One of our assignments for my News Writing and Reporting class is to read best newspaper writing by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. The book is a collection of news stories from around the nation. What is different about these stories is that they don't follow the inverted pyramid scheme; instead, they are unique feature stories who leads are wrapped in different parts of the articles in order to draw readers in.
One story in particular is called "Boys Hidden in Plain Sight," by Todd C. Frankel in St. Louis. The article reminds me of a Criminal Minds episode, where Michael J. Delvin, a 41-year old pizza parlor manager kidnapped two boys four years apart and were kept in an apartment, Apartment D.
A typical lead, a lead that follows the inverted pyramid would state the who, what, where, when and why in the first two paragraphs of the article; instead, Frankel begins with the where and spends about two paragraphs describing this apartment and how it stood out.
He writes, "Apartment D, the one that held two kidnapped boys, sits on the ground floor of a two-story brick building. Seven identical buildings surround it. The '60-era complex has no name. The only distinguishing detail is the color of the doors: one building has black, another green, then white. And orange. Apartment D has an orange door."
Once the you've read the first two paragraphs, you instantly want to know more. Like who lives in this apartment, why this apartment, what is the apartment's significance, etc. Next, Frankel reports on Delvin's personality; however, the reader still does not know Delvin's name until the 9th paragraph of the article. By not giving the reader all the information at once, the reader is more likely to read the story than read the first few paragraphs then put the story down.
Another interesting point about the article is instead of writing a story about a man who kidnapped two boys suburban neighborhood, the reporter took the angle how these boys were hidden in plain sight and nobody suspected a thing.
The father of one of the boys said, "It goes back to everybody minding their own business, not wanting to get involved, not paying attention and putting their blinders on and worrying about themselves and themselves only."
Another person who knew Delvin from a distance said that you never think it is going to happen in your neighborhood. A typical line used in investigative reporting
The story is full of quotes from on-lookers, people who lived in the neighborhood. By using these on-lookers, it gives the story a little bit more meat than just talking to the families of the victims and possibly to the two boys.
When I first started reporting for my schools newspaper, I learned the inverted pyramid, especially since I wrote for the news section. After reading the stories in this book, stories I will probably critique later on in future blogs, I have learned alternative ways to report news stories. One of our assignments for class is to write three stories for our school's paper and I am excited to see how can use some of the techniques in this book and apply them to my own stories.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
That will be $3, please.
Everyday before starting their morning, my parents watch the news. Sometimes debating each other about what was just said or yelling at the T.V. about what was just said. I am sure this does not sound unusual, because I am sure a lot of people like to know what is going on in the world around them. After all, news is something that can bring people closer because it is how people receive their information, good or bad.
Well about a week or so ago, my parents hear that starting in October the bank Wells Fargo will start charging its customers a $3 fee in order to use their debit card. Though neither of my parents are with Wells Fargo, they are concerned, mostly my dad, that Bank of America will follow suit My mom other hand is with the Credit Union and says that they are usually the last to start anything.
According to News Press, Wells Fargo will test the fee in five states: Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington; however, the reason why these states were chosen is unknown, for now.
Though this fee is usual, Wells Fargo is not the first major bank to test whether customers will be willing to pay to use their debit cards. Chase last year began testing $3 monthly debit card fee in northern Wisconsin.
The article also reports that the industry's experimentation with fees partly in response to a new regulation that will the reduce the revenue that banks collect on checking accounts.
Unfortunately, this test comes at a time when writing checks are obsolete and debit cards are king.
An Associated Press Poll in June found that about two-thirds of consumers use debit cards more frequently than credit cards, i.e. me, a college student who does not even own a credit card, but do use my debit card quite often. The study also asked how they would react to the added fee, 61 percent said that they would find another way to pay.
The whole point of the debit card is to prevent people from carrying large sums of cash around. No one wants to go to the bank and take out large amounts of money, especially when they are out and are unsure of how much money that will spend during their outing. It will be interesting to see how people's spending habits change if this new fee becomes permanent.
Articles:
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110821/BUSINESS/110821007/Wells-Fargo-test-3-fee-debit-card-use-five-states?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com/pdf/AP-GfK%20Poll%20June%202011%20FULL%20Topline_CL%20and%20DC.pdf
Well about a week or so ago, my parents hear that starting in October the bank Wells Fargo will start charging its customers a $3 fee in order to use their debit card. Though neither of my parents are with Wells Fargo, they are concerned, mostly my dad, that Bank of America will follow suit My mom other hand is with the Credit Union and says that they are usually the last to start anything.
According to News Press, Wells Fargo will test the fee in five states: Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington; however, the reason why these states were chosen is unknown, for now.
Though this fee is usual, Wells Fargo is not the first major bank to test whether customers will be willing to pay to use their debit cards. Chase last year began testing $3 monthly debit card fee in northern Wisconsin.
The article also reports that the industry's experimentation with fees partly in response to a new regulation that will the reduce the revenue that banks collect on checking accounts.
Unfortunately, this test comes at a time when writing checks are obsolete and debit cards are king.
An Associated Press Poll in June found that about two-thirds of consumers use debit cards more frequently than credit cards, i.e. me, a college student who does not even own a credit card, but do use my debit card quite often. The study also asked how they would react to the added fee, 61 percent said that they would find another way to pay.
The whole point of the debit card is to prevent people from carrying large sums of cash around. No one wants to go to the bank and take out large amounts of money, especially when they are out and are unsure of how much money that will spend during their outing. It will be interesting to see how people's spending habits change if this new fee becomes permanent.
Articles:
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110821/BUSINESS/110821007/Wells-Fargo-test-3-fee-debit-card-use-five-states?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com/pdf/AP-GfK%20Poll%20June%202011%20FULL%20Topline_CL%20and%20DC.pdf
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