Rowse story ideas

Story Idea #1: Basketball team going to state

• Story mission/need:
  • The 2018-2019 team was ranked #1 all season, had a 26-1 record going into the state tournament, was led by a sophomore D-1 recruit, and lost in the first round of the tournament. The team did not lose many seniors, so expectations at the start of the season will be to win state. The story will fulfill the need for a basketball season preview, which we do every year.
• Why report it now?:
  • We’d report this story in October and publish it in November prior to the first game of the season.
• Essential questions:
  • What has the team done in terms of healing since the first-round loss?
  • What are current plans for a different outcome than last year?
  • How has Chucky’s recruiting affected team dynamics?
• Sources to use:
  • Woodard (head coach)
  • Chucky Hepburn (junior)
  • Maxpreps (stats)
  • Klein (assistant coach)
  • John Shanklin (senior)
  • David Nuor (senior)
  • 24/7 Sports (recruiting info)
• Potential issues with sources:
  • Shanklin and Nuor don’t really have much media training, so getting them to answer questions will be tough. Solving this problem is two-fold: coaching the reporter to not just jump into questions but build a bit of a rapport, possibly splitting up the interview over a series of days to increase comfort level. Second solution lies entirely with asking questions in a way that gets them to open up.
  • Klein might be low-key antagonistic, because that’s sometimes how he gets with press. Solution to this is making sure the reporter assigned to the story doesn’t already have an antagonistic relationship with Klein from classwork.
• Media to best tell the story:
  • Written story–rabid parent fan base will like the traditional format
  • Photo essay–mix in photos from last season’s first round defeat and this year’s tryouts/preseason games. Maybe even ask for summer league photos if the team is willing to share.
• Suggested visuals:
  • To accompany the written story, possibly a Flourish graph of point differentials from 2018-2019 games or other stats?
• Range of story angles, supporting materials:
  • Sports column on the expectations
  • Role of student section (Flock Squad)
  • Feature on recruiting process for young athletes
• Alternative story forms possibilities:
  • Stellar for photo essay
  • Spotify playlist for student section angle
  • Timeline for recruiting process
• Legal/ethical/social responsibilities:
  • Athletes and coaches often are superstitious when writing pre-season stories, so being sensitive to that superstition is important.

Story idea #2: Elementary summer school offerings in elementaries east/west of Hwy 75 (which is seen as the economic split in our city)

• Story mission/need:
  • Making sure elementary students in the district are all being offered the same courses at summer school, regardless of income or ability
• Why report it now?:
  • A parent approached my staff a couple of years ago concerned that elementary summer school offerings at lower-income schools were solely based on remediation, whereas offerings at higher-income schools were based on interest/enrichment.
• Essential questions:
  • Who decides the summer school offerings at each elementary school?
  • What are the primary considerations in deciding those summer school courses?
• Sources to use:
  • Director of Curriculum and Instruction Nicole Fox
  • Director of Elementary Education (need to find this out)
  • Principal from Bertha Barber or Betz Elementary
  • Principal from Bellevue or Two Springs Elementary
  • Parents of students at those elementary schools
  • Summer school teachers at those schools
• Potential issues with sources:
  • Parents might be reticent to criticize the school, so showing some caring/compassion might be a solution–letting them know writing the story isn’t “gotcha” but is about equalizing opportunities.
  • District admin will definitely be defensive. How to solve this, I think, is making sure the questions are clear, and possibly interviewing them last, so if their answers contradict other sources, can present them with that information and give them a chance to clarify possible misconceptions/misinformation
• Media to best tell the story:
  • Written story
  • Slideshow of different course descriptions
• Suggested visuals:
  • Stand-alone Infographic of socio-economic breakdown of different elementary schools
• Range of story angles, supporting materials:
  • Why do high schools not appear to have enrichment summer school courses, and instead are about credit?
  • Resources available to the different elementary schools (maybe grants?)
  • If grants are part of summer school offerings, story on the grant-writing process
• Alternative story forms possibilities:
  • Flourish graph for socio-economics of different elementary schools
  • Timeline for grant writing
• Legal/ethical/social responsibilities:
  • How to ethically refer to parents/students of lower-income elementary schools

Story idea #3: Enrollment trends from 2012-2019–A 300-student discrepancy between the two high schools peaked at some point, but a new assistant superintendent has made it his mission to erase that difference.

• Story mission/need:
  • Some courses at Bellevue West have seen a sharp enrollment decline since the enrollment balance started. Unsure of the impact to athletics.
• Why report it now?:
  • In a casual conversation with the assistant superintendent, he mentioned to me that the schools were nearly balanced and he intended to keep it that way.
• Essential questions:
  • Why was there such a large enrollment difference between the two high schools?
  • What do students have to show in order to transfer between high schools?
• Sources to use:
  • Assistant Superintendent Dr. Robert Moore
  • A student who is supposed to attend East but attends West
  • Teachers who have seen enrollment decline with the enrollment balance
  • Principal
  • Department chairs of affected departments
    • Electives that have lost sections
    • Core classes that are now smaller (which is a good thing)
• Potential issues with sources:
  • Moore can be kind of cagey in his responses, and he likes to talk a lot. Clear, simple questions are a must. Open ended questions are almost a liability with him.
  • Teachers might be afraid to go on the record, so again, clear questions written to gain more statistical info might set them at ease prior to asking more emotion-based questions.
• Media to best tell the story:
  • Written story
  • Video that shows class sizes?
• Suggested visuals:
  • Line graph of enrollment change over time
• Range of story angles, supporting materials:
  • What are affected departments doing to recruit and maintain their numbers?
  • How has the enrollment balance affected Bellevue East (I’m assuming some of their classes have seen an increase in numbers)?
• Alternative story forms possibilities
  • Flourish graph for the enrollment
  • Podcast with Dr. Moore about the whole balancing process

• Legal/ethical/social responsibilities:
  • Huge ethical conflict of interest: this is directly impacting our journalism program. But it is also affecting our business department.

Story Idea #4: School board meeting (Social Media Coverage)–Live tweet a school board meeting.

• Story mission/need:
  
  • Students and parents are often ignorant to what happens at a school board meeting. While they are often quite boring, decisions are made at these meetings that directly impact students and parents.
• Why report it now?:
  • To serve the public by providing live updates of a school board meeting. Probably more digestible than reading what amounts to a stenographer’s account of the meeting.

• Essential questions:
  • What information does the public want to know from a school board meeting?
  • How do reporters identify what is “tweet-worthy” and what isn’t?
• Sources to use:
  • Everyone at the school board meeting who speaks
  • If someone from public has asked to comment, then that person
  • Director of Communications Amanda Oliver
  • Superintendent Dr. Jeff Rippe
• Potential issues with sources:
  • If public citizen is upset about something, may not want to go on the record post-rant.
  • Amanda Oliver is a PR person, so reporter needs to be prepared to see through possible lack of forthrightness and have alternative questions.
• Media to best tell the story:
  • Tweets
  • Video if things get testy
• Suggested visuals:
  • photo of the school board meeting
• Range of story angles, supporting materials:
  • Will be set upon release of school board agenda the previous Friday.
• Alternative story forms possibilities
  • Twitter poll: should we live tweet a school board meeting again?
• Legal/ethical/social responsibilities:
  • “Minimize harm” to possibly protect citizens who make emotional appeals to the board.