Pitch Workshop
Before we get into your pitches, one common issue I want to address (and this is something almost all new journalists often struggle with) is that, by and large, they’re too broad. In many cases, they’re lacking an angle.
What is an angle?
It’s the lens through which you report the story. The main takeaway.
The point.
Every topic has multiple possible angles. Sometimes your angle will be obvious, as with many breaking news stories. Other times it won’t be as immediately clear. To be fair, with some stories, it’s impossible to know your precise angle until you’ve done some pretty substantial reporting, which may or may not come before the pitch stage. But at the very least, your pitch should include some acknowledgment of this and mention what your plan is. “I will find a family whose story is
The first step of coming up with a story idea is to say “I want to do a story about X.” But in many of your early pitches, this is essentially where the pitch stops. It’s broad; it’s vague; it could go many different ways. A helpful way to think about developing an angle is to say “I want to do a story about X and how or why… Y.”
Here are some examples of narrowing a broad topic down to a story with a compelling angle:
“I want to do a story about private budget bus lines.”
“I want to do a story about the proposed new healthcare bill.”
“I want to do a story about the German election results.”
“I want to do a story about the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.”
“I want to do a story about Tibetans in exile.”
So while we go through everyone’s pitches today, I want you to be asking yourselves and your classmates what the angle is and what possibilities there are if you’re not seeing one.
Also, because the assignment includes photos for the web, pitches for a story like this should always include a mention of what type of visuals you’re likely to submit along with your script.