Comments on: Is “local” a four-letter word? http://blogs.reuters.com/blog/2007/02/06/is-local-a-four-letter-word/ Just another Blogs.reuters.com weblog Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:35:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Linda http://blogs.reuters.com/blog/2007/02/06/is-local-a-four-letter-word/#comment-128628 Linda Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:02:50 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/2007/02/06/is-local-a-four-letter-word/#comment-128628 Surely, by going after a local angle to a national story, the skill is to bring out a different and more personal 'take' - the personal story of the local teenage drug user must be more interesting than a set of national statistics? If a local school is named as a "hotbed" of drug abuse, then there is a better story there for the community than tagging it on to a national report and just giving it a mention. Speak to the parents, the staff and the pupils to find out why it is such a problem and what they are doing about it. Surely this is a sensible approach to bring the story to life and give readers a better understanding of what is happening "behind the headlines."? Surely, by going after a local angle to a national story, the skill is to bring out a different and more personal ‘take’ - the personal story of the local teenage drug user must be more interesting than a set of national statistics?

If a local school is named as a “hotbed” of drug abuse, then there is a better story there for the community than tagging it on to a national report and just giving it a mention.

Speak to the parents, the staff and the pupils to find out why it is such a problem and what they are doing about it. Surely this is a sensible approach to bring the story to life and give readers a better understanding of what is happening “behind the headlines.”?

]]> By: HackFlack http://blogs.reuters.com/blog/2007/02/06/is-local-a-four-letter-word/#comment-127908 HackFlack Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:04:59 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/2007/02/06/is-local-a-four-letter-word/#comment-127908 Preventing a reporter from breaking news for a whole day by localising a national story is clearly a bad idea. Having a sub spend 35 seconds localising a national story is a good thing. The latter is far closer to reality on most newspapers (certainly UK). Localising means the reader gets a story without having to get it elsewhere, in a way where the relevance to their lives is obvious. Preventing a reporter from breaking news for a whole day by localising a national story is clearly a bad idea.
Having a sub spend 35 seconds localising a national story is a good thing.
The latter is far closer to reality on most newspapers (certainly UK).
Localising means the reader gets a story without having to get it elsewhere, in a way where the relevance to their lives is obvious.

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