Journalism is storytelling with a great purpose: to inform the citizens. Articles are more than lists of important information. As Elements says, for the world of journalism to survive they must make the “significant interesting and relevant.” The quality of the work is measured by how much it informs and captures the audience, and if it inspires them to act.
It is important, though, to not cover fluffy stories for the sake of entertainment. I really like this quote from the Project for Excellence in Journalism: “while journalism should reach beyond such topics as government and public safety, a journalism overwhelmed by trivia and false significance ultimately engenders a trivial society.”
So how do we tell engaging stories that will accomplish those goals? Follow some of the guidelines of creative non-fiction (which is also called literary journalism)! This instructable gives excellent advice, and this magazine publishes several great examples.
Journalists need to be good storytellers. Learn how to hook your audience and how to tell a story without fluff.
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