A Grimm Outlook
From Newsroom politics: Pitching a story by Joe Grimm:
“ ‘Garage sales’ is not a story idea. These are topics. A fully fleshed story idea has a news peg and answers the question, ‘Why are we doing this now?’ The answer ‘because we never did it before’ is lame. A story idea has news elements -- currency, importance, conflict or resolution.”
Phhhhew! Problem averted. I would have totally have done that. Sometimes I have a problem with being indecisive. Pitching a story may help me conquer this a little because I’m going to have to be specific. I already have a story idea, but it doesn’t apply to everyone, only English majors really. I’m going to have to probably do as Grimm suggests and work it and rework it until it gets accepted.
I also liked how Grimm started and ended on the same point: the fact that he’s been in the business for 25 years and still doesn’t always hit a homer with his pitches. He lets us know that sometimes in life, what we may think is an awesome idea, others may not. But that’s ok even if it may make you mad or frustrated. It has been my experience that sometimes good things stem out of frustration.
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Aja Hannah on A Grimm Outlook: I liked that the blog reflecte
I liked that the blog reflected what editors want from someone who has been in the business as long as Grimm has. And what's your idea? I'm an English major and excited to know?
Clever title btw
heh, I loved your title. I also am of the indecisive group (maybe, I think...probably), and empathize completely with the difficulty this creates when pitching a story. One reason I never wanted to be a journalist is that I never though I posessed the creativity to come up with pitches. And notice how I'm still a lit. major and not running to sign up for journalism.
I liked that you pointed out how Grimm said his pitches weren't always 100% on. It's nice to hear, very encouraging. It's like an author recalling all of his/her rejections. It just lets you know it's OK to not always be perfect. Yeah, I'm comforting myself already. lol.