Welcome to the Story Ideas portion of Poynter High. Here, we'll feed you a regular diet of links and tips to help you report on your school community.
Our first tip directs you to a column on Poynter Online that we think you'll use a lot. Al Tompkins, a former television news director, writes a daily story ideas column,
Al's Morning Meeting. (
Click here for a list of the Morning Meeting columns that we think are relevant for high school media.) Check out Al's report on caffeine consumption and its effects in "
Caffeine Nation". In that column, he links to a site describing
children and caffeine consumption, including a description of soda companies paying school districts for exclusive rights to sell in their schools. Is this happening in your district?
Interview students, faculty and staff about their caffeine consumption. Can you find someone who drinks three or more caffeine drinks a day? Five or more? Are they using it to jumpstart their day or to complete assignments late at night? Don't settle for the first couple of quotes you get. Keep talking to people until you find examples of serious caffeine use.
Spend a morning at Starbucks and see who comes in, what they order, what they say, what they do. Reporting at the scene will add color and details to your story. Find athletes who rely on energy drinks and add their perspective to your story.
Another of Al's columns reports on the
amount of sleep high school students need. You might tie that research into your story.
Perhaps you could do a quote box with student opinions. Or a graphic with caffeinated beverages, including coffees, teas, sodas and energy drinks, and the amount of caffeine in each. Did you know that a cup of coffee has more caffeine that a shot of espresso? If you didn't, your readers probably don't either.
Material adapted from Al's Morning Meeting, "Caffeine Nation"
