10 Steps to Writing a Story

10 Steps to Writing a Story – Broadcast Journalism
1. Find a topic.
- brainstorm on the wall (big board)
- have eyes and ears open
- activities/ sports/ people/relatable to Burnsville/
- 6 criteria of newsworthiness

 2. Find an angle.
- more focused idea of topic
- meaningful version of topic

 3. Collect data.
- Who/what/where/how/when Q's
-collecting information related to angle/ topic
-research/ interviews

 4. Conduct the interviews.
- Try to interview 3 experts (rule of 3's)
- ask 3 questions or more (open-ended)
- questions based off angle
- questions don't have to be the same, but can be

 5. Shoot your reporter standup.
- should appear in the middle of the story
- validates story
-meant to be transition from one part of story to the next
-one time reporter appears on camera

 6. Organize your sound bites.
- definition: piece of audio that can stand by itself
- details details details
- Ask Q's with why/how/describe (no yes or no Q's)
- what to keep/ what order

 7. Write transitions in your story.
- anchor is not on visual, but is still talking
- order everything around the interviews

 8. Write the introduction and conclusion of your story.
- beginning and end
- write what you know
- attention getter in intro
- save best sound bites for the conclusion
- tagline: "reporting for blaze weekly I am Alicia Wolk"

 9. Write the anchor ins and outs (if necessary).
- understanding of story
-repetition

 10. Collect b-roll to add to your story (throughout steps 4-9)
- interview before you shoot the b-roll
- matching footage to a-roll (cut-aways)

*Steps 4-8 in your story are called the a-rollinterviews, stand up, sound bites, transitions, introductions, and conclusion