When I hear the term “good story” I do not think of just one specific news article that informed the public about an event really well. I think of a good story to be one told by the compilation of news articles, TV news coverage, and social media coverage (from news outlets and the public) that allows viewers to get several different points of view on the event. This allows the viewer to have an experience with that specific event, which makes it a “good story”.
I am constantly on social media much like the vast majority of my generation. More often than not, when I first hear about an event that is being covered by news outlets it is not from reading a newspaper or watching the news—it is from seeing a trending or shared headline or topic on social media. I think that this trending nature some news stories possess is a major characteristic of a good story.
People want to be able to join conversations and have the ability to talk about stories as they develop with others. The trending nature of some events compels viewers to do further research on the developing (or developed) story by looking up the trending topic or hashtag, searching different news outlets for articles, or turning on the TV and watching a news channel in order to educate themselves on the event so that they can join the conversation, thus creating an experience with the event.
My experience with the story of the tragic shooting that took place at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on October 1, 2015 that is currently being told started on social media. I initially heard about this tragedy from the Trending Topics display on Facebook. Once I saw this I immediately searched the topic and came across several articles from news outlets like The New York Times. I wanted to know what happened and what the most recent findings of the story were so I could join the conversation going on surrounding this event.
Over the past week, I have been able to continuously follow this story as it continues to evolve and new findings are released. The #UCCShooting on Twitter has been a source of information for me because if you click on it, it shows people’s opinions, new news articles from news outlets, and related topics like those on mental health and gun control. Social media give this story a pipeline to a larger conversation: gun violence. Many tweets (like the one below) showed how fed up Americans are with gun violence. These types of Tweets add to the story making it a part of something bigger and thus more interesting to viewers.
The uniquely American tradition https://t.co/mrliYSI0qw
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) October 1, 2015
The Umpqua Community College tragedy was a good story because it gave viewers an experience following and participating in conversations surrounding it. I was able to see what reporters and other trusted information sources had to say about the event along with what the public had to say. This made the story interesting and very relevant in my life because I knew that if I had something to say about it I could say it on a social media and be a part of this conversation. Good stories give readers an experience with the event instead of simply informing them on what happened then moving on.