media maven / By Marcy Burstiner

The Straw-Bale Paper

Step Five: Go to the scene of the crime. By that I mean wherever the news originated. It might be City Hall or the police station or a business in Old Town. Here’s where you have to get off the straw bale that has been so good to you until now to find out if the story is true and to get more information about it. You can call, but in the beginning you will get the best and most complete information from people when they know who you are, and they can’t do that as well over the phone. Ask for exact numbers — how many, how much, how long.

Step Six: Here’s where you turn each of those three news items into a little story for your readers. Grab three different sheets of paper. On each paper write the subject of one of the stories and this list: “Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.” Allow for plenty of space between the six. Who is the news item about? Whom does it affect? Who will score and who will be screwed? Then go to the “What.” What is happening? When did it happen or will it happen? Has it been happening for a long time? Is it temporary or permanent? Then “Why?” Will it solve a problem or improve lives in some way for some people? Will one person make a killing on it? Then “How?” How the heck will it work? How will they get the money to do it? What’s the process that is involved?

Step Seven: Now write your stories on your blog. Here are some general pointers. Readers are usually more interested in the What than the Who, unless the Who is someone everyone already knows.

Write as if your reader will be the most clueless, most disinterested person you know who is also blind. Go slow, don’t rush through your news items. Show as much as possible by recreating actions through words and by describing sights, sounds and even smells from your visits to the crime scenes.

Post your blog and ask readers to call or e-mail you with news items. Recruit trustworthy friends and relatives to sign on to your publication as citizen journalists who can keep their ears open for news and who might be willing to go out and get information. If you have a staff of five volunteers and each volunteer writes three stories you will be able to report 15 new stories a week. If you can do this on a consistent basis, you will attract readers. Then you might be able to sell a few ads. Don’t count on getting rich. But like many ventures in a local community, it’s about creating a sustainable resource that people need. You could form a non-profit organization and raise money to pay your staff.

When you can handle simple text, start adding audio and video. An iPod with a microphone makes a terrific digital recorder. And you can get a Flip video camera that takes great Web videos that you can plug right into your computer for super-easy uploads for about $220.

And oh, the recipe works fine even if you don’t have a straw bale.

Marcy Burstiner is an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at Humboldt State University. With the dissolution of the Eureka Reporter, she believes this column has outlived its usefulness. If you think otherwise, or want to urge her to end it with dignity, e-mail Hank Sims at hanksims@northcoastjournal.com.

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