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. Furthermore, there was significant interest in a group of press photographers, the paparazzi, that was following the Mercedes carrying the princess and whether the ''chase" nature of the situation contributed to the accident. The story becomes a strong angle if you can tell the story from that person or institution's point of view. Because most people or organizations are understandably reluctant to talk to a reporter if they have caused a death or large amounts of property loss, this is a difficult angle to pursue. Regardless, if it can be told this way, it is a compelling story since it is a human story, one of accidental or intentional human error.You might not have a choice about which angle to chose in handling your assignment. Much of the time, the course of events determines how you handle the story. But on some stories, you may have the choice of one or two or three approaches.Writing Aftermath ArticlesYou have a number of writing decisions to make when you are working 2on an aftermath article. You must develop your lead, decide the article's structure, locate sources, select a writing style, and decide the article's mood. Let's look at these in a bit more depth:1. Aftermath lead: The lead of the article is most important. You set the stage for the entire piece, and your decisions about how you plan to tell the story to readers are revealed. Aftermath leads can be anecdotal, focusing on an individual or an example of the major point of the article. This approach makes specific points to illustrate the larger problem the suffering of one victim can show what an entire group of survivors has experienced and how they feel.2. Structural plan: Think through what you are trying to achieve with the aftermath article before you begin to write. How will you organize it? What are the major sections? What are the major points? In what order?3. Sources: At the same time you think through the organizational plan, consider what sources are necessary for information to make your major points. Will it be victims? Their Page 280families? Official sources such as police and firefighters? Other people? Reports? Observations?4. Writing style and mood: Your chosen style and mood for the particular article should reflect the type of event you are covering. In other words, for an article that describes the joy of a small town several days after it has won a state high school basketball championship, an informal, casual and upbeat style might be appropriate. But for a natural disaster, such as a tornado striking that same small town, the style should be more serious and respectful.It is important in writing aftermath stories to bring in the local angle as much as possible. This is easy enough for local events. It might not be so obvious for events that occur hundreds or thousands of miles away. Williamson (1975) offered four more considerations for writing aftermath articles. Your approach, he says, should stir the imagination of readers by going beyond the basic facts of the event that are found elsewhere, such as other articles in the same issue or earlier issues. Here's what he suggests to strengthen your writing:1. Play heavily on human emotion. Use descriptions of sorrow, fear, happiness, and other emotions to enhance your article. This comes through direct quotations and observation of what happened and its effects on people and places. Can you accurately convey what people experienced? Exercise your vocabulary for thisaccurate word choice makes all the difference.2. Try to help the reader identify with the victims. Will readers think that it might have happened to them? If so, you have probably succeeded in helping them identify with the victims. Writing with detail permits this to happen in most articles. Be alert, and observe to recapture the situation.3. Write tersely and briefly. A tightly written article will still get to the point and permits more perspective to get to the reader in the same amount of space your editor has assigned to the article.4. Concentrate on a fastmoving, strong lead. Good leads set the tone for the article. For aftermath articles, you must write a lead that gets the reader involved and still explains the purpose of the article [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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