STORY RATING REPORT
Use the following report to rate your reporter’s story. Check off each question in the check column to have clearer insight into how well each subject was covered. Then use your own scale to decide how many points from 1 (not completed) to 5 (done well) to give to rate each category (Communication, Fairness, Organization...).
The purpose of the report is to monitor how your reporters are doing in sending you a well-structured story that is easy for ALL readers to understand quickly.
You should share the report with your reporter and it should come part of the file used to rate his overall performance in four formal performance reviews during the year.
The report also gives you an idea of how you need to edit the story to make it come up to readers’ standards.
Checkpoint
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Pts 1-5 |
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v Communication: |
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Ø Has the reporter delivered the story promised in his story budget item? If not, why not? Did the story change? Did he let you know it had changed? |
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v Fairness: |
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Ø Does the story have more than one source? |
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Ø Have all sides been represented? |
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Ø Has the reporter indicated the attempt made to contact unreachable sources? |
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Ø Has the reporter kept his opinion out of the story? |
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IF THE TOTAL POINTS ABOVE IS LESS THAN 6 SEND THE
STORY BACK FOR RE-REPORTING. (don’t edit bad stories) |
Subtot min 6+ |
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Organization: |
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Is the story well organized with a lead, thesis,
supporting examples and final stamp? |
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Has the reporter removed needless details that will
bore the reader? |
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v Lead: |
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Ø Does the lead contain today’s news? |
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Ø Does the lead have the basic facts: Who/What/Where/When /Why? |
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Ø Is the lead a clear short sentence that quickly tells the reader what is happening? |
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Ø Has the reporter avoided a quote, question or other contrivance as a lead that shows that the reporter does not understand his own story? |
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Ø In the lead, has the reporter avoided any words or names that the average reader will not understand immediately? |
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v Thesis: |
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Ø Does the story have a clear thesis statement that explains what this story is about and why it is important in terms of a larger issue? |
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v Reference Graph: |
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If this is a follow-up
story, has the reporter included a sentence or two with basic info so that
first time readers can understand the story? |
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v Body: |
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Ø Is the lead supported by factual examples from sources? |
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Ø Are all the facts attributed to a source (person, document, news article)? |
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Ø Are there long quotes that would be clearer if paraphrased? |
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Ø Are all the terms (personal and institution names, abbreviations, etc.) familiar to ALL readers (not just journalists and politicians)? |
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v Ending |
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Ø Does the story have a final stamp – A good quote or fact to end the story? (rather than just ending) |
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v Total: (out of 40 points) |
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