Sunday, October 5, 2008
Wheat Production
In this article from the Associated Press, the author wrote the story about increased wheat yields in North Dakota and South Dakota. The beginning was not really effective for me because a lot of numbers were thrown out very early in the article. At the beginning, the cause for these increased yields was not even mentioned. Toward the end of the article it was finally mentioned that the success was thanks to well-timed rains, but the beginning was quite confusing with statistics that wouldn't mean much to anyone but maybe a reader local to the area. The quotes were useful and supported the story well.
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2 comments:
I suppose I'm as guilty of this as anyone else. I did commodities reporting over the summer, and there's a real tendency to just write for a select audience. My editors told me to kick that mentality right away. What about a novice who wants to get into commodities trading? What if he's looking to his local newspaper to make sense of the markets? Throwing a bunch of numbers at him without context is not going to help. If you're at a newspaper or wire service, you need to write for a broader audience. Never assume that everyone who reads your stuff already has an extensive background in your topic.
I'm having trouble finding the articles to which you refer.
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