Resource Guide: Structuring Stories
Structuring a Story
Purdue OWL summary of Inverted Pyramid story structure: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/the_inverted_pyramid.html
Houston Community College guide to structuring news stories: https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/fredrick.batiste/comm2311-5/inverted-pyramid-and-writing-narrative
Middle Tennessee University summary of inverted pyramid structure, with examples: https://kelab.tamu.edu/SPB_Encylopedia/data/Inverted%20pyramid%20story%20format.pdf
Book Chapter: "The Power of Framing: New Challenges for Researching the Structure of Meaning in News”: https://journalism.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/sites/journalism.utexas.edu/files/attachments/reese/baresch-hsu-reese-chapter.pdf
Writing a Lead
Purdue OWL guidelines for writing a lead: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/writing_leads.html#:~:text=Tips%20for%20Writing%20a%20Lead,Conflict%3A%20Good%20stories%20have%20conflict.
Northern Michigan University types of leads (short version): https://nmu.edu/writingcenter/writing-leads
Textbook chapter on types of leads (with examples): http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/isaacs/client_edit/Mencher.html
Vetting Sources and Doing Research
Mind Over Chatter (free media literacy mini-course from the University of Indiana): https://expand.iu.edu/browse/moc/courses/mind-over-chatter
Cornell University Guide to News Research: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/newsresearch
The Journalist’s Resource (research for journalists): https://journalistsresource.org/
NYU Handbook for Journalism Students: https://journalism.nyu.edu/about-us/resources/ethics-handbook-for-students/nyu-journalism-handbook-for-students/
Language and Journalism
AP Stylebook (style guide for most major news outlets): https://www.apstylebook.com/
IMA's Language Statement (including why we don't always adhere to AP Stylebook): Language Statement
Conference on College Composition and Communication statement on Black Linguistic Justice (with sources for background reading): https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/demand-for-black-linguistic-justice
If you have other questions or want to talk through your story idea with someone, please reach out to us via email. We’d love to talk with you.