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  • Tips for interviewing victims of tragedy During a training session she conducted for Cox Newspapers Ohio journalists, Kay Powell offered a number of tips on how to successfully and sensitively interview victims of tragedy. Powell is the nationally-recognized obituaries editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  • Accuracy First In pursuit of excellence, reporters seek to develop lots of sophisticated skills, such as investigative reporting and narrative writing. Accuracy isn’t as glamorous as those skills but without accuracy, they become worthless. Accuracy is the foundation upon which reporters must build all other skills.
  • Our Cheating Culture Recent scandals at newspapers large and small have forced newspapers to apply the same skepticism to some staff members that they do to the institutions they cover. Journalists and newspapers can no longer presume that every journalist understands that you don’t steal and you don’t make things up.
  • “You Didn’t Hear This from Me…” Proper use of confidential sources will protect journalists against the errors of recent scandals and protect news organizations against the use of bogus sources by fraudulent journalists.
  • What’s Fair Game for Public Figures? We have not reached consensus among journalists or among readers about how much the public has a right to know about elected officials, powerful appointed officials and unofficial but still influential public figures. Don’t look for easy rules here, but for some factors to consider in deciding whether and how to pursue stories about the private lives of public officials, whether to publish them and how to play them.
  • When Do Private Matters Become News?
     Journalists frequently report about matters that most people consider private. We intrude because a news event thrusts a private person into the public eye. We inquire about private matters because we want to show the personal impact of a public issue. These issues present ethical considerations that reporters, photographers and journalists must consider.
  • Get to the source of attribution Press releases and wire services can be "easy" material for journalists. But it is a worry that reporters continue to use quotes from press releases without attributing it to the press release. It's a serious issue, says Gregg McLachlan, associate managing editor of the Simcoe Reformer, Ontario, Canada.
  • 50 Places to shop for story ideas Are you having trouble coming up with your own story ideas? Gregg McLachlan, Associate Managing Editor of the Simcoe Reformer, Ontario, Canada, compiled this tip sheet on 50 places to shop for story ideas.
  • Turning data into prose Just the phrase “computer-assisted reporting” sounds daunting. But Ron Nixon knows that computer-assisted reporting is just another way to gather information. Ron is the CAR editor at the Star Tribune and he loves words and stories. He loves narrative. He shares his tips on how to get past the numbers to tell great stories.
  • Add some offbeat to your QUESTIONS Routine questions would probably get routine answers. Get more from you profiles with the Q.U.O.T.E. approach developed by Gregg McLachlan, Associate Managing Editor of the Simcoe Reformer, Ontario, Canada. It's all about peeling back the surface layers and getting to know more about what drives a person's personality.
  • Covering a beat This is intended to be a general guide for a new reporter assigned to cover a beat. Perhaps it will be helpful as well to some old hands, says John Rains, Writing Coach, Fayetteville Observer, North Carolina.
  • Covering Meetings Meetings are sources of many bread-and-butter stories. If you have never covered one, you will probably feel ill at ease the first few times. John Rains offers some advice that will help keep you from feeling lost.
  • Covering Disasters: a practical guide This guide includes practical advice on what to grab before you head out the door, tips for editors back in the newsroom and guidance on the first moves you should make on the scene of a disaster. Kate Parry, St. Paul Pioneer Press, compiled the guide.
  • Get the Story - Zeroing in on spot news For some reporters, spot news gets the adrenalin flowing. For others, it forces us outside our comfort zone to a pace that’s fast and demanding to get THE story. Gregg McLachlan, Associate Managing Editor at the Simcoe Reformer in Ontario, Canada, looks at how news sense, resourcefulness, initiative, planning, creativity and determination can be used to get the job done.
  • Approach vital in interviewsMany journalists make major mistakes in their approach to the interview subject and during the interview. Joe Hight, Managing Editor, The Oklahoman, offers some tips to help you do the interview correctly.
  • Analyzing a municipal budget What do municipal budget numbers mean to the residents, in human terms? To answer that question requires a reporter to dig into the budget process months in advance, says John Wicklein, Writing, Reporting and Editing Coach. Here are his suggestions for finding what's behind the budget numbers.
  • Make your 'local' reporting matter You can make local news be the big stuff if you commit to it, says Gregg McLachlan, Associate Managing Editor, The Simcoe Reformer, Ontario, Canada.
