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CHAPTER 10 Alternatives to the Inverted Pyramid
Overview
This chapter replaces the section on feature writing found in other textbooks. Our title and
approach are different because we believe the story organizations discussed here
chronology, news narrative and focus structure apply to all stories, not just features. While
the inverted pyramid remains the basic vehicle for conveying news, alternative story
organizations are being used more frequently. We also are dealing here not just with leads,
Teaching Tips
If students are having difficulty with alternative story structures, ask them to write just the
opening of several stories so they can concentrate on the anecdote or scenic opening, the
theme paragraph and the transition to the body of the story. Once these steps are mastered,
students can then work on polishing their writing skills. Stude
You might consider asking students to purchase or borrow an anthology that includes the
kinds of newspaper stories we describe here. The Best American series, for example, includes
annual titles on sports writing, travel writing, science and nature writing, and crime reporting.
The annual Best Newspaper Writing from Poynter and the American Society of News Editors
Lecture Notes
I. INTRODUCTION
A. –year hunt for her
lost 5-year-old son; written like a nov
II. CHRONOLOGY
A. Works best with complications or tension; needs a resolution worth waiting for.
B. Where to start
1. Look for the key moment.
2. Recording a timeline can help.
C. A sample outline.
D.
1. not the first
paragraph.
2. The nut paragraph defines story and foreshadows tension or conflict.
3.
E. The ending needs to be strong; readers want to know the conclusion of the story.
III. NEWS NARRATIVE
A. Combines inverted pyramid and chronology.
B. Basic elements:
1. An opening with interesting scene or twist to tease the story.
2. A traditional news lead.
3. Brief paragraphs to help reader understanding.
4. A transition back to the beginning to tell the chronological story.
IV. FOCUS STRUCTURE
A. Focuses on an individual to help tell a more meaningful larger story.
B. Writing the lead focus on one person in an anecdote.
C. Writing the setup.
2. Foreshadowing
with the story.
3. the impact, the relevance to readers; can be linked to the theme.
4. the other side of the story.
D. Writing the body use frequent examples and anecdotes, mix exposition with
narrative.
E. Writing the ending.
1. One option is the tie-back, a reference to something that opened the story.
2. An anecdote, dialogue, a scene, a good quote can all end the story.
3. The ending needs to be constructed.
V. SERVICE JOURNALISM
A. Provides information readers need to act on the story; much can go in sidebars, lists,
boxes.
VI. EVOLVING STORY FORMS STRUCTURED JOURNALISM
A. The ubiquity of smartphones is forcing news companies to try new ways to reach
consumers.
B. Structured journalism breaking information into bits and pieces and short bursts.
1. Play-by-play blogging.
2. Enhanced captions.
3. Q and A
Class Activities and Discussion Questions
Activity 1: If you have access to a computer lab and the Internet, have students go to the
website for the American Society of News Editors (www.asne.org) and find the annual list of
ASNE Award winners for deadline and non-deadline writing (among other categories). (Click
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writer used and highlight the elements of the setup and any anecdotes and dialogue. Students
should be prepared to summarize the story for the class. Discussion questions: What is the
Activity 2: Make copies of three to five different stories that use the standard inverted
pyramid structure. Give the students each a copy of one story, and allow them 10 minutes or
so to create a news narrative opening for the story. Then have all the students who worked on
the same story form a group to share their news narrative opening. Each group should decide
Activity 3: Take the stories from activity 2 and ask the student groups to turn them into
structured journalism play–by-play blogging, enhanced captions or Q and A s. Discussion
questions: Which structure works best for your story? Why? What was the most challenging
aspect of reducing a traditional news story to its bits and pieces?
Activity 4: Find at least one story for each of the structures described in the chapter
chronological, news narrative (news and narrative emphasis) and focus. (The annual
t Newspaper Writing compilation is a terrific source for these kinds of stories.)
Divide your students into groups of five or six, and give each student in the group a copy of
What is the overall impact of the story? Would the story be more effective if structured
differently?
Activity 5: Give students copies of three or four stories that use the standard inverted
pyramid structure. Ask students to work in pairs to brainstorm service journalism elements
that could have been included in the stories. (For example, a straight news story on a decline
in the stock market might include a sidebar or list featuring investment ideas for the current
market. A story about a house fire might include information about how to avoid a house fire
Activity 6:
just reappears year after year after year. Put students in groups, and assign them a recurring
newspaper story; they must come up with a complete list of story ideas, including appropriate
service journalism elements. Some possible topics:
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Solutions to Textbook Exercises
1. a. The nut graph is the fourth paragraph: “Ariana and Justice are in limbo, stuck in the fos–
ter care system.” After the anecdotal lead about the struggles Ariana and Justice have suffered
since their birth, this paragraph tells readers what the story is really going to be about — chil-
dren stuck in foster care and how they do despite their challenges.
1b. Foreshadowing — Ariana‘s life as a young child is a mess not of her own making, and she
needs some help — is sprinkled throughout the first three paragraphs: Ariana‘s father has nev-
er spoken to her, he punched a hospital wall when she was born, he eventually left the coun-
1c. The writer gives Ariana a sense of person in the last four paragraphs –– Ariana still loves
her mom and family. Initially, she was a hopeless case who fought every rule and quit in the
face of every challenge at school. But last summer, “she discovered horse riding and, from
there, football, cheerleading, quiz bowl and competitive cheer. And she found hope.” She
what to do about that.” The writer’s focus on developing a sense of person helps readers un-
derstand that Ariana might be trapped in the foster care system, but she’s also made great
progress.
