Coming up with Stories

You ask and I respond. So how does Spec come up with its story pitches?

At its most basic form, there are two kinds of editors who report to Erin and me--deputies and associates. Associates are in charge of shepherding stories from 6 p.m. on the night of production until the paper is PDF'd sometime between 1:30 and... well, sometime after 1:30. The deputies, on the other hand, are responsible for everything from the inception of the idea until 6 p.m., including reporting questions, issues of context, and, yes, the pitch itself.

Now, as covered in the last post, deputies each have their own staff of between six and ten beat chiefs. These are the people who are coming up with the bulk of the pitches--in fact, most deputies require that every beat chief brings in between one and five pitches to their meeting every week.

Where do beat chiefs get their ideas? Pretty much everywhere. Most come from regular communications with sources. I've seen beat chiefs meet with five sources in a day and while these are usually interviews, sometimes, they're just an opportunity to sit down and chat about what's happening within the beat.

Beyond just talking to sources, students go to meetings, get on listservs and newsletters, and sign up for Google Alerts on a bewildering number of topics that are in some way related to the beat. But our best pitches often come from the most mundane sources--walking around campus looking at fliers and talking to friends about what is pissing them off this week.

There is no scientific process to any of this, and often, pitches vary based on the beat you have. Our reporters who cover the class councils and the University Senate, for example, can expect a relatively steady stream of news about policies and campaigns. On the other hand, in non-news intensive beats like Health Services or Career, Fellowship, and Academic Advising tend to have more analysis stories that may lack a time hook.

As I said, beat chiefs bring their ideas to deputy meetings, where the pitches get fleshed out and either approved or tossed. One of the reasons that deputies are chosen is that they have what we call a "news sense"--an idea for the kinds of pitches turn into good stories and those that don't. Additionally, we have a sense for which stories we have written in the past two years, as well as which stories other media outlets have done, and we try not to repeat them. To help with this process, for the first month or so, deputies bring every pitch that they're given to the weekly deputy meetings with Erin and I and we talk about what makes it a good or bad pitch. By the end of February at the latest, all of the deputies have the hang of what kinds of stories work, though Erin and I still check in when we question something that's on the story list.

I know that I'm being vague, and I apologize for that, but in truth, a lot of it is subjective and a lot of it is based on experience. Between Erin and I, we have probably read every story that Spec has printed in the last 30 months and many that were published in the three years before that, and because of that, we have gained a pretty good sense for the kinds of ideas that do and don't pan out as imagined. That said, we're always looking for fresh perspectives and new angles on stories that deserve to be told.

Keep asking questions!