Story concepts that need to die

16 Area coaches and players response to pro athlete getting in some kind of steroid trouble.

 

17. Swine flu.

Sorry non sports. I still fucking hate it though.

 

On that note, team preview stories.

There's other ways -- breakout/fact boxes, positional breakouts, agate, etc. -- to present the information.

 

18. The "this team just beat this other team in a sporting event" story. Oh, wait.

Kind of stupid to categorically say anything is not newsworthy simply because similar stories have been written before. Just sayin'.

 

These discussions always have low-hanging fruit, which I guess is the point. Could we get as long a thread on story concepts that need to be pursued? Anyone can say what they don't like or are tired of. Where are the fresh ideas? And really, with cutbacks and all, who would have time to pursue them?

 

19. I'm always fond of the "tale of two halves" stories ...

 

Especially obnoxious when said team starts, say, 2-0 with victories over utter patsies. Inevitably, that team will start its league/region/district/whatever schedule and lose the next 8/18/80 games.

 

I'd add the one about the split family: husband/family member fan of Team X, wife/other family member fan of Anti-Team X.

And as someone who spent years searching through locals for exactly these types of stories to regurgitate on the wire for the other papers to use, I'd love it if you'd call my old boss and tell them you hate them. I spent a decade pleading with them that a story about a girl kicker/deaf swimmer/mom with scrapbook/collector with team logo mugs from North State was worthless to put on the wire because South State also had a girl kicker/deaf swimmer/mom with scrapbook/collector with team logo mugs.

 

Yeah, I hate public reaction stories. I don't think anyone gives a crap what the local Joe Blow has to say about Michael Jackson's death.

 

I never wanted to write the same story twice. And figuring most newspaper readers have been reading a newspaper for longer than I've written for a paper - I'd figure no one would want to read the same story twice. Finding new ways to convey information in an engaging way is an important of the job.
But maybe I'm wrong - how many times have we written a story about someone doing something special (taken a tour of summer ballparks, skydived on their 80th birthday...)and someone else calling after the story runs demanding a story as well because they have also done that same thing.

 

Story issues we should be pursuing:

1. Why do we let elected and unelected official waste public money? (Local small -town school board is sending a couple of members and a couple of administrators to D.C. for a convention.)

2. Stories that mean something. I've read enough of some person had a disease, died, and their relatives are holding some fundraiser that likely won't break event. What about people who make decisions that don't turn out for the best? Most stories like that don't go very deep.

 

Good or bad: Male coaches who coach female teams? I saw it in my hometown paper, then stole the idea and brought it to my paper. I kind of liked the idea only because if you get some coaches who are quote machines, it makes for good reading.