Monday 5 January 2009

Never underestimate a small story

In a tiny little city like Perth, no local news story is ousted because it’s ‘too small’. That would be like the equivalent of a national station leaving out fillers like vox pops, showbiz stories or on a bad news day, stories about interesting weddings.

In fact, interesting wedding stories hit my lead story sometimes, and that can be on a good day.

Common stories for me to cover are missing people, the future of the City Hall, the duelling of the A9 and the plight of endangered wildlife in the area (e.g. squirrels, wildcats).

I have a list of contacts that I pester on a weekly basis to come in for a two-minute interview regarding something really mundane, like the closure of a shop or the state of the doors on a building in town.

My best stories have been pretty insignificant. Armed robberies, pensioners driving over dogs and my personal favourite (see previous blog) Kate Adie visits Perth.

When someone famous visits, it’s a good news day.

Next time you tune in to the radio, hear a story about a charity asking for donations, don’t tut and say “that’s not a news story!” because by god it is, when nothing else is happening.

At least I didn’t cover the story that featured on the front page of the local rag: ‘Woman gets parking ticket.’

1 comment:

Chris Ratcliffe said...

"So do they like duel like in medieval times on the A9 with lances and stuff?"