Installment+17

South of Denver

Chapter 17 - March 20, 2005

Friday was "maestro" day, our chance to practice packaging a larger topic on a single page. We had briefly discussed the "maestro" coverage approach, building on our earlier survey of alternatives to traditional text and our exploration of giving readers more variety. "Maestro" is not a term most high school students immediately identify with, but many of them have been in choir or in a band, and understand that it takes a good director to get all the parts to mix harmoniously. Once they get the idea that a director is a maestro, they are willing to go with it.

All staff members had been given our Page Planner form the day before, with the assignment to brainstorm a coverage idea that demands expansion, fill in the basic information and bring the form to class.

Even before the bell rang, Megan said, "I've got a great topic here: obesity. Did you know that we will be the first generation to die before our parents?" It turned out that she had read a magazine article on this the night before.

"You mean to die at a younger age than your parents?" I asked. Once we got that straightened out, I mentioned that obesity had been the topic that day on NPR's "Science Friday." Now the entire class was listening. "I heard on the radio today that the epidemic of obesity may take care of our Social Security problems," I said. "They actually were discussing the theory that so many of you will die before age 65 that the country won't have to pay much for your retirement."

That caused a stir, and quite a few disbelieving comments.

The first thing to fill in on our page planner is the story idea for the page, in 25 words or less. Believe it or not, this is not easy. It's not enough to jot down "obesity." That's a rather broad category, with no coverage angle. Eventually Jenna suggested, "Childhood obesity is growing as a problem, and our readers need to know if they are being affected."

It was not entirely satisfying, but since this was basically our chance to model the process, we went with it.

Next on our planner comes the number one question that readers will ask: "Why should I care?" Now the discussion really bogged down.

"We won't live as long," Chelsea said, "if we don't change our eating habits."

"Seriously?" I asked. "Are there any students in our halls who honestly are worried about losing a couple years off their life span? What is the average life span anyway?"

David, of course, had this bit of trivia at his fingertips, seeming very confident that it was 76 years for men and 79 for women. He had no idea why he knew this. David just knows stuff.

The class agreed that none of our readers would care about a vague death some six or seven decades hence. So if fear of death doesn't make readers care, what will it be?

"Look, if we can't come up with an answer to 'why should I care?' there really is no reason to cover this topic," I said. "This is the key to success in journalism. Why should anyone care about obesity?"

Jumbled comments and questions filled the room at this point, with mention of Fast Food Nation and "Super Size Me," and kids they know who work at McDonald's and somebody's great aunt who developed cancer after going on some radical diet (but she's okay now, you'll be glad to know). At some point someone suggested that Jenna actually eat nothing but McDonald's for a week, sort of our own version of the "Super Size Me" experiment.

I said, "At least we would have some sort of actual story to anchor the page."

Perhaps to save herself from this idea, Jenna proposed her own answer to "Why should readers care?" She said, "Eating better will make you happier."

You have to admit, there is a beauty to its simplicity. And who doesn't want to be happier?

As we moved through the form, the class came up with all sorts of short form ideas, from a quiz to ratings of various fast food items by nutritional value, to a Q&A with the head of food service for the school.

Class was coming to an end, and I picked up all the "maestro" ideas the staff had developed. Topics ranged from tanning booths to dysfunctional families to the new SAT. And, of course, several wanted to explore various aspects of sexuality. We'll discuss them some more on Monday, and try to choose two or three for the April 20 issue.

I'm curious about how we will approach these rather sophisticated topics, but I'm glad Megan came up with the obesity topic. It was a good topic to use as a model of the "maestro" approach to coverage. It may even end up making the cut, when all it said and done.

Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part, but we seem to be raising the bar at bit, getting a little closer to the heart of journalism, and that's encouraging.

Jack Kennedy

Rock Canyon High School

Highlands Ranch CO 80124

jkkennedy@comcast.net

jack.kennedy@dcsdk12.org

Note: This is part of a series of columns on working with a completely untrained staff. It is cryptotherapy for me. It may occasionally provide something positive for you. It's all uncharted territory, that's for sure.