figure out how to find stories. With a few clicks, you will be on your way to hundreds of ideas to choose from everyday.
When it comes to working as a beat assignment writer, it can be difficult to figure out where you need to go for story leads. Part of the problem is that we don't have enough time in the day to run around and ask everyone "what kind of news do you have for me?" Over time, as you build your contacts, you will find that people readily send you emails and other notifications that direct you to the latest breaking news in your community.
However, when you are getting started, you might not know where to begin and how to get started writing a story that has NOT already been covered. To help new writers with this process, I have compiled the best tips that worked for me. These methods are so easy that you will soon find yourself unable to decide which story to start working on.
Don't Rewrite It! Instead, Ask Yourself "What Is This Article Missing?"
Re-writing stories is bad journalism and it will cause you problems with plagiarism. Plagiarism means that you will be banned from Associated Content. So take this advice very seriously. When you write a story, think about how the Editor in Chief at the New York Times could be reading it and thinking "We should hire this writer!"
Nine times out of ten, there are many stories that do not cover all the relevant information in a story. This gives you the opportunity to complete this knowledge for the reader that is following the topic. For example, a press release about a grand opening at a restaurant may not have information about disability accessibility. In that case, you can easily write a unique and informed review about how this new restaurant rates for friends with disabilities.
TIP: The best way to follow up on a popular topic in the news is to call the business owner directly.
Ask Yourself: "Who Am I?"
When it comes to writing, it is best to use an anthropological and ethnographic approach. Mainly, you will find it is easier to write stories relevant to your own life. If you are interested in queer politics, equestrian events, or fast food, you should try and cover these topics because you feel passionate about them. Make a list of 20 things that are important to you and then follow the next step.
TIP: Keep your list and refresh it periodically. This will help you to keep your edge as a writer.
Creating an Alert
When you have your list of favorite topics, you can start to make an alert. An alert is an email notification that you create on a certain subject. For example, one of my alerts for the Yahoo! Local News Beat Assignment is "San Francisco", "mystery". This way, when someone generates a webpage that talks about mysteries in San Francisco, I get an alert with the link in my email inbox.
TIP: Great alerts to use are Google Alerts.
TIP: When you create alerts, be sure to use quotation marks to keep your alerts from covering topics you do not want. For example, "San Francisco", "Baptist Church", and "day care" will be organized around the ideas you select instead of sending you everything under the sun that involves the words San, Francisco, Baptist, Church, day, and care.
Following up on Old Stories
Once you start writing, non-profits, event planners, and businesses will all be lining up to get you to cover their latest news. However, when you first get started, there will be a lull in this kind of activity. For this reason, if you have already covered a business or event, you will want to cover anything new that happens after that. For following up on old stories, you can create a special alert that is just for one webpage.
TIP: A wonderful alert for a single webpage or blog is ChangeDetection.com.
One Final Tip for Fancy News Writers
If you are inclined to be fancy, you may be forlorn about the fact that there aren't any press passes for local writers. In this day and age, I have learned that journalists from other professional news organizations use their blog picture icon to make a business card instead of using their press passes.
A business card with your profile image and a simple message is all you need. On one side of the card, mine says: "Have a story idea that you want to see published? Contact MaryamLouise@yahoo.com". On the other side of the card is the purple fleur de lis image I created for branding with all of my online work as Maryam Louise.
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