8. NOT “SMART STUFF”
Jason Momoa Appreciation Day = 32M views Magnetic Mask Review = 4M viewsLittle Girl DIY Haircut = 40M views
9. “SMART STUFF”
The Story of First Black Woman to Run for President = 17M Meet Tara Houska, Bernie Sanders’s Native American Adviser = 5M
The Sentences of 2 College Athletes Proves Broken Justice System = 12MClaire Wineland on How to Live While You’re Dying = 12M
10. SO WHAT IS “SMART STUFF?” …
● Hard News
● Politics & Election Coverage
● Legal Cases Relevant to Young Women
● Educational Information
● The “Science of” Trends
● Historical Context to Current Events/Trends
● Statistics Important to Young People
● Controversial Topics
And How Do You Make It Entertaining?
13. OUTRAGE
EVOKE AN EMOTIONAL REACTION
Consider why you would share this story with others. To start, when you
were researching the topic, how did it make you feel?
Emotions that drive our biggest shares and engagements:
We let the women of soccer spark outrage about
how much less money women make than men.
With told the story of a hairstylist who is helping
women with cancer feel beautiful to empower women
to feel good about themselves.
With used a map of the millennial vote
following the election to help a hopeless
generation feel ok.
EMPOWERMENT INSPIRATION / HOPE
14. TELL A PARALLEL STORY
MEET TARA HOUSKA, BERNIE SANDERS’S
NATIVE AMERICAN ADVISER
With young people rallying around Bernie Sanders’s
campaign, we decided to highlight some of the young
women who weren’t getting a lot of coverage
THE PRICE OF HAVING BIG BOOBS
With the tampon tax sparking outrage among
young women, we also considered: is there a
female:female cost difference, too?
When there’s a lot of curiosity around the topic, is there another story
to tell in the same genre that hasn’t been told yet?
15. SHARE NEW, OBSCURE FACTS
Share fascinating facts or assets that are really obscure/unknown:
LOVE BEER? YOU CAN THANK WOMEN
FOR THAT!
With features on female entrepreneurs on the rise,
we asked ourselves: what women throughout
history invented things we may use everyday?
YES, UNICORNS DID REALLY EXIST. . .
BUT NOT EXACTLY LIKE IN THE FAIRY
TALES
When the unicorn-everything trend took over nearly
every lifestyle category. . . we thought there’s gotta be
more to it than rainbow desserts and pool floaties
16. TARGET A PASSIONATE IDENTITY GROUP
Is there an identity we can capture or a specific group of people we can speak to?
Is this a good excuse to cover a celebrity, brand, or show with a passionate online fanbase?
SIMONE BILES’S ADOPTION STORY
WILL BRING YOU TO TEARS
Just when you thought you knew everything about
Team USA’s newest Olympics darling. . .
9 REASONS ALL FIRST GEN KIDS SEE
THEMSELVES IN AZIZ ANSARI
Capitalizing off of the buzz of Aziz’s new show, a first-
gen reporter at PS identified a topic she could relate
to
17. DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE A STAND!
Build a sense of community by not being afraid to take a stand on a controversial topic:
HILARY DUFF SHOULDN’T HAVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR
KISSING HER SON ON THE LIPS
20. THERE’S ALWAYS MORE TO IT THAN YOU THINK
Is this trending topic part of a larger theme that our audience responds to?
● Consider what everyone else is covering,
and try to pivot to a more unique take
● When researching the topic, consider what
you’d search for in a follow-up for strong
SEO results
● If you’re curious about a follow-up question,
other people probably are, too!
21. ADD HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Take a look back in history to see if any patterns emerge
that put the topic into context for young people today:
HOW THE “GOLDEN ERA” OF HOLLYWOOD
WAS BUILT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT
With the #MeToo movement in full swing late last year, we
shed historical context on the dark side of Hollywood:
BEYONCE’S LOSS ECHOES A HISTORY OF
RACISM AT THE GRAMMYS
Beyoncé’s loss to Adele at the 2017 Grammys made us
wonder. . .
