Enterprise Reporting and News Stories

Enterprise Reporting and News Stories To a good reporter, many stories are obviously important to cover – a house fire, a homicide, an election, a new state budget. But what about those slow news days when breaking news is sparse and there aren’t any interesting press releases worth checking out? Those are the days when good reporters are working on what they call â€Å"enterprise stories.† They’re the kind of stories that many reporters find the most rewarding to do. What Is Enterprise Reporting? Enterprise reporting involves stories not based on press releases or news conferences. Instead, enterprise reporting is all about the stories a reporter digs up on his or her own, what many people call â€Å"scoops.† Enterprise reporting goes beyond merely covering events. It explores the forces shaping those events. For instance, we’ve all heard stories about recalls of faulty and possibly dangerous products related to children like cribs, toys and car seats. But when a team of reporters at the Chicago Tribune looked into such recalls they discovered a pattern of inadequate governmental regulation of such items. Likewise, New York Times reporter Clifford J. Levy did a series of investigative stories that uncovered widespread abuse of mentally ill adults in state-regulated homes. Both the Tribune and Times projects won Pulitzer prizes. Finding Ideas for Enterprise Stories So how can you develop your own enterprise stories? Most reporters will tell you that uncovering such stories involves two key journalistic skills: observation and investigation. Observation Observation, obviously, involves seeing the world around you. But while we all observe things, reporters take observation one step further by using their observations to generate story ideas. In other words, a reporter who sees something interesting almost invariably asks himself, â€Å"could this be a story?† Let’s say you stop at a gas station to fill up your tank. You see the price of a gallon of gas has risen again. Most of us would grumble about it, but a reporter might ask, â€Å"Why is the price rising?† Here’s an even more mundane example: You’re in the grocery store and notice that the background music has changed. The store used to play the kind of sleepy orchestral stuff that probably no one under 70 would enjoy. Now the store is playing pop tunes from the 1980s and 1990s. Again, most of us would take little notice of this, but a good reporter would ask, â€Å"Why did they change the music?† Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, and Trends Notice that both examples involve changes – in the price of gas, in the background music played. Changes are something reporters always look for. A change, after all, is something new, and new developments are what reporters write about. Enterprise reporters also look for changes that occur over time - trends, in other words. Discovering a trend is often a great way to start an enterprise story. Why Ask Why? You’ll notice that both examples involve the reporter asking â€Å"why† something was happening. â€Å"Why† is probably the most important word in any reporter’s vocabulary. A reporter who asks why something is happening is beginning the next step of enterprise reporting: investigation. Investigation Investigation is really just a fancy word for reporting. It involves doing the interviews and digging up the information to develop an enterprise story. An enterprise reporter’s first task is to do some initial reporting to see if there really is an interesting story to be written about (not all interesting observations turn out to be interesting news stories.) The next step is to gather the material needed to produce a solid story. So the reporter investigating the rise in gas prices might discover that a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico has slowed oil production, causing the price spike. And the reporter probing the changing background music might find that it’s all about the fact that the big grocery shoppers these days – parents with growing kids – came of age in the 1980s and 1990s and want to hear music that was popular in their youth. Example: A Story About Underage Drinking Lets take one more example, this one involving a trend. Lets say youre the police reporter in your hometown. Every day youre in police headquarters, checking the arrest log. Over a period of several months, you notice a spike in arrests for underage drinking among students from the local high school. You interview the cops to see if beefed-up enforcement is responsible for the increase. They say no. So you interview the principal of the high school as well as teachers and counselors. You also talk to students and parents and discover that, for a variety of reasons, underage drinking is increasing. So you write a story about the problems of underage drinking and how its on the rise in your hometown. What youve produced is an enterprise story, one not based on a press release or a news conference, but on your own observation and investigation. Enterprise reporting can encompass everything from feature stories (the one about changing background music would probably fit that category) to more serious investigative pieces, like the ones cited above by the Tribune and Times.

Ad and its infulences Essay

Ad and its infulences Essay Ad and its infulences Essay For the past 30 years, the advertising industry has worshipped at the altar of youth - because people 18 to 49 have the most disposable income. There's only one small problem with that - it isn't true. People 55+ spend the most money in almost all categories. They buy the most cars, spend the most on electronics, and control the most wealth. Yet advertisers aren't chasing them. The growth of television was extraordinary. Households with TVs went from less than 19% in 1946, to 55.7% in 1954, to 90% by 1962. youtube.com/watch?v=77yoG7mYlA0#t=16 Jaguar ad Even Jaguar, whose primary customer is over 50, doesn't choose 50+ actors for their ads. While Jag used a Deep Purple music track in this commercial, the actors in it are about 35. Yet the average age of a new car buyer is 56. They buy more new cars, spend more on the cars they buy, and buy cars for their kids and grandkids. youtube.com/watch?v=AsWRgxMYvOQ Diet Coke Ad Coke's Heart Truth for Women campaign is a great cause. It reminds women that heart disease is a concern beginning at age 55. But they chose 36 year-old Heidi Klum as a spokesperson: By the way, according to consumer research company NPD, people 50+ buy 60% of all carbonated beverages. youtube.com/watch?v=-cS3eIob78o Raymon James Comercial If the age-old axiom is to "follow the money," why isn't advertising's famous ability to do that kicking in? There are three possible reasons: One: The average age of ad agency people is around 30. So if the people advising advertisers where to spend their money are young, it's not surprising that companies are being convinced they should be targeting the young. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Two: Marketing's lack of attention to 55+ is cultural. Ignoring older people is tolerated. If society feels that way at large, and if advertising follows the parade, why should marketers feel any different? Third, the advertising industry has institutionalized the youth

Getting to Know Your Protagonist How to Create “Real” Characters - Freewrite Store

