Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 44 Journalism: Publishing Across Media For instance, if a staff writer wants to cover immigration, ask how many of the news values—proximity, timeliness, impact, prominence, oddity, confl ict and human interest—this story has. Is there a local angle to give the story proximity? Has a recent change—or an impending change—made the story timely? Does it have impact on a signifi cant number of people in your audience? Can you report on a local confl ict or fi nd a human interest angle, such as the teacher whose parents were undocumented Russian immigrants? Can you fi nd a prominence or oddity angle? Though a writer’s passion for a topic may help her to fi nd great stories, passion is not a substitute for news values. Great gizmos also are not a substitute for news values. Suppose someone is dying to use an interactive map on your website, voice-changing software on your broadcast or pictures inside of outline letters in the paper. Do not let the gizmo control the story. Use the tools that tell the story best and save those great gizmos for the right story. Story Ideas Story Ideas Are you developing a “nose for news”? If so, you may have already found many ideas for stories as you studied your audience in Chapter 1 and completed the Writers’ Workshops associated with that chapter. Indeed, if you know your audience well and observe well, you will rarely have trouble fi nding stories. Finding Story Ideas Most strong student publications or broadcasts use a mix of three methods—beat reporting, information from the professional press and information from direct observation—to be sure they cover their community and inform and engage their audience. Story Ideas from the Beat System Beat reporters are journalists who regularly cover the same topics or news areas, such as the school board or track, which are called beats (Figure 2.10). Beat reporters know • the people to talk to and how to reach them by phone, in person or electronically • when interesting events are scheduled to happen or when they might happen • the history of the beat • the big picture of the beat, as well as the details • the controversies or confl icts involved in the beat • the abbreviations, initials and slang of the beat and • where to go for clarifi cation when they are confused about an aspect of their beat. Beat reporters talk with people on their beat regularly, often once every news cycle.