June 13, 2005

By DENNIS M. LYONS
Executive editor, The (Parsippany, N.J.) Daily Record

Newspapers everywhere are looking for ways to better-connect with readers and to give them real-life, useful information when they need and want it.

Coverage of the news that emphasizes the impact on readers is central to that effort. So, too, is coverage that focuses on the shared, central events that are important to so many people.

As part of its company-wide "Real Life, Real News" initiative to make real people a daily part of the newspaper, Gannett newspapers are working to grow readership by emphasizing stories about the life milestones we all share — moments like the first day of school, graduations or weddings — as well as the commonplace events we all experience — getting that first summer job, preparing for the SATs, moving home for the summer after a year at college, trying to meet that special someone, etc.

	Click on the above photos to view larger versions.

As the company's news department Web site explains:

"Moments of Life coverage provides deep information to help readers meet their everyday needs. The newspaper serves as a clearinghouse of broad and deep information that includes relevant calendars, coping news, archived online information, references, expert lists, resources and links. It becomes a reference point to which readers can turn and use to navigate through daily events. And it provides current and archived personal stories of readers in similar experiences."

One of the keys to this kind of real people reporting is to remember that while events like the first day of school or getting that first job may seem commonplace, they are new and urgent for people when they first experience them.

Writing about specific people going through these Moments of Life is just one part of the plan. A second, also important element is "how to" information, presented in a timely fashion and archived on the web site so that readers can access it when they need it.

Here are three, varied, good examples of this approach:

The first comes from The Greenville (S.C.) News, which produced a comprehensive Moments of Life report on SAT testing in South Carolina that included success stories, practical advice to help families prepare and interactive online tools. The newspaper also helped launch a community effort to provide computers, software and volunteers for a pilot program for lower-income families.

Here's what Greenville News Managing Editor Chris Weston, had to say about the project:

"We knew we were facing upcoming rounds of SAT tests from our Moments of Life calendar. Editors and the education reporters, along with photographers and artists, began brainstorming the issue, wanting to take the story beyond the obvious approach of how students and families should prepare for the test.

"In our conversations, we paid particular attention to the voices of members of our reader-advisory panel on education and to members of our staff who had been through SAT tests with their children. We wanted to know what they had learned and share it with our readers.

The information remains on the paper's web site for ready access at www.greenvilleonline.com/news/satprep/.

At the Daily Record, we have now, on three occasions, taken the Moments of Life theme to area high schools and produced 16-page sections called "A Day in the Life at ... ." While the Day in the Life concept isn't new, there is a nice twist to the way we've been able to produce these sections. Projects editor Jim Namiotka and other members of our staff have worked extensively with students, faculty and administrators to recruit students to write all but a few of the articles and to take many of the photos. The reaction from the schools and the community has been outstanding. A look at our most recent section's front page is included here.

The project is also available on line at www.dailyrecord.com/news/dayinthelife/randolphHS.

At the Des Moines Register, they used a very effective front page graphic and story to help readers understand how construction on a major interstate through the city would affect them, and how they would have to adjust their daily commuting routines. Driving to work every day is certainly a shared Moment of Life (though clearly not one we would consider celebrating.)

Here's what Randy Essex, assistant managing editor, had to say about this report:

"Virtually every reader drives, so when several major developments loomed in a six-year freeway reconstruction project, The Des Moines Register wanted to inform readers of the changes in the quickest and most useful way possible.

"Register editors and reporter Bill Petroski found a way to approach the story that gave commuters advice without getting too bogged down in the jargon of highway engineers. An artist produced a graphic that read quickly, avoiding daunting textboxes. (This was a lesson learned from a previous freeway reconstruction graphic.) An editor suggested using the colors of a stoplight, so the assigning editor structured a graphic focused only on interchanges. Each interchange would have a textbox with a stoplight icon showing a red, green or yellow light to convey: 1. You can use this interchange. 2. This interchange is closed. 3. This interchange may be open, but construction there may create problems. The page designer and editors decided to strip the graphic across the top of the front page and further minimize text significantly.

The result was a story, graphic and headline that worked together, with voices of drivers and without too much technical detail. A Q&A inside the newspaper helped readers find out about strategies on the interchanges they routinely use.