This document provides examples of focusing blog posts and finding voice. It discusses using the 5 W's and background information to provide context. Examples are given of focusing on an individual, one example, or a problem from beginning to end. Finding voice is discussed through using humor, building on familiar concepts, and painting a picture. Posts should have a clear theme and structure.

1. 5 W’s and Background
Covering all the bases in blog posts

2. 5 W’s and Background
• The 5 W’s – Who, What, Where, When and Why.
These are key to any short story or blog post.
• Background – Always make sure the reader doesn’t
feel as if she/he is coming into the story midstream.
Bring them up to date on the story up until that point –
in a sentence or two tops.
• Why should you keep it short? Global
Integrity readers are smart. Most of them
know what’s going on in the world. A few
don’t though. So the background is for
them.

3. Tymoshenko background
(Reuters) Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko on Monday said the authorities had told
her they planned to discharge her from the hospital
and send her back to prison, a move she said
amounted to "another act of revenge".
What background is needed? Opposition leader
Tymoshenko, 51, was sentenced to seven years in
jail last year after being found guilty of
abusing her authority when prime minister.
But in May she was moved from her
prison in the city of Kharkiv to a state-run
hospital for treatment for back trouble.

4. Citizens United background
(Coloradoan.com) Fort Collins City Council
narrowly adopted a resolution Tuesday calling on
Colorado’s delegation in Congress to propose an
amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would
overturn the Citizens United ruling.
What background is needed? The U.S. Supreme
Court’s 2010 ruling held that corporations and labor
organizations are entitled to the same
constitutional rights as individuals, and
within those rights can donate unlimited
sums to indirect advocacy of political
campaigns as an exercise of free speech.

5. Malawi’s Banda background
(Associated Press) Malawi President Joyce
Banda announced that she will take a 30 percent pay
cut to show that she will sacrifice personally as part
of her government’s austerity measures. Banda
confirmed that her government will sell the
controversial presidential jet in two weeks.
What background is needed? Banda, Africa’s
second female president after Liberia’s Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, came to power in April
following the death of President Bingu wa
Mutharika. The purchase of the jet three
years ago by Mutharika angered donors.

6. FOCUS AND THEME

7. Structure: Focus and theme
• What’s the news? – Focus on your theme even
before you write so that it’s clear why you’re writing.
• How will you tell your story? – Sketch out what you
want to write (maybe on a 3X5 card) so that there is a
clear storyline with a beginning, middle and end.
Stick to the outline so that your post has focus.
• Write with your focus and theme in mind.
With your theme and outline on a 3X5 card in
front of you, start writing. Stay on point
and on track. Be creative, descriptive
and include detail, but stay on track.

8. Focus on an individual
(Global Integrity 2011 Report) The Macedonia
notebook was told through the experiences of
“Peter,” an investigative reporter in Skopje. A routine
story about a mining town led him to lose his job.
Peter’s quotes made the story compelling.
Peter is the focus from beginning to end:
“I wrote a short article,” Peter said. “Never
even in my worst imagination did I assume that
this was going to cost me my job.” And at
the end: “I’m not sure I want to work in
journalism in Macedonia anymore.
Maybe it is time for a career change.”

9. Focus on one example
(Global Integrity 2011 Report) The China
notebook told the story of government land grabs
through the example of Baihutou, a fishing village.
Now, Baihutou exists in name only. Most of it was
forcibly razed in 2009 and 2010 to make way for a
tourist development backed by the local government.
Come back to the example at the end: For
Feng Guangmei, one of the few villagers still
living in Baihutou, the future too is bleak.
“The government took away our land and
our licenses to work at the beach,” she
said. “I don’t have any hope anymore.”
.

10. Focus on a problem
(Global Integrity 2011 Report) The Lebanon
notebook opened with Jinane Al Ayoubi, a 47-year-
old woman in Tripoli, saying her life is perfect when
she has the “government electricity.” “The only
problem is that we don’t really get that electricity,”
she said, with a trace of sarcasm in her voice.
The problem? Corruption in postwar Lebanon is
rampant – including in the government-run
power industry. The story ends with Al
Ayoubi, paying $60 per month for an
illegal generator that keeps a light on,
the water hot and allows her to watch
her favorite Turkish soap opera on TV.

11. FINDING YOUR VOICE

12. Try a sense of humor
By Doug Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The show will still go on.
A controversial Chippendales-type fundraiser for
the Veterans of Foreign Wars has been rescheduled
to a venue more suitable for such shows was "The
show will still go on."
By Doug Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The show will still go on – and the clothes will
still nearly come off.
A controversial Chippendales-type
fundraiser for a VFW post has moved
to a hall more suitable for such shows.

13. Build on the familiar
Marko Tomocic’s “Inception Time?” draft post
about his recollections from the Personal Democracy
Forum is a neat example of how an opening recalling
a popular movie can build on something many people
are familiar with to illustrate a bigger idea or theme.
It’s neat, too, how Marko comes back to
“Inception” at the end of his draft post: The
Personal Democracy Forum has offered many
fantastic ideas and excellent character
development. Inception time? Maybe
not yet, but certainly a step in
this (right?) direction…

14. Paint a picture
Dadisai Taderera’s Country Chronicles: Cape
Verde paints a picture of Cape Verde as arid and dry,
yet with the highest life expectancy on the continent
and that it has become “a model of democracy,
stability, and increased prosperity.” This last detail
highlights why it was a fitting site for the Alliance for
Rebuilding Governance in Africa conference.
Dadisai’s ending underscores this point:
Cape Verde has become a beacon of good
governance on the continent and
beyond. In trying to “reinvent African
governance” this is a good place to
look for simple and practical solutions.