Alternative story forms do more than address the space crunch many newspapers face across the country.
They tell stories in a creative, yet informative way and capitalize on the talents of the writer, editor, photographer and graphics designers.
They can be centerpieces that hold to the cover, deliver tons of information in a quick fashion and keep the readers interest for a substantial amount of time.
Salt Lake Tribune managing editor Michael Anastasi took us into this imaginative world during his two sessions Friday at the Associated Press Sports Editors convention at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel in Pittsburgh.
Anastasi explained the benefit of using alternative story forms by breaking down several components and provided specific examples of each format.
Here are a few examples:
■ Make a lot of information digestible: In previewing the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Salt Lake Tribune had breakouts of the local athletes in the events, medal counts, television information and photos.
■ Insider: This gives a beat writer/columnist a chance to utilize his or her expertise in the sport by allowing them to analyze, but do so in short snippets that are quick to read. Allows them to showcase their personality as well.
■ Explain to me: Anastasi showed a page from the Dallas Morning News in which the paper broke down the NFL salary cap charts and graphs and short breakouts. The use of bold type to highlight certain elements made the points more definitive.
■ SOS (Story on a story): Anastasi talked about how when Utah upset Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, his paper had not plan for it. So the Salt Lake Tribune ran a huge 1A photo with a brief write up to refer to stories inside in the sports section.
While many alternative story forms can get to the heart of the matter in a unique way, Anastasi warns us that they are not a substitute for the following:
■ Strong narrative writing.
■ Photo documentary.
■ Enterprise pieces.
■ Investigative work.
With that being said, alternative story forms do provide an alternative for that 40-inch story that’s hard to digest.
