TGIF everyone!
The Memorial Day holiday is quickly approaching, and it is a time when many newsrooms will be minimally staffed due to the holiday weekend.
So, are you planning ahead to continue to provide a quality edition that day, weekend or week?
Here are some quick tips to make planning coverage and stories for that week easier:
1) Write a feature on a veteran who has returned from duty in the Middle East: Newspapers traditionally love to do stories on the veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm — and those stories are wonderful and well deserved — but we have a new group of dedicated service men and women who deserve our appreciation for their time in the Middle East. Seek out and share their stories this Memorial Day.
2) Can't find a veteran to feature, no worries: Talk with a family who has a loved one serving in the military. Maybe it is a wife and children of a Marine, or the parents of a military man or woman. Share their stories of pride and concern. Tell the story in an alternative story format (ASF) in either a Q&A style or 5 Question With... to offer a different read.
3) Memorial Day is traditionally a time for people to remember their loved ones lost. Do a feature on the men and women who make sure the cemeteries are in pristine condition for the busiest holiday weekend of the year. These hard working folks never get recognition.
4) And finally, Memorial Day is also the official kick off to summer. Take an hour and talk to 10 residents about what they are planning to do this summer for fun, and maybe add a new twist with how high gas prices could affect their summer plans. Yes, Man of the Street (MOS) features are nothing new, so add a twist and present it also as a video feature on your website.
I hope one or several of these suggestions help you prepare your news budgets for the holiday weekend. Again, let me know if you use any of these suggestions, and send me the final product in pdf format so I can share with others.
Have a great weekend!
A website for newsrooms and journalists throughout American Consolidated Media to use as a tool to improve local content and enhance engagement with the public they serve. The author of the website is Rick Rogers, director of product development for ACM, a 17-year newspaper and media veteran specializing in community journalism.
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