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For no reason here is a library story

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Local Prompt Blog Gives Advice on Newspaper Writing, Radio Chatter

Probably my biggest pet peeve in all of fictional media is inaccurate depictions of newspaper headlines and other news formats. Here's some advice on how to do it, if you're interested.

News of every type has distinctive and specific formatting, language use, grammar, and presentation -- everything from magazines to tabloids to small radio stations to well-known TV news networks all have their own predictable beats in their presentation of information. If you're putting a headline, newspaper clipping, etc in your game/book/etc, a little research goes a long way. Knowing your choice of news media's basics will make it feel more seamless and authentic, and less hokey or exposition-y. How the news is presented to the public is a well-researched subject and it's easy to find resources out there. Done well in stories, it's a phenomenal tool.

A few key pointers:

Type. If you want to overlay radio audio into your horror game, or include a snippet from a gossip column in your novella, or paste a double-page newspaper spread across your comic book double-page spread, pick a real media type that exists and work within it. Each has distinctive features that it might not share with others. If you pick radio, research radio.

Formatting. What info is most obvious when you look at the front page of a paper? Why is some text bigger and how does that change how you read it? Learning what info goes where will help you create a much better fictional news story.

Trashiness. A crappy tabloid rag and a boring broadsheet are two very different types of newspaper. National Radio One delivers breaking news a bit differently to Dingo & The Baby 97.1 Talk Radio. One kind would typically use more professional and even-keeled language and the other would use slang and wordplay. All news can be sensational and grimy, but not every paper uses exclamation marks in its headlines!

Era. If you're setting it in 1820, look up what that media was like in the early 1800s -- library archives and online archives may have examples. A lot's stayed the same since the invention of print media, but a lot's changed too.

Don't take it too seriously. I'm adding this one to be honest here -- you don't have to learn the ins and outs of print journalism to make your scene of a character reading the local rag work. It's only the more obvious mistakes that stand out to people who consume news media. Searching up on newspaper story formats and recreating its main points in ten minutes would be good enough, without needing to get into the nitty-gritty of hundreds of years of newspaper studies. As I said, a little goes a long way.

The best advice I can give you, unfortunately, is 'pick a topic and look it up' due to the sheer breadth of news media.

That said, here's a few specific things:

The news usually isn't going to perform blatant guesswork. That is, if they say that the crime "might be committed by a local," they'll attribute that opinion to a police comment or something. It's a legal thing, you understand. (Bonus: which newspapers in your setting would try to get away with it?)

The first piece of information the news gives you is the most important, and it goes downwards from there. The first piece of info is also usually simple: Pile-up Kills Six. Missing Girl Found. Search For Killer Teacher Continues.

If they have time to give info, they'll give the good stuff. Whether the death is being treated as suspect, if the missing person was previously stalked, how many people were hurt by the collapse -- these are significant points the consumers are going to want. They won't be buried under the specifics. The specifics probably aren't going to make it in at all.

There are laws regarding who can be named and when. They're not gonna give out the faces and names of 13-year-old suspects (at least, not where I live), only of people who are old enough. Also, a person often has to be charged or a manhunt has to be in progress before (if) that info is shared.

There are also (usually looser) laws regarding what the news can say. If a station says a person charged with theft is an addict and a loser and everyone thinks they smell, that could wind up in a lawsuit. Could. Depends where you live and who they're talking about.

The same news can pop up again and again for little reason. Usually missing children or huge scandals. Sometimes even mentioning big cases a month (or years!) after relevancy can cause sales/clicks to spike, so they'll jump on any reason to reprint old news, even if the new info is flimsy. This has narrative potential.

Emergency alerts are specific in their format (e.g. sirens, texts) and not everyone gets them. They're also specific to circumstance. Extreme weather alerts exist in places that receive it regularly enough to bother setting up the system, and air raid sirens were used during wars, but you wouldn't see alerts for alien attacks in a world like ours. In a world where alien attacks are common, sure.

A good way to recreate something is to copy its skeleton. If you want to make an informational flyer/pamphlet, for example, find a real one -- there's free ones everywhere including online. Try to recreate it but about a different topic entirely. (Note that pamphlets differ from each other based on intended audience and its message -- a church pamphlet might give a different vibe from a 'when you are diagnosed with cancer' pamphlet.)

Propaganda posters are fun! I don't think I'm supposed to find them as charming as I do (or maybe I am... hmm...) but many places still put out propaganda posters today on a variety of topics. There's tons: safety when driving, vote for so-and-so, say no to weed, and so on. A good propaganda poster is based a lot more on graphic design than journalism and wants to influence you. Note that they are often meant to inspire feelings such as fear, pride, etc. through their stylised designs and sticky slogans, and they almost always want you to do (or not do) something tangible. A good poster can be an iconic cultural remnant for many years to come, a representation of a whole era. (Nothing dystopian about that...)

