CHAPTER 5

ADVANCE STORIES, FOLLOW-UPS AND REWRITES

At one time or another in your career as a Navy journalist, you can expect to find yourself writing an advance story, writing a follow-up and rewriting a release received from an outside source.

Producing advance stories, follow-ups and rewrites first requires that you know how to write and, second, that you have a sharp eye for accuracy. You also must have a sound knowledge and background of the subject about which you are writing.

ADVANCE STORY

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Interpret the rules and structure of the advance story.

An advance story calls the public's attention to a coming news event which would possibly be missed if it were covered as a spot news story. It answers the following questions:

What is going to happen?

When is it going to happen?

Advance stories are used to promote practically every scheduled, major, special event. They provide the advance buildup and support required to attract attention, encourage participation and assure success. Few special events could succeed without the benefit of advance announcements by local media.

Suppose your command was open for public visitation. The event probably would be a complete failure if the public did not know in advance when and where it would occur, what activities were planned, who could attend and why the public visitation was being held.

RULES

Three important rules for you to remember when writing and releasing advance stories are as follows:

Do not shoot the whole works in the first story. In a publicity buildup, plan the release of major facts so they may provide good news pegs for later advance stories.

Do not ruin a good thing. Advance stories must contain legitimate news, not mere publicity puffs. Provide facts that readers will find worthwhile and interesting.

Do not overexploit an event. Schedule your advance stories over a reasonable period of time, give enough new information in each release to keep your audience interested, but do not bore them with unnecessary repetition. The scope and importance of the event will help determine the time frame required to promote it adequately. Usually, three to four weeks will be more than sufficient.

STRUCTURE

Figure 5-1 shows a typical example of an advance release that might be used to announce an Armed Forces Day public visitation. The first release should contain the bare information essentials. Subsequent releases should elaborate on the basic facts presented in the initial announcement. The actual number of advance stories is determinedly what you have to tell. Each story should build up to the next one, with the most important news pegs timed for release during the week of the scheduled event.

Figure 5-2 shows examples of leads to advance stories following the initial announcement.

FOLLOW-UP STORY

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Interpret the purpose, reader considerations and structure of the follow-up story.

Like advance stories, follow-ups are part of an overall story. In many news situations, there will be important or significant developments in a story already released. These news developments must then be released to update the original story. This method of reporting is refereed to as follow-ups, which, as the

Figure 5-1. - Initial advance story containing the bare essentials.

Figure 5-2. - Subsequent advance story leads.

Figure 5-3. - Follow-up story structure.

name implies, follow up the facts presented in the initial spot news story.