This document outlines the key elements of building an effective story and the requirements for a semester multimedia journalism project. It discusses important story building blocks like character, place, emotion, detail, tension and news value. It provides examples of past student project topics and guides students to choose a realistic topic that has multimedia potential through original reporting and interviews. The document instructs students to pitch their topic ideas and advises them on gathering materials throughout the semester to create a 2-5 minute multimedia story with text, audio, and basic interactivity.

1. STORY BUILDING BLOCKS &
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA
PROJECT
COMM 106: Multimedia Journalism

2. Every beginning reporter knows the basic
questions any story must answer: the five
W’ and an H. The reporter needs to know
who did what, where and when, and if
possible, why and how. But skilled
reporters collect more than the essential
facts, check them for accuracy and pass
them along. They look for the universal
building blocks of great storytelling, even
when they’re sent out on what appears to
be the most boring assignment ever.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

3. The assignment is just a location or a
starting point and it’s up to you to find the
story that may be lurking below the
surface. To do that, experienced reporters
advise, you may need to “stand there until
you care.” Unless you’re covering breaking
news, don’t jump out of the car and start
shooting video or photos right away; take
a moment first to search for these
building blocks.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

4. CHARACTER:
Memorable stories feature people who are
directly involved in the issue or situation, are
directly affected by it, or have a stake in the
outcome. Good reporters build stories
around strong characters whose experience
illustrates a wider truth or the impact of an
event or policy. They explore people’s
motivations in order to develop the
characters in their stories. For example, the
volunteer serving meals at the soup kitchen
might have been homeless once herself.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

5. PLACE:
Great stories transport the audience to
give them a sense of what it was like at
the scene. Experienced reporters know
how to bring a scene to life by using all of
their senses—not just looking and
listening, but smelling and almost tasting
a story so they can use their observations
to bring the audience closer to the story.
They can tell us what burning rubber
smells like after an accident, and how far
away you can feel the heat of a fire.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

6. EMOTION:
A story that speaks to a human emotion—
whether it’s anger, joy or empathy—is more
engaging to the audience. It’s often true that
people remember what they feel longer than
what they hear. Good reporters look for the
emotion in stories, even when it’s not readily
apparent. A dry sentencing hearing has deep
significance to someone in the courtroom. You
just have to find that person and let him or her
talk.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

7. DETAIL:
Well-chosen details help the audience understand a
story or character better. Reporters have to be keen
observers so they can collect details that will
enhance the story, not bog it down. It might be
useful to know how long the city council members
debated an ordinance, but only if they spent a
particularly long or short amount of time doing it.
On the other hand, in a story about the use of
treatments that blend traditional and modern
medicines, it would be worth knowing that an
American Indian doctor is the grandchild of a tribal
healer.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

8. TENSION OR SURPRISE:
Stories should make the audience want to
know what happens next and how it will all
come out in the end. Tension may come from
a conflict between characters or between a
character and an opposing force, like an
insurance company denying payment or a
disease threatening the person’s life.
Reporters should look for turning points and
moments that illustrate the central theme of
a story, and for surprises that come up along
the way.
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

9. NEWS VALUE FACTORS:
Timeliness-WHEN DID IT
HAPPEN? (breaking news)
Impact-HOW MANY PEOPLE
EFFECTED?
Proximity-WHERE DID IT
HAPPEN?
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

10. NEWS VALUE FACTORS:
Engagement-WILL THIS GET
PEOPLE MAD/EXCITED?
Prominence-WHO DID THIS
HAPPEN TO?
Novelty-WTF?
STORY BUILDING BLOCKS

11. Each of you will be creating,
editing, posting, and presenting
a multimedia journalism project
with original:
TEXT
AUDIO (interview + narration)
BASIC INTERACTIVITY
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

12. FINDING STORIES
•Cultivate Curiosity
• If you’re curious, someone else is, too
•Read, Look and Listen
Pay attention to your world
•Follow Up and Plan Ahead
Ask both what’s happened and what’s
next
•Develop Story Topics from Ideas
A story idea is NOT the same as a topic

13. The Rising Cost of
College Textbooks
Overview with
History
Effect on Students
& Teachers
Alternatives &
Future
STORY MAPPING
GENERAL IDEA:
SPECIFIC TOPICS:

14. ESSENTIAL: THE 5 W’s (plus the SW)
•Who?
•What?
•When?
•Where?
•Why? (NOT your opinion)
•Always ask “SO WHAT?” to
determine newsworthiness

15. Choose something from your real
world
Something/Someone Interesting
and/or Newsworthy – BE REALISTIC!
Focus on the hook/subject – DOES IT
HAVE MULTIMEDIA/AUDIO
POTENTIAL?
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

16. Past Student Project Work
•A Working Mother’s Struggle During
Covid-19
•An Author’s Journey Leads to Giving Back
•Yoga & Mindfulness During a Pandemic

17. Which of these STORY BUILDING
BLOCKS are you mainly focused on?
CHARACTER
PLACE
EMOTION
DETAIL
TENSION OR SURPRISE
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

18. Be Sure You Have Access for
Original Reporting &
Interviewing
Be Realistic & Adaptable
SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS:
CAN you do this story with the
time and resources available?
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

19. Material should be gathered as the
semester progresses – you will have in-
class lab time to work on projects
MUST HAVE ORIGINAL REPORTING &
INTERVIEWS WITH CONNECTED SUBJECTS
(not just “regular” people)
This is NOT an Opinion Piece – it’s not
about what you think as reporters/people!
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

20. Do NOT overthink your topic! In fact, think
SMALL!
The audio you submit only has to be
between 2 – 5 minutes in length so this is
not a longform project by any means.
It’s way better to have a good “small” story
than a sloppy/bad “big” story
Remember – the key is INVESTIGATING and
INFORMING ACCURATELY and FAIRLY, no
matter what the scale of the story is
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

21. YOU MAY TEAM UP TO GATHER MATERIAL
BUT EACH OF YOU MUST DO YOUR OWN
INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
PROJECT PITCH TO CLASS IN EDITORIAL
MEETING SETTING NEXT WEEK
YOUR PITCH IS OPEN TO QUESTIONS
I WILL VETO STORIES BASED ON PRACTICAL
GROUNDS ONLY
SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

22. SEMESTER MULTIMEDIA PROJECT
THREE MAIN AREAS TO CHOOSE FROM:
REPORT ON AN EVENT (concert, lecture, club meeting, art
opening, etc.)
-OR-
PROFILE A PERSON AND/OR PLACE AND/OR
ORGANIZATION (musician, coffee house, student club,
interesting storyteller, etc.)
-OR-
REPORT ON A CULTURAL TREND (tattoo removal, vaping,
trap music, immigration reform, #metoo, etc.)