2. After an extended narrative lead describing the various troubles with gangs, drugs and
crime in Camden, New Jersey, author Kathy Dobie wrote this short paragraph:
And Bryan Morton? He had an idea:
That s the nut graph.
Later, Dobie wrote:
For Bryan, baseball is a multipurpose tool: It can unify the neighborhood, and it
pits the diamond against the corner. Since the dealers recruit kids at about the
-of-war for the souls of these 12–
year-olds, some of whose parents are out there slinging, too. Look, Bryan
says, we can all agree on children, you know? That they should be free to be
3. Your journalism blog. Often, students will choose the same scene. You may even assign
them to write about such a scene or event that occurred in class. It is useful to read the
stories aloud in class and compare them. Also, it is useful to read or distribute them to the
class as an accuracy check.
4. Students have a tendency to focus too broadly on this assignment. They need to zero in on
a specific experience. What they leave out is at least as important as what they include.
5. Try to choose a well-known faculty member, but you can also have students focus on you
for this exercise.
6. It might be valuable to accompany your students on a visit to a notable campus site.
7. As the chapter indicates, almost every story has aspects of service journalism. A city
council advance? Pull out the time, date and place of the meeting. Perhaps you could also
Solutions to Workbook Exercises
1. In our experience, all writers use some kind of planning device to develop structure for
their story before they begin to write. It might be a traditional outline, a Venn diagram or
2. key component of the focus structure. This exercise will
complexities and zero in on the specific focus area of the story.
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3. This exercise is an extension of exercise 2. Perhaps the most important part of a story,
after the lead, is the conclusion. This exercise will allow students to identify and evaluate
a variety of techniques for bringing alternative stories to a close.
4. This exercise will allow student to see real-world examples of structured journalism that
are increasingly appearing on mobile apps for smartphones.
5. a.
b. Focus using scene re-creation. The transition is the first sentence in the theme
e
c. Focus using anecdotal opening. The transition, a weak one, is the introduction to the
also part of the theme.
6. Students can find foreshadowing often in The Wall Street Journal and frequently in The
Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. You can also send students to
the American Society of News Editors website (www.asne.org) to look up award winners
7.
paragraph of this excerpt. This position works because the preceding paragraphs say the
same thin
8. Students will find appropriate examples in the newspapers listed in the answer to exercise
6. Again, have students submit their examples with citations so you can compile a
collection of them.
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9. You may want to tell students that they can add details to round out the scene or anecdote.
They should take the story through the transition into the main story. Here is one
approach:
Pete Stenhoff was a physically fit, 210-pound linebacker for Chula Vista High School
walked since. Medics that night rushed Stenhoff to the hospital, where he learned he
had cracked vertebrae.
10. Sample story:
Bill Klisch, a 51-year-old autoworker, walked slowly to the cadence of a muffled
drum. With him were 49 other workers, their wives and children.
Klisch and 44,000 others who had been laid off from Chrysler will receive their last
supplemental unemployment checks next week. Those checks have been providing
them with 95 percent of what they had been earning at Chrysler. With the supplement
Chrysler laid off the workers five months ago. After next week, they will have to
Westoff, 44.
11. The news narrative requires a news lead that gives way to the feature. Here is one way to
start:
Fifty laid-off Chrysler workers staged a mock funeral (date) to protest the end of their
supplemental unemployment pay.
Those checks have been providing 44,000 former employees with 95 percent of
what they had been earning. Next week marks the final week of the payments.
12. This is how United Press International began the story:
When Lillian Garland had a baby five years ago, she set off a legal battle with long-
term repercussions for working mothers.
One of 55 million working women in this country, Garland went to court when her
employer, California Federal Savings & Loan, refused to reinstate her at the end of her
pregnancy leave.
13. You can change the direction of this assignment or give students options about the theme.
For instance, you might tell them to write a story about their most memorable high school
experience or their most embarrassing moment in college.
14.
15. This exercise can provide the basis for a class discussion. You might have students turn in
their anecdotes before class so that you can copy them, or ask students to email their
anecdotes to you so you can project them from your computer.
16. To make this exercise more useful, search the Web for an agenda for a local council or
school board meeting. An advance story is usable if it tells readers when and where the
meeting is. If possible, a story should offer phone numbers and/or email addresses for the
council members so that readers can express their views before the vote. If there is a
specific time on the agenda for public comment, the story should publish that information.
You will be paying about $2 more a month for your garbage, water and sewer service
if the City Council approves a proposal (date).
17. This exercise can spark a good group or class discussion. You should get a variety of
suggestions:
A map with a route and numbered locations for paying fees, getting a student ID,
registering for classes, buying books and supplies, and so on.
Another map showing recreation locations.
A list of important telephone numbers.
CHALLENGE EXERCISE
18. To re-create the scene, the writer uses present tense to give a sense of immediacy and to
take the reader into the barn to witness the cockfight. He chooses to describe the action
section, which is where the readers would be if they were there. The