Profiles Decide what makes this person Newsworthy Find
- Slides: 6
Profiles • • • Decide what makes this person Newsworthy Find Patterns in person’s life and personality Find the Turning points of their life Find out about what their future may be Why does this person deserve a profile?
Profiles • Basic Structure: • FOCUS – Newsworthiness of the person, why you are writing about them – This is revealed in the Nut Graf of the story • THEME – Angle of the story, i. e. , the person’s struggle to overcome an obstacle • BACKGROUND – Start the story, then tell it in chronological order, leading to a climax, then write about their future, typically with quote
Profiles • First paragraphs are organized similar to a standard feature story (can be 4 -5 paragraphs): • • Lead paragraph Background paragraph Nut Graf Quote
Profiles • Stay focused on what you decide the story is about • Basically have a lead section, body, ending • Use Time to your advantage – you can start in the past, go to the present, or vise versa, then switch to present
Sample Profile The Understudy Takes the Stage at Apple By MIGUEL HELFT, New York Times (Lead) On an 18 -hour flight from California to Singapore a few years ago, Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, had little time for small talk with a colleague. Glued to his business class seat, Mr. Cook had his nose in spreadsheets, preparing for a thorough review of Apple’s Asian operations. (Background) The two landed at 6 a. m. , took time to shower and headed into a meeting with Apple’s local executives. Twelve hours later, and well past dinnertime, the local executives were ready to call it quits. . “They were absolutely exhausted, ” said Michael Janes, the Apple executive who accompanied Mr. Cook. “Tim was not. He was ready to jump to the next slide and the next slide after that. He is absolutely relentless. ” (NUT GRAF) That relentlessness could be indispensable in the months ahead, because Mr. Cook may be tested as never before. He has been charged with running Apple’s day-to-day operations while his boss, Steven P. Jobs, the company’s visionary chief executive, is on medical leave.
