LET’S MAKE A PLAN
Templates and planning for news, before it happens
Breaking news shouldn't be like this.
Kim Bui, Arizona Republic
Chris Amico, Storytelling Studio, Gannett
TO DO THIS, YOUR NEWSROOM MUST HAVE A BREAKING NEWS PLAN
…or an election plan …or a weather plan…
Define what kinds of stories you repeat often
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF TEMPLATES:
We’re talking about both, and you should have both.
These are helpful, too.
01 SHARED SOURCE LISTS
02 A PHONE TREE
04 TRAINING
05 SHARED TRAUMA RESPONSE
03 STAFF DIRECTORY
06 A REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Phone numbers. Emails. Sharing means you can not be bothered on vacation.
Who you gonna call?
Collect docs and recordings for later.
How will you back your staff up when they need you most?
Where does everyone live?
How will you communicate and where?
Coverage tiers
Know when to panic about what.
Know who is necessary (and who is not).
Know what template to use when.
If your newsroom is like mine and people are possibly *too* helpful, this helps align roles, needs, and shifts (if you need them).
Think of your templates as a choose your own adventure.
And how much to panic. It’s a great exercise and a sneaky way to do a retrospective of past news.
This is where you section ends. Duplicate this set of slides as many times you need to go over all your sections.
BREAKING NEWS TIERS
Those tiers you defined earlier?
Write them down.
Share them.
You know it's coming
Can you put it on the calendar?
It'll happen … sometime.
There's a season.
Make the earthquake kit. Pre-write the obit. Have as much ready as you can.
Wildfires and hurricanes happen every year. So do sports. Don't be surprised.
Put it on the calendar. Elections, start of school, homicide trials.
CONTEXT LINES
Context lines are the lines you will use every time.
Resources.
Trust lines.
Background context.
What we know,
What we don’t
What is your prep?
What components can you have ready?
Tools you might need
Locator maps
Timelines
Charts
Schematics
Social graphics
How do you show people where something happened? Think wide, medium & tight.
How will you show chronology? When in doubt, use subheads.
Common airplanes, weapons, military vehicles. These feed graphics frequently. Have a library.
For all these types, have a plan to put versions on Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Know how to make them and get them onto the website.
Where are these templates I was promised?
There are many kinds of alternate story forms.
Make examples, and make sure they actually solve questions and are *easy* to create.
There is no point in creating templates if there’s no use case.
Technology is rarely the solution to information needs in a crisis
Now you try.
An early wildfire
Small chemical spill
A famous person dies
An earthquake
Protest turns violent
Political scandal
Someone sent a photo they should not have.
Say a wildfire starts in your region a month before “typical” wildfire season begins.
You hear about it on Twitter, verify it via the fire department.
It’s a 6.5. Big, but not The Big One.
It was supposed to be a small thing on a recent police shooting, but now the tear gas is out.
A celebrity with a tie to your community/niche.
Some questions to consider
What if an editor is on vacation?
When do you send that reporter home?
What can you get ready?
What does Day One staffing look like? Day 15?
Who will be support?
What is the flow chart and strategy?
Do you have opportunity gaps?
What can you re-use from other projects?
Who edits non-story assets?
THANK YOU!
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
@kimbui
Kim.bui@azcentral.com
@eyeseast
camico@gannett.com
GIFs from The Bear via Makin' Sandwiches: https://heardchef.tumblr.com