  • L-E-A-R-N from your mistakes You can improve your accuracy when you L-E-A-R-N from your mistakes, says Gregg McLachlan, Associate Managing Editor, The Simcoe Reformer, Ontario, Canada.
  • Covering the Big, Breaking Story You can't plan exactly how to cover a big story in advance because each story is different. But you can make some general plans. Steve Buttry, Writing Coach, Omaha World-Herald, offers tips on covering the big, breaking story.
  • Finding Lively Stories in Boring Budgets The boring budget of the agency you cover hides interesting and important stories if you are persistent and creative enough to find them. Spending reports as the budget is carried out also yield interesting and important stories. Steve Buttry, Writing Coach, Omaha World-Herald, offers tips on finding lively stories in boring budgets.
  • Make Stories Relevant to Readers Steve Buttry, writing coach at the Omaha World-Herald, gives advice on how to connect with readers and how to use story elements to help you engage the reader.
  • Meeting Watch Vicki Simons, Director of the Center for Community Journalism, compiled this handout on the Meeting Watch format for community newspapers. This format replaces the board meeting suitcase story. It has six or seven basic standing elements that reporters use for every board meeting.
  • Taking Great Notes for Great Stories A handout by Don Fry, writing coach, on taking notes. (MS Word document).
  • Tips for the interviewing process Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau Chief Andy Alexander and Atlanta Journal Constitution features writer Reagan Walker recently conducted a Cox Academy session in Atlanta on interviewing. Here are some of their tips for the interviewing process.
  • Scribbling with Purpose Steve Buttry, Writing Coach, Omaha World-Herald, compiled this handout for a workshop he developed on taking notes.
  • Mastering Your Beat A reporter on a new beat faces two challenges that sometimes compete: producing right away and taking the time to learn new sources and issues. Steve Buttry's updated handout on addressing these challenges.
  • Mining the data on your beat Using data is an essential skill in 21st-Century journalism. This handout helps you to learn more about the data sources on your beat and how to access and use them. It was compiled by Steve Buttry, Writing Coach, Omaha World-Herald, and reporters Paul Goodsell, Joe Kolman, Nichole Aksamit and Cindy Gonzalez.
  • Covering spot features, or Stop looking for Rosa Parks Spot features and color stories are a rare opportunity to do something different, unusual, surprising and fun. There's seldom any news here, so you might as well put on your tap shoes and entertain, says Laurie Hertzel, Writing Coach/Team Leader at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
  • Getting and Telling the Crisis Story This handout from Matt Baron is on how to approach reporting the tough/crisis story, stories involving tragedies and people in pain, etc.
  • Ready for the Road (Part 1) Steve Buttry, Writing Coach, Omaha World-Herald, and colleagues prepared this handout for a workshop on reporting on the road.
  • Ready for the Road (Part 2) Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor, IDG News Service, Boston, provided this advice when Steve Buttry asked the Newscoach listserv for advice on making road trips successful.
  • The Good Interview Laurie Hertzel, Writing Coach/Team Leader at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. compiled these tips on interviewing for her monthly newsletter, Above the Fold.
  • Take note of this Effective note-taking involves a complicated set of sometimes simultaneous actions: listening, talking, writing, observing. Too often, though, this seemingly simple task can turn to chaos. Here are some tips for making your note-taking system more accurate, organized and effective.
  • Tips on covering meetings Helpful hints for writing tighter meeting stories. Handout by Richard D. Hendrickson.
  • More advice on local government meetings Advice on local government meetings, from the Journalist's notebook of tips and clips. Compiled by Richard D. Hendrickson.
  • Working Fast Helpful hints to help reporters write tighter meeting stories on deadline. Handout by Deborah Potter.
  • 11 Commandments of Beat Coverage John Sweeney of the News Journal, Wilmington, Del., offers some advice on beat coverage.
  • Buzz words and Catch Phrases A glossary for our changing world, compiled by Steve Buttry. Terms discussed include people, places, agencies, technology, jargon and clichés used in the aftermath of the attack on the United States. The glossary is organized by topics: terrorism, war, geopolitics, religion, homeland security, disaster recovery and miscellaneous.
Page last updated:
 July 2, 2009