Please read "Writing the Trend Article." This will be your last major article that you will produce for me--it should be your journalistic "tour de force." For this assignment we crossover from the softer features to the more investigative side of feature writing or enterprise journalism. For this assignment, you will need to identifying a trend or issue that warrants further, in-depth investigation. You will use all the reporting and writing skills that you have mastered to this point.
For today's blog I want you to expand on your ideas that were shared in class. Please describe what the story will be about and describe the focus of your nut graph. What makes this a significant trend/issue, what is its magnitude and scope, and why might it be of interest to local readers. Next, identify the types of expert sources you will use for this story--it should include several--and why they were chosen and how you intend to contact them.
Due: ASAP
I'm still debating on my two ideas we talked about in class: doing a live-in trend story about my aunt and her experiences as a mail carrier or doing a story on small businesses being taken over by big businesses.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to write about my aunt and the culture of being a mail carrier in this day of electronic everything, I think the focus would be on how she finds ways to serve others in small but significant moments of their lives. I'm not sure if I would focus the story or anecdote more on how she meets interesting people with great stories or if I would focus on how she knocks on doors to hand-deliver mission calls. I think I could use those both experiences as examples of how the mail culture both stays the same and adapts to the times. We still get mail, but the focus is always so much on how slow or unreliable it is, or how all we get is junk or bills. I think this story would be interesting and important to readers because it shows that there's a good part to snail mail, too. It shows that people are real and add a lot to the community by even a little bit going the extra mile as they do their jobs. Getting a look at the people behind the scenes of an operation always makes me appreciate the people and the organization, as well. I think doing this story would tell the untold stories of everyday, interesting people, which would show the dimension and depth to our community. If I were to do this story, I'd try to contact other mail carriers or mail supervisors to see if other people bond with people on their routes similarly. My mom (who works as a postal clerk at the East Bay post office) always talks about legislation, so I'd also to see how mail workers and even legislators (hopefully) feel about legislation on the post office. I would try to find records on how mail circulation has changed over the years both nation-wide and state-side. I don't know if I would be going against any post office rules by doing the story, so I would need to find that out before I get too involved in the story.
My second idea was about small businesses being taken over by large businesses. The focus of this story would be how the changes in businesses affect other businesses and, consequentially, the residents. I know of a lot of people who are concerned about the economic and business community. I think it would be important to find information about how big businesses are destined to succeed while small businesses might struggle. I would look for more articles, like we did in class, about how changes in businesses affect the market and the economy. I would talk to people who frequently shop at smaller businesses and see what they think about it all. People can worry a lot about how their side of town is turning into the "ghetto" by losing big businesses. But I know some people who also actively try to work with the mayor and other city officials to keep the businesses running.
I think I'd like to do the mail story more, but it really depends on whether I could get permission.
For my trend piece I am going to discuss the latest trends in weddings across America. I am going to expose the differences between the typical "Utah mormon wedding" with weddings across the rest of the nation, but specifically Manhattan for the greatest contrast. I will include differences like the age of the bride of groom, length of dating/engagement, budgets, etiquettes, guests lists, and also more recent trends like food trucks and how Utah implement's their own spin on things.
ReplyDeleteMy expert sources will be local wedding planners, The Knot wedding magazine editors as well as their recent wedding report, and then recent brides and fathers of brides for some anecdotal content. I would pitch this article to a magazine like Utah Brides or Utah Valley Magazine.
My nut graph will include a lead into how Utah and New York weddings are similar but maintain a lot of differences. "Utah twists..." I think this will interest a lot of students at BYU because it seems like most students have a common goal of getting married while attending BYU and love hearing/reading/talking about weddings and marriage. But I also think this piece will be really educational, enlightening, and fun for anyone to read!