Writing for New Media

Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Hallman Jr. came away from a dinner conversation with an editor and offered advice for those trying to break into or move ahead in journalism. At the top of the list, he writes in Quill magazine, is the ability to tell compelling stories:

Despite the changes sweeping our industry, it’s critical that we don’t forget that the foundation of this business remains storytelling, no matter how we do it: video, online or print....

What is a story? If you don’t know the answer, start learning and be able to define it succinctly. How do you focus a story? How is reporting for a story different than reporting a news article? What is the point of the story? If you can’t answer those questions, you likely won’t make that first cut....

A story takes readers on a journey. The mysteries, questions and answers are revealed throughout that journey. Putting it together requires in-depth thinking at each stage of the process: reporting, structuring and writing. The story doesn’t rise and fall on the writing, although that’s obviously important, but with the thought behind the story.