Getting to Know Your Protagonist How to Create â€Å"Real† Characters - Freewrite Store Have you ever read a book where the characters seem so real it’s like they could step off the page and sit down for a coffee with you? Those are the kinds of characters I love - the ones you almost miss when the novel comes to an end. Unfortunately, too many books I read contain characters that seem little more than cardboard cutouts. Being able to craft a protagonist in your story that is three-dimensional and totally â€Å"real† is a skill that a lot of novelists struggle with. If you find it difficult to create those kinds of characters, you’re certainly not alone - but it’s absolutely possible to learn this skill. And it’s not as hard as you might think it is! Keep reading if you want to discover powerful secrets for creating characters that jump right off the page. What Not  To Do You’ve probably come across those questionnaires that many ‘how-to-write’ websites love so much. You know the questions I mean - the ones that are supposed to help you get to know your characters by having you fill in every detail of your character’s life. Where they were born, their middle name, how their parents met, their job, their hobbies†¦ and so on. Here’s my first piece of advice. Don’t rely on those kinds of questionnaires to bring your characters to life. Sure, it can help to have those details to hand when you’re writing, but I’m afraid they’re not going to give you three-dimensional characters. It’s not facts that bring your characters to life. Getting Under Your Protagonist’s Skin Being able to describe what your character looks like is useful, but it’s not what makes him come alive in your reader’s mind. Instead, you need to focus on what makes your character tick. To get under your characters’ skin, you need to know the answers to these kinds of questions: What motivates him? What is she afraid of? Is she emotional, passionate and extroverted or placid, gentle and introverted? What secrets does he have that he’s afraid that others may reject him because of? What influences her decision-making? What’s his life-story? What makes her happy? What makes him angry? How does she present herself to others - and is that at odds at how she feels inside? What are the experiences that have shaped his opinions and reactions to different situations? The emotional details of your protagonist’s psyche are far more important than being able to describe the color of his hair or the layout of her home. When I write fiction, I’ve been known to spend more time getting to know my characters innermost secrets than I actually spend on writing the novel. Taking the time to really get under your characters’ skin can be frustrating when you just want to sit down and write, but trust me, the effort is absolutely worth it. When I look at some of the stories I wrote before I discovered the secrets of bringing my characters to life on the page, I’m embarrassed by how two-dimensional the characters seem. I didn’t spend enough time understanding what made my protagonists tick, and it shows. I’m going to take you through my own 3-step process for creating realistic characters so that you can easily follow a tried-and-tested technique that really works. 3 Powerful Steps Toward Understanding Your Protagonists When you start the process of bringing your characters to life, I suggest you open a new document for each protagonist. This is where you can keep and organize all the details you ‘discover’ and have a handy reference when you start to write your novel. This technique also works for short stories, but you won’t need quite so much detail! Step 1: Exploring the Psyche The psyche of your protagonist and other characters is where their motivations lie. There are different aspects to this - both conscious and subconscious. While it may seem a little weird at first to dig into the subconscious of a character that you’re creating, investing time in this exercise really pays off. To explore your protagonist’s psyche, you need to ask deep and searching questions and dig into as much detail as you can. If you find that you’re struggling with this exercise, you might want to try the ‘empty chair’ visualization. Put a chair opposite you and imagine that your character is sitting in it. Ask them the following questions, as you might do if it was a friend sitting in the chair. What is your primary goal and why is it so important to you? What is the deepest desire in your life? Do you worry that you’ll never reach the point where that deepest desire is realized? If so, why is that? What are you most afraid of? What are your core beliefs about yourself, other people, and the world around you? Do you believe in fairytales? What are your views about marriage, divorce, happiness, success, and failure? If you could sum up your fundamental beliefs in a single sentence, what would that sentence be? What three values describe you the most closely? What principles do you believe should always be adhered to? What drives you to get out of bed every morning? At the end of this exercise, you will have a pretty good insight into the conscious and subconscious things that make your character who they are. If there are other questions you want to ask, go ahead and ask them - this list isn’t an exhaustive one! Step 2: Examining their Behavior Knowing how your character will react in different situations can help you to craft scenes that really bring your protagonist to life. We’ll be looking at why they behave the way they do in step 3, so in this step, you need to focus solely on your character’s behavior and actions. Instead of asking your character questions, this step requires you to really exercise your imagination. By the time you’ve finished with this step, you’ll be confident in knowing how your character will react in a whole range of situations, and it’s this kind of detailed knowledge that allows you to bring your protagonist to life on the page. You’re going to be putting your protagonist (and other key characters) into a range of hypothetical situations, so this step can take a while! You don’t have to go through all the scenarios at once, though - it’s something you can come back to later if you’re short on time. Scenario 1 Your protagonist leaves the office and rides the elevator to the underground garage to get their car to head home. As they’re pulling out of the garage, a black sedan comes hurtling towards them and rear-ends their vehicle. What does your protagonist do? Scenario 2 The phone rings in the middle of the night. Your protagonist sees that it’s an ‘unknown number’ and ignores the call. In the morning, they check voicemail and learn that a friend or family member has been involved in an accident. By the time they get to the hospital, the person has passed away. How do they react? Scenario 3 Your protagonist heads out on a hike one Saturday morning after a busy week at work. After a couple of hours, they come across an abandoned campsite. There’s a still-smoldering campfire that suggests that it’s not long since someone left in a hurry. Suddenly, your protagonist hears the sound of someone sobbing. What do they do? Scenario 4 Your character spends several hours at a family picnic attended by extended family and friends. They have a secret that they thought no one is aware of, but then their cousin makes a comment that suggests the secret is out of the bag. What does your protagonist do? Scenario 5 It’s vacation time, and your protagonist is vacationing in Jamaica. While they’re lazing by the pool, a stranger asks a too-intimate question. How does your protagonist respond? Scenario 6 New neighbors have moved in, and the whole neighborhood is talking about them because they’re not the kind of people who normally live in this part of town (for whatever reason, it’s up to you!). Your protagonist is mowing the front lawn when the new neighbors come out of the house. How does your character respond to them? Scenario 7 Your protagonist discovers that they have a stalker. What aspects of their personality emerge in response to the chilling situation? Scenario 8 At work, your protagonist’s line manager is deported because she’s breached the terms of her visa. Suddenly, your character has to step into a leadership role that they’ve never been trained for. How do they respond, and what kind of leader do they make? Scenario 9 Your protagonist is talking to a friend when they suddenly realize that they’ve caught their friend in a lie. How do they react? (You can flip this one and imagine how your character would behave if a friend discovered that your character has been lying to them). Scenario 10 There’s a freak storm that knocks out the power and phone lines and leaves your character stuck in the office, unable to get home because of flash flooding. Their twelve-year-old child is home alone. How does your character respond to the crisis? If you want to try more scenarios to delve even deeper into your character’s behavior, feel free to create your own! Step 3: Understanding their Influences Now that you understand your character’s psyche a little more, and you’ve delved into the way that they behave, it’s time to start exploring the things that have shaped them as a person. To a certain extent, this is similar to knowing your character’s backstory, but in this exercise, you’ll be delving a bit deeper and exploring facts that might never be revealed in your novel. Backstory is usually used as part of the novel in some form or another, but many of the details that you’ll be uncovering in this exercise are about helping you to understand your characters, rather than providing the context in a story. You can use the empty chair technique again to ask your character about the things that have made them who they are. What is your earliest memory? How have your early experiences impacted on your personality? For example, have they made you: Reserved/shy? Fearful? Timid? Aggressive? Confrontational? Anxious? Determined? Confident? Tell me about your childhood. What kind of relationship do you have with your parents and other close family members? How old were you when you had your first kiss? What were your experiences at school like? Were you encouraged to express yourself as a child? Can you tell me about the 7 most challenging and/or life-changing events you’ve experienced in your life? How have these events shaped you? Do you find it easy to trust other people? Why/why not? Who was your first crush, and why were you attracted to them? When you are faced with a threatening situation, is your immediate response one of fight, flight or freeze? Again, this isn’t an exhaustive list of questions, so feel free to add others that you think will deepen your understanding of your character(s). Real Characters Require Real Effort It would be great if there was a quick and easy way to create characters that just leap off the page, but unfortunately, there isn’t. Cutting corners when you’re creating characters leads to two-dimensional characters that your readers will quickly lose interest in and forget about once the novel is over. If you want characters that are going to stay in your readers’ minds and give you a solid fanbase for future books featuring the same characters, then you’re going to have to put the time in. Trust me, you won’t regret it. What’s more, if you’re planning a series then you only have to get to know your protagonist once, so future novels will be ‘easier’ to write.    About the author: Ariella is an experienced copywriter, editor, and digital marketing consultant. Driven by a passion for writing and content creation she takes pride in producing articles that deliver the latest information in an engaging manner and marketing campaigns that deliver exceptional results. Ariella has a BA (Hons) in English Language and Creative Writing (First), an MA in Theology and Ministry, and is a published author of three novels and a bestselling non-fiction book. A creative at heart, Ariella has 14 years’ industry experience and always aims to keep abreast of current trends and developments. She lives in the UK with her three beagles Zeke, Hope, and Sandy, who always make life interesting.

