Alyssa Post's Ideas (Great ones!)

Our 11th official member of the news team is Alyssa Post. She's been working deligently on her own time, providing tech support (Her dad does that type of work), coming up with ideas, and writing stories. This is a list of what she came up with recently. Check it out if you need inspiration in coming up with your own.

Mr. Diaz

IDEAS:

economic recession, the rest of the world booming. 1euro is 1.50 american

highschoolers and the knowledge of government policy, government affaires.

growing need for teachers-- we're still short a chem teacher.

coverage on the trial coming here in fall about girl who murdered her 2 brothers mother and attempted to kill father, then burned the house over a boyfriend

a this week in history

9/11 whats happened in our country since, how our lives were changed.

senior celebration problems, parents against going out of town

article about a man named Dale Stephens, traveled europe asia and africa this summer. climbed mt.kilamanjaro he lives here in town, very sweet man he's also an inventor, he invented that heat seeking door for freezers where it wont lock if there is someone in there.

anyonomus valentines letters

"halloween" myths and legends of sulphur springs, aguire cemetary

teachers "crimes" letter revise and reprint

the loop thats being put in out off 19

growth in dallas how its affecting us even now

class '06 military interview, 3 members of the '06 graduating class were given full scholarships into military acadmies 2at westpoint one at the airforce academy, oopen for interviews. dale stephens, germaine wright at westpoint then tim phillips at airforce westpoint #1 public schoo and #6 in fortune mag.

banned books

election coverage.

story on the public library

rising college cost, falling grades in highschool kids

hurricane gustav

downtown project

fact or fiction column- rumors circulating about s.s.

did you know column on the little known facts of ss. you'd really be suprised. plain and fancy was a shoe store then the carrothers building the old hospital,t he list is never ending!

well since you posted my ideas, is my assignmet to post them again? (:

I moved them for you. ;D

oh Whitney you are quite amazing(:

I love the economy one. I'm constantly ranting about how the trademark of America's dominance was the dollar bill. The entire world was based off of the dollar and that type of outlook is fading. Some of our "allies" (cough Israel) even wanted US to switch to the EURO.

I like them all.

Since you know the town much more than I we need to focus on what's called "Hard News." "Hard news stories" are stories that are time sensitive. If we miss covering it, we miss it entirely. For instance, it would be ridiculous if the New York Times posted the fall election results two months after the election.

Which one of your stories is the most recent or has the most "future angle?"

I like these two right off the bat. You have some other great "serious" story ideas that can be run in any issue. Those are called "Soft News stories." They are important but priority goes to hard news then soft. Be thinking in these terms when generating ideas or when you hear of something in town.

News:
Senior celebration problems, parents against going out of town

Feature:
Article about a man named Dale Stephens, traveled Europe Asia and Africa this summer. Climbed mt.kilamanjaro he lives here in town, very sweet man he's also an inventor, he invented that heat seeking door for freezers where it wont lock if there is someone in there.

-Signed Florence King

There was a letter to the editor in the News Telegram this past weekend. I think Friday over Senior Celebration that had the facts all wrong but stirred up some dirt.

Kattes started the tradition, she says she can change it, and there are a lot of benefits for moving it. She'd so be happy to be interviewed and set everyone straight!

Sounds like a plan man. so interview Kattes, a few seniors, and some of the parent? i think my mom said that the senior class votes on it in either 2 or three weeks. Last email that my mom got Kattes wasn't sure because of the 4day weeks...

i can do Dale's interview too. but the thing with him is he really didn't do anything for the community while there. it would just be his recap of traveling, he biked through most of it with his son Ty, and climbing mt.kilamanjaro. he is VERY time sensitive though, so if you want me to cover that as well i'll have to know and catch him before his next convention.

Ty Stephens? That guy's a babe. He's at West Pt. still right? I remember at college night his dad was there advocating on their side.

ha ha ha! yeah totally. His dad comes in the shop ALL the time. he's so sweet, and would would be so excited if we ran a story on Ty at some point. Dale is positively amazing!

alyssapostynote wrote:ha ha ha! yeah totally. His dad comes in the shop ALL the time. he's so sweet, and would would be so excited if we ran a story on Ty at some point. Dale is positively amazing!

Agreed, I know he loves his son. I swore to god he had a photo album and everything whenever I met him. He just went on and on. But whenever I worked for the Pilot Club as a volunteer at their bike marathon Ty was there.

Sounds good. The mountain climber guy is one of your assignments. Let's try to develop a future angle on him like what's he doing in the future? What's next? What about his son? What's he up to? Let's cover what he's done, doing, and wants to do.

Feature stories are great because they allow writers to be creative. If you are doing a feature on a cop you can begin your lead with a chase sequence with sound words and action. For this climber you can begin with reaching the top or describe the sensation of falling from a plane. We'll go into features later on but they're easier to write for those with some imagination.

Those that struggle might feel more comfortable with News which has a black and white format.

sounds great. he's going to cambodia next summer, and i can't remember where he went last summer... i'll find out. (: