Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Research For Your Feature Story


Now to your own research for feature story 1. To continue the metaphor we were discussing in class today (thanks to Doug!), good research is a little like good teaching or a fine performance: the audience should instinctively know and appreciate the effort that went into it, but it should be such a seamless part of your story that they don't see the "wires" showing. A good feature story has a broad range of research, from first person observation to personal interviews, to on-line searches (with the precautions discussed in class today), background reading of stories that have been done in other publications or media on the same subject or issue. The goal is to know what else has been written about your subject before it became your subject. With that in mind, before Thursday's class post on this blog under "comment" a two sentence description explaining your story and its intended audience. Below that, list the sources of research you propose to do in support of telling that story. It could include people you are going to interview, articles you propose to read, websites you intend to use, books, magazines, audio or video archives, studies--anything that will help make your story more compelling.

15 comments:

  1. I hope to target individuals interested in positive results of the Midtown re-development projects.

    My story will travel from opening day at the Royal theatre in 1948, to the current day activities, focusing on the people and the climate of the eras.

    Research:

    I will interview Connie William who went to the Royal as a child. I also will interview several current employees of the Royal Theatre, Herbert Murphy and Anthony Ricks.

    I will use the St. Petersburg Times archives to find some historical data on the theatre. I will also use Google to search the segregation practices of the era and try to incorporate them into my story.

    A.L. Covell

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  2. My story will target women between the ages of 18 and 35.
    It will focus on the life of Jessica Jones, a 17-year-old fashion designer from Minneapolis.
    For the research I will talk to her, some of the people who have bought her clothes, I'll look for a teacher, principal or advisor who knows of her work and her mother to know more about how she developed this taste for making clothes.
    I will also use the website wwd.com (Women's Wear Daily- sort of the New York Times of fashion) and cfda.com (Council of Fashion Designers in America) to find out more about the industry and how unique she is in comparison.

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  3. My intended audience ranges from citizens of the local area (St. Petersburg and surrounding) as well as avid sports fans, particularly baseball. I plan to interview many of the regular customers who have been there to witness the changes Ferg's Sports Bar has undergone, as well as new customers, Mark Ferguson, the owner himself, and research articles such as the following.

    I'd also like to throw in a few reasons as to why Ferg's blew up and has survived despite the economic hard times, while others crashed.

    http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1588296651.html?FMT=FT&dids=1588296651:1588296651&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+02%2C+2008&author=MATT+ALBUCHER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=FERG%27S+TO+LET+FANS+LIFT+MUGS+TO+RAYS

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  4. Greg Lindberg

    My story is on game show contestants, what drives people to be on a game show, and what the whole experience is like. I will have a broad audience since people of all ages and demographics appear on and watch game shows. But I will try to tie the story to the Tampa Bay area and interview a few locals who have been on game shows.

    Possible sources:

    - Brad Abbey, a 28-year-old from Tampa who appeared on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”

    - Will Capp, a 41-year-old USF graduate student who appeared on “Millionaire”

    - Bev Pomerantz, a casting producer for Fox and the Game Show Network

    - Story from the St. Petersburg Times on Abbey’s appearance on the show: http://www.tampabay.com/features/article1026481.ece

    - Story from the Tampa Tribune on Capp’s appearance on the show: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/sep/08/tampa-man-wins-25000-millionaire/news-breaking/

    - Story from USA Today on unemployed people going on game shows: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-08-16-game-show-economy_N.htm

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  5. Im writing a feature story about Derrick Kirce, basketball coach at Booker High and a local legend...led school to five state titles, including one as a coach in 2006....but it is his life inbetween these rings that makes him a hero for anyone who dawns purple and gold at Booker.
    Target audience includes current high school/college athletes as well as former players, coaches, etc.
    This article will also explore the history of Booker High as a former racially segregated school...
    I will interview with former mayor Fred Atkins, Sarasota's first African-American mayor
    Also conduct interviews with former Booker coaches, players, as well as athletic director and football coach Fred Gilmore.
    I'll also look on line for history of the school and city as well as in the Herald-Tribune or Booker High archives...

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  6. Andrew Silverstein

    I'm doing a story on the nationwide, independent cupcake shop craze with a local focus on The Cupcake Spot in downtown. My intended audience is the USFSP student body. A story on a purveyor of something almost universally adored like cupcakes as well as The Cupcake Spot's close proximity to campus seems fitting for this audience.