TBD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TBD - Essay Example Contrarily, the US Constitution is a document that represents the rule of law in relation to how the government is expected to perform duties with regard to American citizens.  Primarily, the US Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution was written and documented in the year 1787, a few years after the DOI was made (The Constitution of the United States). It should be noted that unlike the DOI, the Constitution was written under a convention of all the states. The convention was tasked with making changes to the old system of governance. Despite the fact that both documents contain significant information about America, they also vary in some specific aspects. This paper will discuss about the context within which both documents were established, the goals and intended audience of each document; and the style, structure and tone of each document. The DOI was majorly written to express the dismay and convictions of American citizens under the British rule. Written in unforgiving and exalted phrases, the DOI was based in the context that American citizens were accusing the King of Britain of ignoring the law and abusing his authority and power (The Declaration of Independence). Specifically, it was thought that the King had a profound disregard for the best interest of citizens living in the 13 colonies. Besides, it should be noted that signatures contained in the DOI are from the 13 colonies (The Declaration of Independence). Moreover, the DOI was drafted by a single person, Thomas Jefferson. Contrastingly, the US Constitution was written on totally different grounds. A convention was called in order to recommend changes in the old system of US governance (The Constitution of the United States). It was during the 1787 convention, with attendance from all the states, that the Constitution was drafted. Upon approval from all the states, the US Constitution came into operation in 1789. Notably, the

Question about western world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Question about western world - Essay Example The similarity between these immigrations was the large-scale arrival of Irish catholic immigrants in Canada and United States, which were protestant domains. The Irish immigrants provided the labour force needed in America and Canadian agricultural lands. It is evident that the United States adapted restrictive policies such as the Chinese exclusion act to prevent immigrants from getting into the United States (Diner 3). In Canada, immigrants were grouped in a descending manner with Italians, Irish, Jews, blacks and Chinese immigrants occupying the lower part of the series (thecanadianencyclopedia.com, â€Å"Immigration). The great western migration era in Canada corresponded to the flood migrations era in the United States. The immigrants in these eras were largely non-English speaking immigrants, and they were non-Protestants. The immigrants of these eras were pivotal in the industrial labour pool. The legislating immigration was adapted to control immigration into the United States. Canada also came up with medical provisions that restricted immigration into Canada. Such restrictions determine the number of immigrants who enter Canada and the United States. Free trade zones are determined geographically. Latin America and Caribbean account for 48% of worldwide Free Trade zones whereas Asia account for 42%. The Caribbean free trade zone employs 1.2 million workforces while the Asia free trade zone employs 3 million employees. The free trade zone promotes regionalism among the Caribbean countries. Williams observes that, without regionalism, the economic performance of the Caribbean countries is poor. Regionalism in the Caribbean will ensure free conversion of currencies to ease trade negotiations, free trade zones allow the free movement of individuals within the region this allows access to work. The free trade zone ensures the removal of implicit and explicit anti-export biases. The Caribbean countries also enjoy free access to

