior water plant operator, shows water samples. The plant is operated by Taunton Public Utilities,which provides water to homes in Taunton, Berkley and Dighton. JOHN SHISHMANIAN/TAUNTON GAZETTE

By JOHN C. [email protected]

(555) 123-4567

Today we sit down withBonnie Fuller, a longtimeteacher who last year waselected president of theCanandaigua CommunitySchool Board. Fuller saysher 34 years as a teacherwill help her lead the dis-trict in the years ahead.

Today we sit down withBonnie Fuller, a longtimeteacher who last year waselected president of the

Canandaigua CommunitySchool Board. Fuller saysher 34 years as a teacherwill help her lead the dis-trict in the years ahead.

Today we sit down withBonnie Fuller, a longtimeteacher who last year waselected president of theCanandaigua CommunitySchool Board. Fuller saysher 34 years as a teacherwill help her lead the dis-

trict in the years ahead.Today we sit down withBonnie Fuller, a longtimeteacher who last.

Taunton Bakery takes the cakeTauntonBakeryLocation 1355 W.Chicago Ave.,Taunton

Hours Mon-Sun9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Years in busi-ness 76

Specialty Per-simmon appletarts

Philosophy onfood Whatevermakes you sayyum

GOOD EATS TAUNTON BAKERY

Thee questions

1What do you enjoy aboutyour work?Connecticuts water qualitymeets, and in some waysexceeds, national drinkingwater standards, according

2What do you enjoy aboutyour work?Connecticuts water qualitymeets, and in some waysexceeds, national drinking

3

What do you enjoy aboutyour work?

Connecticuts water qualitymeets, and in some waysexceeds, national drinkingexceeds, national drinking

WHAT: Turn your page 3 into a locationfor local profiles. Go away from jumpsand random other regional stories andput local people on page 3 without hav-ing to do the writing yourself.

WHO SHOULD BE PROFILED? Createa rotation of different themes for thefeature, such as health care, publicsafety, education and volunteers.

WHAT KIND OF CONTENT? Throughthe different themes you pick, ask thedifferent organizations to pick folksfrom their organization who are news-worthy for some reason, like a new doc-tor, a police officer who recently won anaward or a volunteer who has been in-volved for years.

HOW DO I DO THIS? Reach out togroups that always seem to want to bein your paper and ask them to get in-volved. Provide a profile form (the oneattached) and ask the organization tofill it out. If you create a rotation, giveeach organization a deadline. Since itsa Q&A form, use the Q&A alternativestory format that you have available.



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5 THINGS WEWANT TO SEE



NEWS CUBE TRAINING: OPINION PAGE

WHAT: Exactly what it says: Youhighlight in a couple sentencesand in graphic form, with art,five things in town you wouldlike readers to help make hap-pen in the week ahead: Go toTown Meeting and vote; cheeron the girls lacrosse team; clearice from all the sidewalksaround the elementary school;pull the weeds covering the me-morial plaque in the town com-mon; call your staterepresentative and tell her tovote down the gas tax.

WHY: This is a great way tomake you page more vibrantwith your opinions on local is-sues. You can be the cheer-leader or the noodge to helpmake progress large andsmall in town. This could be-come a must-see page everyweek and generate lots of buzzin town.

WHEN: Every week. 5 Thingswill keep you in tune with theevents and issues in your townand keep readers coming back.

HOW: As you edit, make therounds, speak on the phone,drive through town, build a listof potential 5 Things options.They do not all have to be aboutserious town issues a mix, infact, is key. But they should allbe as local as can be.



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YOUR LOCALE-BOARD




WHAT: An ASF package containing the head-shots of 5-6 community members and their re-sponses to a question posed by the editor via

e-mail.

WHY: People want to know what their neighborsare thinking about the issues in their town andhow their views may match or differ from theirown. E-boards are great ways to make your Opin-ion page the focal point for community opinionand comment. The E-board packages will spurmore comment and generate more local contentfor your page and the Web.

WHEN: It has to be the hottest topic you canthink of in town questions that spark some pas-sion and controversy. Keep it local. Dont ask,What do you think of the town budget? Ask,

What do you think about the schools getting a 4percent hike and the rest of the town just 1 per-cent? These are the kinds of questions that willspark debate and followup.

HOW: Theres work up front. Through newspaperand Web callouts and your source list, build agroup of 25-30 potential participants. Have themsend headshots. Rotate the questions among thegroup, depending on the size of your list. Produc-tion is easy. Grab the right template and flow inthe answers. Run this content on the Web, too, togenerate comments. And use those new com-ments in print to keep the debate alive.



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KIDS IN THESPOTLIGHT




WHAT: An ASF where a group of middle or highschool students in your town responds to questions inthe news these can be local topics or national.Something going on in the high school or in the WhiteHouse. They can be hard news or pop culture - JohnKerry or The Jonas Brothers.

WHY: Beyond the fresh names and faces, this is agreat way to create some buzz among young people and their parents and grandparents - in your town.

WHEN: Every week. By opening the debate to na-tional events and pop culture, there will be many hottopics to choose from to generate interesting re-sponses from the students. As with the E-board, putsome thought into questions that would generatemore than just a couple-word response. Dont ask,What do you think of Barack Obama? Ask, Tell us

three things you think Barack Obama should do in hisfirst year in office, and why.

HOW: Again, theres work up front. This could openwith a visit to local classrooms to talk about yournewspaper and Web site. Contact principals andteachers in your local schools. You will need 2-3 class-rooms to launch. Gather headshots of the students. E-mail questions to the teachers and have the teachergather and send 5-6 responses back. Use differentstudents each time in a rotation. Production is easy.Grab the right template and flow in the responses.Run this content on the Web, too, to generate com-ments. And use those new comments in print to keepthe debate alive.



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ISSUE OFTHE WEEK




WHAT: In an effort to grow more local content onyour opinion page, consider creating an issue of theweek format with local officials.

WHY: Its an easy way to get local voices on youropinion page without asking folks to write a 15-inchcolumn.

HOW: Establish a group of people who could answerthe questions every month: Public safety; religionand religious institutions; arts and culture; education

and schools, city and county government and law-makers. E-mail them the form and two weeks beforeit would run, send them a topic or invite them tocome up with a topic.

The Issue: The city isfacing a $5 million budgetshortfall

Name: DaveJohnson

Position: Johnstownmayor

Why it matters: Theshortfall could seriouslyimpact the services thatthe city is going to provide

the residentsof this 15,000populationcity.

How weshould tackleit: The city needs to freezesalary increases for all cityemployees and we need tomake $100,00 cuts to allcity departments. Thosecuts should be due to myoffice no later than Feb. 21.

We also need to considerraising property taxes by .5percent. While I know thisis not popular, its really

necessary for the workthat is ahead of us.

Who would benefit:While its hard to see thebenefit right now, the citywill be in better shape intwo or three years by mak-ing these difficult decisionstoday.

Why this is the best ap-proach: Simply doing noth-ing is unacceptable. Whilethis is going to be hard on

residents and city employ-ees, if we do nothing thenext administration will finditself in a ton of trouble.

The next step shouldbe: To hold a public hear-ing on March 11 at 7 p.m. atTown Hall, so residents canask questions

AT ISSUE: Citys budget is in big trouble


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