    Sources:

    Owner, Nicole Rogers Longo

    Possibly a die-hard customer/cupcake lover if I can find one.

    "Will Cupcakes Be the Next Krispy Kreme?" NYT article. Good comparison to Krispy Kreme in regards to the future of the industry.

    "The Cupcake Abides" L.A Times article. A good overview of the entire trend.

    "Small Biz 101: How to Start a Cupcake Shop" Mainstream.com article. Covers the business aspect of the trend.

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  7. Captain Memo's pirate cruise has been a part of Clearwater Beach for years. After researching I have not found much information about the business, or the man behind the business. Florida has an interest in pirates. According to Piratefestival.com, there are 16 pirate festivals ever year in Florida. We have more than California! I want to dig deeper to expose who Captain Memo is, where he came from, the journey he has been on and what his plans are for the future.

    The intended audience for my story is the general public. I want it to appeal to people who live in the area and to those who visit.

    Research:
    The St. Pete Times and the Tampa Tribune archives.
    Captain Memo: The Pirate (a book)
    Books on the history of pirates in the area

    Interviews:
    Captain Memo
    Panama Pam (his wife)
    Employees
    Surrounding businesses (Crabby Bills ect.)
    Tourists who have been on the cruise
    Locals

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  8. My story is on the overwhelming new trend of abandoning the job hunt to go back to school for a master's degree, leaving America with way too many people of this generation with little practical work experience and too much textbook knowledge. The school system should start the specialization characteristic of higher education in earlier years. My intended audience is my generation and educators.

    Sources:

    Rachel LoBianco, 22-year-old part-time student and bartender

    Melissa Labiak, recent USF graduate with bachelor's who moved back to return to school after the job hunt

    Coleen Roberts, educator for 35 years with Ph.D in psychology and had son in college preparatory K-12 school

    Council of Graduate Schools' Office of Research and Policy Analysis

    Association of American Medical Colleges

    National Center for Education

    Any other articles, studies, students, etc. lamenting about the same trend and possible differences of opinion on what to do about it

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  9. My story will cover Florida's "Python Plague" as well as some of the people whose jobs are to eradicate the species from South Florida. A lot has been said about the topic in recent months, but I hope to add a new spin on it and find out what a python hunt entails, how these people got into the "business" of hunting the pythons, and what they do on a normal day.

    My goal for this story is to write it so it appeals to almost everybody. Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and various shows about sharks, snakes and crocodilians seem to capture people's minds because they are about animals that could, potentially, kill us. Humans fear them, but there's still an odd fascination with them, so I hope that I can bring enough of that to the article to make it appeal to almost everybody. Even people that can't stand snakes may like it since they're killing off the pythons :) We'll see how well my efforts work, though.

    Sources:

    Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) - I've already formed good relationships with the FWC over the summer when I had to talk to them almost weekly about a python story.

    FWC Python Control Task Force - I may have access to a ride-along on a hunt, but even interviewing these 7 people (and perhaps a few family members) would help.

    People that frequent the Everglades - Air Boat drivers, park officials, etc.

    Nuisance Animal Trappers - How often do they get calls from neighborhoods bordering the Everglades?

    Various textbooks (and an Animal Planet documentary) about Burmese pythons.

    Florida herpetologists - One professor from U of Miami called the station to say that there can't be more than 1,000 pythons in the Everglades. It would be nice to have his theories of why there are so few and his reactions to what many news stations have called a "crisis."

    Various reporters in the Tampa Bay area that have reported on the MANY python stories that aired over the summer. Perhaps this isn't so much a story about the pythons, but more a story about how anytime the word "python" was mentioned, the media would flip out and run it as a headline story????

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  10. My story is based on an interview I've done last week with the Marketing coordinator of ASAP - Aids Service Association of Pinellas. He showed me around and all services they provide in Pinellas. I realized that's an important subject to talk about after he told me Tampa Bay is the 17th area most affected by HIV.

    After my visit, I brought with me many publications targeting the specific public with HIV... The name of the publications were, for example, "HIV Plus" and "HIV Positive!" discussing many issues that are not in the general public daly lives.

    The interview prepared me to the AIDS Walk that's happening this Saturday. I hope I'll meet some intersting sources that will illustrate me the whole situation of HIV in the area and how it's like to be in this universe.

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  11. My story will cover St. Pete Beach's "Free Beach Rides", attracting people of all ages throughout Pinellas county. This electric car service is a free ride along St. Pete Beach, in and around the island of Vina Del Mar and Pass-a-Grille, accepting "tips only".

    I will interview
    the owner (Dave)
    "Free Beach Ride" patrons

    I will research electric cars including:
    cities they are popular in
    cost/savings
    how long batteries last/take to charge
    drinking and driving stats related to people taking electric cars and/or cabs as an alternative

    "Making Way for Electric Cars" - NYT
    Who Killed the Electric Car? - DVD Documentary
    Plugged In;
    Can Elon Musk lead the way to an electric-car future? - The New Yorker

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  12. My story is about the connection between women and their shoes. It will be geared toward a female audience but hopefully will grab the attention of males as well.

    Research:
    Local women in various shoe stores and shoe departments in the area.
    -Marilyn Milbrandt (500+ pairs of shoes)

    I also want to talk to people in the shoe industry.
    -Jack H. Minuk, Nordstrom, Executive Vice President, General Merchandise Manager, Shoe Division. (Also, Nordstrom history-started as a Seattle shoe store)
    -PR/press email: zappos, dsw, piperlime

    Statistical information from American Apparel and Footwear Association, The US Census

    Books and Magazine Articles
    -Manolo Blahnik drawings (quotes from fashionistas)
    -Rebecca Miller, What Your Shoes Reveal About You, Harper's Bazaar, October 2007

    Designer Histories
    -Manolo Blahnik
    -Christian Louboutin
    -Steve Madden
    -Stuart Weitzman

    Cinderella & the glass slipper history
    -AC Cinderella's Glass Slipper

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  13. My story will explore the impact of Coach Antoine "Tony" Damouny, a "legend at St. Paul Catholic School. I will explore why he is so memorable and why he is the kind of coach people wouldn't find today. I think my story is geared toward a general audience. Everyone knows someone like Coach Damouny.
    Research...
    The St. Petersburg Times Archives (2 stories in the Neighborhood Times)
    Intereview with his wife, Bette Damouny
    Intereview with St. Paul Catholic English Teacher Marijon Reed, who worked with Coach Damouny for over 20 years
    Interview with former students (two scheduled so far)
    Visisting St. Paul School in order to reconstruct the scene
    Seraching through old yearbooks to create physical description.

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  14. I want to give an insight on on-line dating, the "new" newspaper classified dating service. I'll be covering the general information, statistics, people's motivations, pros & cons, successes and failures of dating on-line. How exactly does this affect the "normal" dating system (in person)?
    My target audience will be internet users. Well, I mostly wish to remove the bias of those who think dating on-line is a "loser's way to date." You'll be surprised at some of the success stories I heard. Respectively, I wish to warn users about "stalkers."
    Research:
    - Local couples who tried dating on-line: their inputs, stories, motivations, advice
    - Representatives from famous dating websites: eHarmony.com, Match.com: statistics, what they offer on their monthly subscriptions, what do they think draws users to date on-line
    - "Dating Doctors/Professionals" : their input on on-line dating
    - On-line games: an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), MapleStory, offers in-game marriage to those who play. (Truth be told!) --- most likely I'll interview "couples" there, assumingly I'll find a decent, mature couple.
    - I'll try any other dating magazines and search from there.

    Although it's a bit broad at the moment, I'm searching for the couples and magazines this weekend. I already emailed an eHarmony.com and Match.com representative.

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  15. My first story will profile artist and glass blower, Josh Poll. He owns a glass-blowing studio in Midtown, St. Petersburg, so my intended audience will be students, artists and people in the Tampa Bay area.

    For research, I'll be interviewing Josh, as well as interviewing maybe his wife, other Saturday Morning Market vendors, other people making a living with their art.

    Also I'll conduct a Lexis Nexis search to see what else has been written about Josh or glass-blowing.

    For supporting information, I'll research what kinds of numbers are behind glass-bloqing as a business. How things are priced, how many pieces they need to sell to pay the bills and what kind of competition is currently in the area. I'd like to see if I can compare the industry of glass blowing to other art forms' industries.

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