NEWSWRITING: INFORMATION IS NOT ENOUGH
This chapter is telling me that I as a journalist need to make sure that I have more than just information in my news articles. I need to tell a story, but to tell it informationally.
I can't just use quotes from my sources, or anything like that. I need to tell the story with details, with the information, itsself--not just give the information.
I think that the big six questions that we need to answer as journalists can be answered with more than just the basic answers. For example:
The police came to the house at about midnight. Police chief, George Burns, said, "We heard a crash in the backyard and went to investigate. It turned out to be Mrs. Jerz's husband chasing away a spammer."
Instead, it could read:
The police came to the house at about midnight, because the neighbors were complaining about loud noises. Police chief, George Burns, was on the scene and watched the home of Dr. Dennis Jerz, 30, of 123 Geek Street. Suddenly a crash came from the back of the home, and as the chief went to investiage, he saw "Dr. Jerz chasing a potential theif away before he could nab Jerz's Star Trek collection."
It gives more information that the previous sentence, but also gives more details.
Posted by lougagliardi at September 27, 2005 11:20 AM | TrackBack