ABSTRACT
As Mrs Beaton might have it: first find your story. No newspaper or news bulletin would sell without stories and it is the reporter’s job to find them. Much news can be anticipated and is the routine of daily life. These diary stories are tracked by the newsdesk and allocated to the reporter. These can be anything from a flower show to a United Nations press conference. Whatever the event, they all share one thing in common – someone wants you to cover the event and print stories about it. The flower show organiser wants local people to know about the show and its winners, the United Nations conference is to tell the world of some new initiative and enhance the reputation of the UN. Stories that are not pre-ordained are often more interesting. The off-diary story is one discovered by the reporter on his/her own initiative and is often a story someone somewhere doesn’t want covered, whether it is the Hamiltons’ stay in the Paris Ritz, or the local mayor’s illegal drug habit. Diary stories are the bread and butter of most local newspapers and radio stations – but it is the off-diary story that interests the good reporter and it is a mark of status within the newsroom to be taken off the diary and allowed to work completely on one’s own initiative.
