2 Module 2B – How do you find stories?
Develop good news gathering habits
Be alert for good stories everywhere
That doesn’t mean you should carry a notebook and video camera to a party, but I’ve lost track of how many stories have originated in a comment at a social gathering. People are relaxed and talkative and we as reporters are really professional listeners.
Decide where your story fits into the normal news progression: breaking news, follow-up feature, or enterprise.
Career tip
Lane DeGregory, a respected and admired feature write at the Tampa Bay Times (Florida), suggests these tips for finding stores off the beaten path:
- Talk to strangers—everyone has a story.
- Roam aimlessly—explore, look around, ride the bus.
- Read the walls—the message board at libraries, laundromats.
- See who works in the shadows of important people.
- Take stories no one else wants and make people care about them.
- Vacuum the scene—Note what is on the bookshelves; ask to see picture albums.
- Look for telling details.
Here’s a recent DeGregory enterprise piece:
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/04/10/a-philosophers-guide-to-the-coronavirus/