Final one: news isn't 'breaking' as often or as enthusiastically as fiction likes to depict... but I'll give you that one, dramatic in-universe breaking news does make for a better story.

Thanks for listening to my favourite fictional pet peeve -- this has been a long one. Hopefully anyone who sees this might find it useful for their scenes of exposition in-universe news stories. Sorry I didn't go into much detail, this topic is huge and everyone's questions would be different. Have fun creating!

Bonus: here's the same story translated into a few different media types.

Large TV news station, plenty of time and resources: "Terror tonight in Towntown after a string of attacks leaves one woman in the hospital. Police say those responsible have not yet been caught. Our correspondent is on the scene..."

Tiny station, less time and resources: "And finally, Towntown is on edge after a series of attacks carried out by unknown parties. Police are urging residents to stay indoors at night until the situation is handled. That's all from us here, goodnight."

Reputable newspaper/website headline, low sensationalism high professionalism: "Towntown Residents Urged to 'Stay Inside' as Attacks Continue, Woman Hospitalised"

Disreputable newspaper/website headline, high sensationalism low professionalism: "Woman Bashed By Gang on Loose, 'Stay In' Say Baffled Cops"

Some guy you follow online: "Why is nobody talking about the fact that women are getting kidnapped in Towntown?! [Link to article that says nothing about kidnapping]"

(All similarities to specific cases are coincidental, I made these up on the spot.)

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Me: trying to read

My brain: PROTEIN. MOAR. NOW.

My stomach: Empty. Is Empty. FILL THE EMPTY HOLE.

Me: fuck it, not getting anything done. Clearly walking 2km today was "a lot" for my silly body. Needs to regrow bone so...

Brain: NOW!!! PROTEIN NOW!!!! MOAR!

Stomach: Empty hole where the hunger demons live.

Me: What is this? Meal number 4? 5?

....

Goes down stairs. Flips on lights. It is fukkkkin cold as hell down here (yep, summer is *over* for me). Opens fridge.

Brain + Stomach: EAT THE CHICKEN. CHICKEN. CHIIII-KAN. CHHHIIIII-KAN! PROTEINNNNNNNN

OMNOMNOMNOMONOMNONMMMMNOMNOMONOOMMNOMFKLJALJAGDKFLADFJAFLAESRIFDJVNOMNOMNONONMMN

Brain + Stomach: NECTARINE! BLUEBERRIES! THEY HAZ VITAMINS!!!!

OMNOMNOMNOMONOMNONMMMMNOMNOMONOOMMNOMFKLJALJAGDKFLADFJAFLAESRIFDJVNOMNOMNONONMMN

Me: It is fucking cold as hell down here in nothing but my bed clothes. Freezing and shivering but eating because there is a giant hole inside me.

GOOOOOOD!!

Chugs entire glass of water. Heads back upstairs.

Warm. Foot doesn't hurt like it did 30 minutes. Doesn't make sense. Not asking why.

Note to self: need to purchase more pre-cooked protein bc ANY activity makes me wildly hungry.

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The cabin fever has been MUCH so I went on a carefully selected post-dinner stroll that totaled 2km. Self+partner got ice cream near the end of the walk (well planned route).

All was good. Minor aches in my foot but doable.

I felt really full after the ice cream. Really really full.

BUT, a few hours later despite having had enough to eat during the day my body was RAVENOUS. PROTEINS! FRUITS! A SMALL BIT OF CHEESE! NOOOWWW!

So I fed my body a late night mini-meal.

A couple hours later and my body is ravenous yet again.

idk. Lol. clearly my body needs fuel to solidify new bone.

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14 <3 event

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Let me just come right out and say it: I love Bernie Sanders. Happy birthday, old friend. Bernie has more guts than any politician I know. Hell, he has more guts than just about anyone I know. Few people have been as dedicated to unrigging our economy and combatting the American oligarchy as him. Here we are back in 2016 during his first presidential run. He had just given a rousing speech in Oakland. I was proud to support him then and I’m proud to still be in the fight with him now.

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Feel free to reblog to have more people to vote. Feel free to explain why you voted the way you did. DO NOT SENT ANON HATE FOR HOW PEOPLE VOTED.

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Articulated crab-shaped brooch set with garnet and diamonds, crafted in the 19th century AD.

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I am mad about cellphone cameras hiding the processing they do, and I am glad about software that lets me control it and opt in and out, and I dictated this rant on insta so I am resharing the images here and will attempt to turn this into a useful text post on my blog in future, when my hand is working better 🤘👍

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“male loneliness epidemic” and “friendzoning” are similar concepts to me in that the conditions they describe are literally experienced by everyone at some point in their lives but when its men its some sort of profound injustice that needs to be rectified by checks notes giving them unfettered access to the public good that is Women

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must be the season of the witch.

for @ioncrescent

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monday

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Never give up on a dream, or you’ll spend your life wondering what would’ve happened if you hadn’t