22. FIND OUT WHAT INSPIRED THE STORY
Take a look back in history to see if any patterns emerge
that put the topic into context for young people today:
THE BEAUTIFUL STORY BEHIND ALICIA
KEYS’S NO-MAKEUP COMMITMENT
When Alicia Keys showed up without a drop of makeup at
the 2016 MTV VMAs:
WOMEN ARE LEAVING “I VOTED” STICKERS ON
SUFFRAGETTE SUSAN
On Election Day, we were seriously inspired by a powerful
image of a ton of “I Voted” stickers on Susan B. Anthony’s grave:
23. CONSIDER CULTURAL CONTEXT
Dive a layer deeper to see if your story can uncover a hidden message or parallel story:
HOW BLACK PANTHER’S MAJESTIC
COSTUMES PAY TRIBUTE TO AFRICA
Black Panther was arguably this Summer’s biggest movie.
So we talked to costume designer Ruth E. Carter to find out
how the costumes were inspired by different tribes in Africa:
BEYONCE’S HALFTIME PERFORMANCE WAS A
MAJOR POLITICAL STATEMENT
The nod to black history and the 50th anniversary of the Black
Panthers was nearly lost in Beyoncé's star-studded 2016 Super
Bowl Halftime performance:
26. USE 1 STORY TO TELL MANY STORIES
Use one person’s story to represent a larger group.
MEET HUNTER MCGRADY, SPORTS
ILLUSTRATED’S FIRST CURVE MODEL
As the modeling industry began to embrace different body
types, we used 1 woman’s story to explain what that means
for her:
THIS TALENTED TEEN WANTS TO BECOME THE
WORLD’S FIRST PRO HIJABI BALLERINA
We highlighted one teen’s struggle to find a dance school that
would let her wear her hijab to illustrate the struggles of Muslim
women in certain industries:
27. USE 1 STORY TO TELL MANY STORIES
Use one person’s story to represent a larger group.
EMILY QUINN: IT TAKES “REAL BALLS” TO
TALK ABOUT BEING INTERSEX
We let Emily explain what being intersex is to our audience
to educate them and destigmatize a group of people:
DATING WHILE DEAF
We shot a video with a deaf woman who explained the struggles
of dating while deaf, to shed light on an everyday activity we
don’t often think about:
30. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME?
Inspire an emotional reaction in viewers, and make viewers relate to the topic.
When you put things into perspective that, Hey, this affects you (yes, you!), you cue people up to care more.
WHAT THE SOLAR ECLIPSE MEANS
FOR YOUR SIGN
We used a topic we know our audience is
passionate about – astrology – to tackle a
scientific phenomenon:
HOW DEFUNDING PLANNED
PARENTHOOD COULD AFFECT YOU
We explained how all women would be affected by
the defunding of Planned Parenthood to spark
interest and outrage:
31. LET PEOPLE KNOW THEY’RE NOT ALONE
Use celebrities or other women who have been through something to help let women know they are not alone.
7 CELEBRITIES WHO BRAVELY
OPENED UP ABOUT ABOUT THEIR
MISCARRIAGES
We rounded up a list of celebrities who have had
miscarriages to help women feel less alone and
to encourage women to speak honestly about it.
EVAN RACHEL WOOD OPENS UP
ABOUT SURVIVING RAPE
We used a powerful Evan Rachel Wood op-ed to
help victims of sexual assault.
34. HIT ON SHOCK VALUE
Can you uncover unexpected effects of the story that will shock people?
5 WTF WAYS CLIMATE CHANGE WILL
AFFECT US
We broke down 5 things that will go away in the
climate crisis – pandas! sushi! – to inspire
people to care:
HOW MUCH MORE DOES IT COST TO
BE A WOMAN?
We tallied up the amount of money women and
men spend on the same kinds of products to
illustrate the broader impact of the “tampon tax”:
35. USE INTERESTING & CREATIVE VISUALS
Get creative with visuals to break down science or “how stuff works” topics in a way that is easy for people to follow.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU SLEEP
We explained everything that happens in your body with an
animated video to explain the 5 stages of sleep:
HOW DOES SELF-TANNER REALLY WORK?
We explain the science behind popular beauty products and
ingredients in our series, The Makeup:
