Government and Statistical Stories

By
Amit Singh
MMCOM15001
Xavier School of
communication
Xavier University
Bhubaneswar

Introduction
Every year government data are being posted to the web. But much of the
state or local information you might want is still not available on the
internet. The government officials are reluctant to give it to you even if you
have a legal right to the data.
Then how to fetch the data?
You may go for RTI.
Or
You may get it from the computer operators(working in government sector)
only if you promise the person that you will not let anyone know about this.
Once you get the data analyze it but do not flood your story with statistics.
They may contain only a paragraph or two of numbers which could make
the difference in focus, but the story still requires good reporting and
writing techniques.

Reporting techniques
Many stories about government often involve
money and statistics. You have to make your
readers and viewers understand how the
information affects them. Although much
government news may come from news releases
and meetings, as a journalist you must try to find
the stories that reveal how the government
operates or fails to operate in the interests of
citizens. Dont just rely on officials to give you the
news find it yourself.

Some methods to gather news

Human
Interest

Zoning
meetings

The
system

Bulletin
boards
Bulletin boards

Legal
notices

The
system

Planning
commissi
Planning
ons
commissio

Audits

Records

Consultan
ts

Union
Leadrs

Offices

Nonofficials

Omemos
and
letters to
and from
city
officials

Visuals
Before you write a story, think not about what you can put
in it , think about what you can pull out of it. Especially
when you are writing stories with statistics.
What to use?
Highlight boxes
Fact boxes and
charts to break out key concepts of a budget or proposal

Writing tips
Writing journalese is like having a series of small strokes
says Jack Cappon writing coach The Associated Press (AP).
Clichs are other common form of journalese in
government stories.

Here are some tips for

1.
Use short, simple sentences- the more complex the
writing.
information, the simpler
and shorter the sentences
should be.
For example.

2. Keep the subject and verb together- long clauses and

phrases before the
verb make It hard for the reader
to
remember what the subject is, who said
or
did what . Use subject verb object order.
For example.

3. Use vigorous verbs- whenever possible, replace to be verbs

and other bland
verbs with words that help to paint a
picture of the
activity you are reporting
For example

4. Avoid starting sentence starting with there- the word

there forces you to use a
weak to be verb.
Such as is, are,
was or very.
For example.

5. Interpret information- tell readers how they are affected.

For example.

6.Translate jargon- Explain terms in concepts or comparisons

that the reader can
understand.
For example.

7. Vary the pace- Avoid writing huge blocks of complicated

concepts and complex
sentences. Follow long sentences
and long paragraphs with a
short
sentence.
For example.

8. Focus on a person to explain impact- the way an issue

affects one person
makes it clear to many.

9. Use an impact lead or explain impact in the story tell

how the reader will be
affected by a
bureaucratic
action or proposal.
For example.

10. Avoid boring quotes

For example.

11. Use the pull- quote text- are your quotes strong enough to
be broken out as pull
quote? Thats one way of testing
whether they are
worth using in a story.

12. Use conventional style- write the story as though you

were having a
conversation with a friend.
For example.

13. Use lists.

14. Avoid the city dump syndrome.
15. Use the blocking technique.
16. Read aloud.

Statistical stories.
How to write1. Use analogies
2. Round off numbers
3. Avoid bunching numbers
4. Interpret numbers
5. Use storytelling techniques
6. Use graphics

Budget stories
Consider 3 questions
1.5ws
2. Revenues
3. Expenditure

If you want to explain budget

you must know what these
mean.
1. Assessment and poverty taxes
2. Capital budget
3. Deficit
4. Fiscal year
5. Mean
6. median
7. Mill
8. Operating budget
9. Other taxes
10. Per capita
11. Reappraisal

Writing techniques fro

budget stories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Amount of increase or decrease

How funds will be raised
Major expenditures
Consequences
Historical comparisons
Reaction from officials and people affected by increase or
decrease
7. Definitions and explanations

Questio
ns

Thank
you