Sarah Hutchins | Nov. 23, 2009
 |
| Photo by Jessica Haney |
| John McCormick (foreground) of the Chicago Tribune joined Tim Franklin of the National Sports Journalism Center in explaining an editor’s role in working with long-form feature stories. The two talked to a narrative storytelling class Thursday. |
Franklin, director the IU National Sports Journalism Program and a former editor of the Baltimore Sun, started the class with some insights into the future of narrative journalism. Staff cuts and shrinking news space have reduced the amount of narrative and enterprise reporting in publications.
"The reporters left behind feel increasing pressure to crank out blogs, tweets and multimedia," Franklin said.
While daily demands take precedent at traditional print publications, Franklin said locally based journalism organizations in print and online have the potential to focus on enterprise journalism.
"The successful publications left are increasingly recognizing that they holy grail of success is unique narrative reporting," he said.
Both Franklin and McCormick, deputy editorial page editor at the Chicago Tribune and former Midwest bureau chief for Newsweek , emphasized the importance of being an "idea machine."
"Put yourself in the position to be proactive," Franklin said. "Give you editor confidence that you’re in control."
Franklin and McCormick also discussed six phases of narrative journalism.
- Develop a quality idea.
A good narrative story should be novel, necessary and narrowed.
"The best ideas come from reporters who have done research and interviews, looked through archives," Franklin said. "They spot a trend before it happens or find an issue."
At Newsweek, McCormick said editors asked three questions about stories. Is it surprising? Will it have impact? What’s the cover language? It’s crucial that reporters and editors understand the point of the story early. - Exploratory stage.
This is the stage where projects materialize or die, Franklin said. Reporters should do factual and personal research to gauge where the story is headed.
McCormick said it’s important for reporters to keep the editor interested in the project.
"It might be the biggest thing in your life," McCormick said, "but it’s not the biggest thing in your editor’s life." - Outline.
If a reporter’s story survives the first two stages, Franklin said he encourages an outline. This can be a skeleton of the longer story or a plan for the different parts of a series. This is also the stage when reporters and editors should map out the time and resources the publication will commit to the project. - Full emersion reporting.
Reporters should begin to identify subjects that will be the focus on the story and find secondary sources and documents.
McCormick warned students about "falling in love with your best sources." Just because a source is open and likeable doesn’t mean he or she is the right subject. Ask about weaknesses, he said.
In addition to indentifying a subject for the story, McCormick said reporters should collect the tiny details that can help create a "cinematic experience" on the page. - Writing stage.
For Franklin, this is the most enjoyable part of the process. However, he warned student to resist the temptation to empty their notebooks onto the page.
"You’re not stenographers," he said. "You’re storytellers."
Photo by Jessica Haney Franklin said working with an editor means a reporter will develop and write a better story. Reporters, though, must not be defensive about their work but rather understand the working partnership.
Writing will illustrate the best, the worst and the missing elements of a story. Very often reporters will have to go back and do follow up reporting at this point. - Editing and publication.
"Every great writer needs a great editor," Franklin said.
An editor is a fresh set of eyes and can look at the story like a reader. Writers should assume disinterest, McCormick said. Every word is a chance to fight for the reader’s attention. Franklin cautioned students to not get defensive when working with an editor at this stage.
"It’s not about you," he said. "It’s about the story and the reader."
 |
| Photo by Jessica Haney |
| Franklin (left) and McCormick outlined six steps editors and reporters should follow in developing the narrative story."Every great writer needs an editor," Franklin said. |
