All great stories have a beginning, middle, and end. But organizing a pile of reporting notes, quotes and data can be, well, overwhelming. Just how should journalists tackle story structure, especially with the variety of options?
Four award-winning reporters and editors explored story structure and strategies for constructing memorable stories on and off deadline. Hosted by the National Press Club Journalism Institute, this half-day virtual workshop included tips and tools for building structures that effectively shape breaking news, feature, and investigative stories.
Speakers included:
- Lane DeGregory, a Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer at the Tampa Bay Times
- Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, assistant managing editor at ProPublica
- Steve Padilla, Los Angeles Times Column One editor
- Eric Tucker, national security reporter for the Associated Press
Topics discussed:
- Go-to story structures that can be applied efficiently and effectively to almost any story.
- Skills for writing sharper ledes and memorable endings.
- Inspiration for ways to organize notes, find the telling quotes, work with data, and build out the story.
Missed the workshop? Contact [email protected] to purchase a copy of the recordings.
Agenda
Find the meaning to find your structure
Instructor: Steve Padilla, Column One editor, Los Angeles Times
Writing coach and Los Angeles Times Column One Editor Steve Padilla will offer his guiding principles for story structure, as well as favorite tips and inspiring ideas for organizing notes, finding the good quotes, writing a sharp lead, and identifying a satisfying ending. Padilla will leave time at the end to take questions from participants.
Steve Padilla, who has entertained standing-room-only audiences at many workshops, is editor of Column One, the L.A. Times’ showcase for storytelling. He tweets about writing technique at @StevePadilla2.
Honing story structure under pressure
Instructor: Eric Tucker, national security reporter, Associated Press
How can we sharpen our ears for story structure under deadline pressure? In this session, AP justice department and national security reporter Eric Tucker will share tips and lessons learned as a longtime breaking news reporter and editor. Tucker will discuss ways to visualize a breaking story so that when you sit down, you can hammer it out quickly.
Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department and the special counsel cases against former President Donald Trump. He has also been an adjunct journalism professor at American University in Washington, D.C.
Weaving data into story
Instructor: Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, assistant managing editor on ProPublica’s national staff
In-depth and investigative stories rely on data to both expose and help explain why a story matters. How do we build effective stories around data without it overwhelming a narrative? Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, an assistant managing editor on ProPublica’s national staff, will offer advice on how and where to use data as a building block.
Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak is an assistant managing editor on ProPublica’s national staff, overseeing a team of reporters and senior editors across the country. She joined ProPublica from The Associated Press, where she was acting global investigations editor, managing a team of more than 30 investigative reporters, editors and videographers worldwide. In more than 25 years in journalism she worked at NPR, Bloomberg News, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Center for Public Integrity, covering economics, health policy and taxes.
Her work as a reporter and editor has been honored many times, including with three George Polk Awards, a Gerald Loeb award and the Overseas Press Club Malcolm Forbes prize. A graduate of Georgetown University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Kodjak served as president of the National Press Club in 2019 and is also the co-author of the book “In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race that Took It Down,” published in 2011 by John Wiley & Sons.
Finding the nuggets to build narrative stories
Instructor: Lane DeGregory, staff writer, Tampa Bay Times
Longform writing has its own set of structural challenges, including how to build a story to keep the reader engaged. Pulitzer Prize winner and Tampa Bay Times staff writer Lane DeGregory will share how she organizes her notes to build a beginning, middle, and end of a story. She’ll share tips on weaving in details to keep readers focused. DeGregory will also talk through ways to solve story structure challenges.
Lane DeGregory is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the Tampa Bay Times who prefers telling stories about people in the shadows. Lane grew up near Washington, D.C., and her parents read the newspaper to her every morning. At age 5, when the Watergate scandal splashed across the front page, she decided she wanted to be a journalist. She teaches at the University of South Florida, the Poynter Institute and journalism conferences around the world.
About the National Press Club Journalism Institute
The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.
The Institute depends on grants, foundation funds, and contributions from individuals like you. Your donation today allows the Institute to offer the majority of its programming at no cost.