These are from students who in a past semester covered Meridian Township (which includes Okemos and Haslett in the Lansing area). Please note these stories aren't fixed on an event; rather, they are on an ongoing trend or issue that may use an event as an example or a starting point, but then delve more deeply into the issue itself.
Also please notice the range of sources, including people who are leading the issue, affected by the issue, acting upon the issue, and neutral experts who help contextualize the issue. These sorts of stories are the ones we're aiming to do off of our beats.
Examples include:
The difference between a weekly story and a final project is that we report much more broadly and thoroughly on a topic we really think is the biggest trend or issue we come across. Some examples from the Meridian team include:
Also please notice the range of sources, including people who are leading the issue, affected by the issue, acting upon the issue, and neutral experts who help contextualize the issue. These sorts of stories are the ones we're aiming to do off of our beats.
Examples include:
- Distracted driving in Meridian Township
- Human trafficking in Meridian Township
- The township's pothole problems
- Girls' prep sports embraced by Haslett residents
- Dog poop is worse than you think
- Okemos High School is highly-ranked; why?
The difference between a weekly story and a final project is that we report much more broadly and thoroughly on a topic we really think is the biggest trend or issue we come across. Some examples from the Meridian team include:
- The lack of diversity in Meridian Township
- Whether the township really needs an express bus system
- The "schools of choice" program growing in the township
Please do carefully look over all these previous stories and see if it gives you a better sense of what we're aiming to do here. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please get a hold of me ASAP. It's hard for me to give you workable advice the day before something is due, since most solutions involve having to do more reporting. So don't wait until the last minute to start working on your stories!
"I couldn't get a hold of a source" will never be an acceptable excuse, just like in the real world. That's because if there's a big story people want to know about now, we need to find sources now. The audience won't care anymore tomorrow.
Really, what journalists are paid for isn't to write or shoot or edit stories; it's to problem-solve all the things that go into having stories to put together: finding sources or backup sources, getting info in a timely manner and on deadline, etc. Those are the skills we will be practicing here.
Plus, journalists are paid to find stories that people either don't already know (and can't Google for on their own) and to answer the whys and hows about things they do notice. If all we needed to do was who-what-when-where and to restate things already easily knowable, then there would be no need for reporters: people could Google on their own for everything they need, and editors wouldn't need reporters to go out and find things if everything could be found online.
Again, these are the skills we're working on this summer. If you're not perfect the first or second time out, that's fine. Just make sure we are learning to be resourceful, hard-working, problem-solving reporters, and that we take any lessons we learn from one exercise and apply them in future exercises so we can do better the next time.
The time for us to refine these skills is now. If you wait until your first job or even your first internship, it's too late.
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