Independence War 1775 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Independence War 1775 - Research Paper Example However, the parliament made it clear through the enactment of the Declaratory Act of 1766, that it had the authority to tax the colonies (Bobrick 15). This paper is a critical evaluation of the economic factors, which pushed the colonies to rebel against Great Britain and demand for independence. Economic Factors that Led to the American War of Independence (1775-1783) The War of Independence, or the American Revolutionary War, is a war, which was fought between Great Britain and 13 American colonies between the years 1775 and 1783 (Greene 201). However, it may be important to note that France and Spain were also actively involved in the war as they provided military assistance to the Americans. When the British entered America long before the revolution, they settled in colonies, after which leaders were selected in every one of them as representatives of the British government in England. They were to ensure that the colonies provided sufficient raw materials to the industries abr oad as well as market for the manufactured products. They were also supposed to ensure that the colonies remained loyal to the crown by collecting taxes on behalf of the British government (Alden 20). ... More so because the colonies did not have sufficient machinery and personnel to defend themselves from France and therefore, they needed the protection of their mother country, which was well equipped militarily. Secondly, the Anglo-French war was a highly costly affair and it hurt the British economy deeply (Bailyn 27). It is estimated that in North America, the British government spent approximately 4% of its total spending to protect the colonies from French invasion (Bailyn, 36). The colonials from North America also failed to fulfill their obligations during the war in terms of financial contribution and provision of personnel to engage in the war to defend their territories. Due to this, the British Government decided to come up with a strategy to cover the heavy losses and one way to do this was to increase revenues from the colonies. In 1763, the British government decided to halt the expansion of the colonies by creating borders, with an intention of preserving land belongin g to the Indians (Alden 41). This move was meant to gain favor from the Indians so that they could become consumers of British manufactured goods thereby providing market, which was essential in promoting the economy. In order to achieve this objective, British soldiers were posted on the western lands and were charged with the mandate of expelling all the Americans who had settled there as well as prevent new settlement by the American colonials. Ironically, the soldiers were to be paid using taxes collected from the Americans (Bobrick 22). The colonials did not take this lightly as they perceived it as a move to limit their economic interests and this created discontent and hatred towards Britain as it led to the

Human Resources Framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resources Framework - Essay Example This paper seeks to analyze the implications of the Millennial generation on the work place by discussing five key issues that make up the M-Factors. These issues include meaning, great expectations, the need for speed, social networking and collaboration. One of the major trends of M-Factor that is greatly valued by Generation Y is meaning. According to this generation, a job should be both well paying and meaningful. In this regard, Millennials seeks to have security and challenges in their work. Challenges imply the opportunity to develop financially as well as professionally. Similarly, Generation Y expects the employers to provide them with security that encompasses providing them with the strategic direction of the organization (David and Lynne, 2010). To ensure that its young employees are motivated and their work has a meaning, Coca-Cola Company established The Coca-Cola University (CCU) that is focused at providing skills on people leadership, consumer marketing and employees development. In this way, its emerging workforce has remained productive and competitive thus reducing the labour turnover. One of the key aspects that differentiate Millennials from the traditionalists, baby boomers and Generation Xers is their great expectations and strong quest for success in their work. In this regard, they expect instant feedback from their managers to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Due to the great expectations that Millennials possess, they change jobs frequently (Ron, 2008). This implies that managers are under obligation to motivate the young employees by providing them with opportunities to achieve their expectations. To ensure that the expectations of its young employees are attained, Coca-Cola Company under the leadership of Muhtar Kent has embarked on developing programs that promotes well-being of the employees as well as improving the quality of their life. Unlike