Deadline Tips from a Municipal Reporter

By Stephanie Costantino

Upon reading the profile of Ross Markman in Newswriting On Deadline, I found out many interesting things about being a municipal reporter. It is apparent to me, after reading this article that it is important to be on top of things when writing a piece given a deadline. 

In one instance, Markman said he was able to write a story in 30 minutes, due to the fact that he had done research in advance. I think that it is definitely a good idea to have done some sort of prior research before covering any event or story, because if you are looking to conduct an interview or ask any sort of questions, you are already familiar with the situation and know the types of questions, and responses, you want to ask/hear in advance. 

Also in the article, Markman talks about deciding what’s newsworthy when dealing with multiple topics of interest. He says that “the more people affected by an issue, the bigger the story,” and I agree with this statement. If more people are passionate about a topic or issue, and that issue is published in a newspaper, more people will buy that paper because they will be interested, and in return this makes for good business for the newspaper company.

Markman’s article is about a topic that people in the area were passionate about. The people of the town as well as the storeowners were concerned with the fact that people were exceeding the parking limit. In Markman’s article, he discusses the opinions of the Mayor, and some storeowners. He also included in his article of the fact that some of the storeowners who complained to the mayor did not even attend the council meeting. I think that this was a good point to add because it shows that not everybody was represented, and even though they cared enough to complain over the phone, they couldn’t be bothered to come to the meeting to discuss what could be done.