Last Updated: May 20, 1999
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Wire content review
If one phrase could summarize how editors viewed their reading in Indianapolis,
it would be: "Show me the story." Long leads, cute leads, leads that seemed
like a stretch - these editors didn’t care for them and generally don’t
want them from their wire services.
Clear writing, thorough reporting and translation of difficult language
and concepts — those are the things editors want. Editors also want stories
that put a human face on issues.
"If there has been a theme of this committee, it is the need to humanize
stories," said Craig Klugman, editor of The Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne,
Ind., and chair of the ASNE Wire Content Committee.
Stories that put information in terms accessible to the typical reader
and include "real people" sources are more likely to get good grades from
editors than are those that rely too heavily on official sources or that
quote too heavily in the language of bureaucracy.
And leads are important.
"Reading all the copy on the three main news stories for that day emphasized
to me the importance of the first five to 10 graphs of a story," said Pete
Johnson, night managing editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer. "Those graphs
have to clearly tell the news and its significance or impact or readers
will tune out. I know I do. In all three cases we looked at, the stories
that got to the point quickly and succinctly kept my attention while I
had to force myself to finish the others."
Editors who worked on the committee report out of Indianapolis — as
well as an earlier report out of Cincinnati evaluating wire service coverage
of the Timothy McVeigh verdict — are interested in getting a range of angles
and having stories to choose from. They are attracted to interesting, colorful,
detailed writing. They want charts and graphs to help tell stories.
But more than anything, they want a strong mainbar — with a hard news
lead and all the key questions answered — on the top stories of the day.
If they don’t get it, they feel shortchanged.
One last thing: Editors in this study know this was a snapshot of one
day. Their work can’t serve as an overall evaluation of the worth of any
one wire service as compared to another. Instead, it should be viewed as
a glimpse into how the services compared on one cycle of one day.
- B.Z.
