I like to look for gaps in coverage for story ideas. When major stories come out, there’s usually some angle or some aspect of the story that larger newspapers gloss over. Those gaps interest me.

I wrote a profile once on a young professor. It was one of my favorite stories and my editor really liked it.

These first few weeks of the internship have been a challenge for finding story ideas since the culture of the Bay Area, even though it’s in the same state that I live in, is so different from what I know. I’m trying to get a feel for what is important here.

Yesterday a story that I pitched about an urban garden ran as centerpiece so that was nice.

I’m still looking to do some in-depth stories.

Shauntel - 19 June 2008 11:25 AM

I like to look for gaps in coverage for story ideas. When major stories come out, there’s usually some angle or some aspect of the story that larger newspapers gloss over. Those gaps interest me.

Shauntel et al: This is a really good point—when big stories happen,m what little windows OFF OF THOSE stories can you go through? (Sort of like our how hispanic population affected by the flood thing earlier....)

Any big story (national, poltitical, state, regional) has a window that hasn’t been explored… off-the-news stories!!!

vanessamiranda - 17 June 2008 08:03 PM

herbsao - 17 June 2008 01:19 PM

As far as the covering the race goes, look for people with “in memory of...” or “in honor of...” t-shirts. They always have a cool story to tell. I found a woman that was wearing a veil and found out that she was getting married just a couple of hours after the race. Get creative. Everyone has a story to tell.

VANESSA—this is really good advice!!!! (Find the Runner with The Story...) Anyone in costuyme? With (as Vanessa says) “in memory of” T-shirt? Oldest guy in race? Youngest? anyone in a wheelchair? Anyone running with their dog? Please don’t fall asleep looking at the budget… FIND THE COOL STORY in the story!

Sorry for the tardiness been intern busy...basically been working like a slave.

I pitched a story when I first got here. I knew the Nintendo Wii Fit was coming out and this area has a huge elderly population. And since the original Wii was popular among senior citizens I pitched the story to see what the response for the Wii Fit is. I spoke to different retirement communities that were lucky enough to get a system. It was the feature story for our Health and Wellness section, I did a video online for it as well.

I think good ideas for stories come from having conversations with everyday people, watching the national news to see if there’s anything you can localize. And looking at new laws and regulations is always a good idea.

Right now I am working on an ex-convict story. Gov. Crist is pushing to get felons their civil rights back faster and I though it would be interesting to see how that would shape this upcoming election, especially since Florida is always a deciding factor in the presidential election.

My problem is I don’t really know where to start. And I don’t want my story to come off as a plea to restore their rights since I’m supposed to be unbiased. Any suggestions?

acanamelechi - 24 June 2008 04:26 PM

Right now I am working on an ex-convict story. Gov. Crist is pushing to get felons their civil rights back faster and I though it would be interesting to see how that would shape this upcoming election, especially since Florida is always a deciding factor in the presidential election.

My problem is I don’t really know where to start. And I don’t want my story to come off as a plea to restore their rights

Anthony et al—NO REASON this has to sound biased! It is a FACT that Crist is pushing for a restoring-rights plan. So report on that, and then get people to comment: Ex-felons and their families and prisoner-rights people will have one view, and VICTIMS and victims-rights people will no doubt have another. You don’t need to weigh in at all.

I would start with those two constituencies—victims rights groups (get a couple of VICTIMS) and prisoner rights folks (get a couple of ex-cons....)

Is it an election issue? In the presidential race? Or in local races? Mght want to snoop that out first before you start asking folks how it will shake down to the way they vote… Sounds like a good story. And sounds like Crist is sticking his neck out in liberal territory. Might want to get somone to comment on that too....

keep us posted.

A very controversial underground hip-hop artist is coming to perform in Ventura County next month. I would like very much to interview him. His songs are about volatile subjects and his lyrics are aggressive. The artist got in touch with me randomly and said he was willing to do an interview. I am a bit apprehensive about asking my editor however. I’m not sure if the idea will be well-received and if it is, I fear that it may be given to a more experienced reporter. I’ll get up the nerve soon.

One thing to help me focus could be to do a little more research on the artist. I’ve done a little and think I have some unique questions to ask him.

I think I had a great story idea last summer when I wrote a story about the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center moving from Oakland to Denver. I know it was a great one because it was during the Native American Journalists Association’s student project and broadcast jumped on the story after they heard about it (which kinda bugged me at the time). Project Phoenix ended up doing a story about it too.

To me, sourcing has been the key to making mediocre stories good ones. People are what bring life and voice into stories. Finding good people to talk to is important.

To be honest, I have found most of my good ideas stumbling across them while working on other stories. It’s always sort of spontaneous and magical to find something someone missed or that no one else paid any attention to (but deserves prominence).

tsmith - 07 July 2008 09:16 PM

A very controversial underground hip-hop artist is coming to perform in Ventura County next month. I would like very much to interview him. His songs are about volatile subjects and his lyrics are aggressive. The artist got in touch with me randomly and said he was willing to do an interview. I am a bit apprehensive about asking my editor however. I’m not sure if the idea will be well-received and if it is, I fear that it may be given to a more experienced reporter. I’ll get up the nerve soon.

.

I THINK YOU SHOULD PITCH THIS STORY ABOUT THE HIP HOP ARTIST!!! heck—why not? all she can do is say no and I don’t like you personally....
ASK. Tell us what happens. We can help you frame questions, etc.!