Chapter 3:

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Strong Angles

and

Focused Ideas

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By Corinne Coleman

MMA 350

SPRING 2020

Chapter 3 KEY POINTS

• Big Problem: broad ideas

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• Summarize your story idea in a single sentence

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• Characteristics of a focused angle

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• How to know whether your topic is to broad

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• How to narrow your topic

Broad Ideas

Broad

Idea

Angle #3

Angle #2

Angle #1

Angle #4

Saving

Time

How to do everything faster

How to go home early

Outsourcing

Home cooking

Cut down on phone calls

Single Sentence = Tighter Angle

1. Losing Weight

- Teacher Tells How She Lost 100 Pounds

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• Quitting Smoking
• Can Hypnotism Help You Quit the Habit?

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• Traveling on a Budget

- Five Ways to Find Cheap Hotels and Overnight Lodging

How to Know if the Topic is too Broad?

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NO

VERBS

From Broad to Narrow

Online Banking = “Do Online Banks Facilitate Fraud?”

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International Scams = “Former Georgia Congressman

Duped by Nigerian Scams”

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Emails = “Phishing Scams: The Latest E-mail Scam

Targets Walmart Executives”

How to Narrow the Topic

• News Peg
• Anniversary of historical event

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• Nationalize the Topic
• Localize national story

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• Decide what you want to know
• If you do not know, readers may not know

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How to Narrow the Topic

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• Find a Unique Source
• Who do you know?
• Who do they know?
• And what do they know?

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• Use the Funnel of Focus
• Developed by Dr. Gerald Grow, Newsroom 101, FAMU
• Created an exercise to narrow topic

Class Participation:

Funnel of Focus

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1. Topic Big Enough to Fill a Library.

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• Topic big enough to fill a book.

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• Theme topic for one issue of a HBCU magazine?

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• A single article in that same magazine.

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• Another article in the same magazine.

Chapter 3 Summary

• A strong angle, summed up in one sentence

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• Angle Tree

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• Funnel of Focus

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• News Peg

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• Nationalize Topic

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• Unique Source

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