By Aldrich Tan
Special to chipsquinn.org

Posted: May 4, 2006

“There’s a man in the river,” my editor said, looking directly at me. “GO!”

Metro editor Jim Houck’s voice echoed in my ears as I raced out of the Visalia (Calif.) Times-Delta to my first breaking story. This kind of story that happens without warning I’d certainly read and studied, but here it was facing me when New York native Kevin Ready, 43, thought he was ready to challenge the elements by jumping into the fast-flowing Kaweah River at Sequoia National Park in Three Rivers, Calif.

Houck heard about the river-jumper on the police radio. I had just returned from another story, another hot day out in Visalia, and was exhausted. I stepped into the busy newsroom, and there was Houck, looking at me.

The few hours felt like a flash of lightning. I grabbed my notepads, cell phone, pens. Within minutes, I was in the car of photographer Ron Holman, driving to Sequoia National Park and listening to the police scanner for details.

My breaking-news story -- “Vacation fun turns dangerous” -- appeared in both my newspaper and its sister paper The Tulare Advance-Register. We had an exclusive on this daring fellow who had flopped down the Kaweah like a rag doll before California Highway Patrol helicopters lifted him out of the river in a basket.

After that, Houck kept me busy with local and A1 centerpieces for the rest of my internship.

Here are some lessons I learned from my first breaking story. They might come in handy if your editor says the G-word.

1. Work with the photographer. Photographers listen to their black boxes – police scanners -- for the same reason you do: They want to have that breaking photo as much as you want to tell that breaking story. Get the photographer's cell-phone number, and call if you learn something that will affect the visuals in the story.

2. Create a timeline and write it out clearly. Bring a watch. Make sure you note the time you first heard of the incident, the time you arrived on the scene and who else arrived when. Double check times with witnesses who were there before you. Note the time certain events happen. You don't get a second chance to remember times things happen. Before you head back to the office, construct a timeline of events on a separate sheet of paper so you can refer to it while writing the story.

3. Talk fast (but ask the right questions). You’ll arrive as other people are leaving. Breaking news isn’t the best time to sit down for a long-winded interview. You need to talk to anyone who knows anything about the event -- but you need to talk fast enough to get to everyone. Treat every eyewitness as a piece of the puzzle of the story: The waitress who made the initial 911 call, the police officer who got to the scene first, the panicking relatives. Focus on the puzzle piece you know the source is holding. (For example: Don’t ask the waitress how she feels about working in the restaurant when you really need to know what the man looked like when she called 911.) Get the names right by writing them clearly and then showing them to the sources quickly before you ask any questions. Get sources’ cell-phone numbers, too, so you can call them back if you need any clarification.

3. Details, details, details. Before you write your red-hot story, remember specific details and proper names. You know what happened. Now find out the WWWWHW. Who is the person? What is the name of the river? Where is the hotel? How far did he flow downstream? What was the name of the bridge that he was under? Don’t leave the scene until you get everything you need to get the story right.

3. Bring a spare of everything. On a breaking story, there’s no time to change clothes or run back to the newsroom for extra supplies. So, in your car stock extra notebooks, extra pens, extra clothes, extra batteries. And make sure your cell phone is fully charged.

4. Double check your information. You probably will have to hit fast-forward with your checking skills. Before I left the scene, I looked at my scribbled notes and legibly rewrote the words that looked the most incomprehensible. Back in the newsroom, I didn’t have to worry about inaccuracies, because I took that extra effort on the scene. Once back in the office, you can write the story as quickly as possible, print it out and compare it with the information in your notebook. Fast is important. You’re on deadline!

Even if you do something wrong (within reason, of course), the newspaper staff always will remember you for doing that one breaking story right. You can learn how to fix the minor errors of a soft feature with time and practice. But many editors will judge you by your ability to handle that breaking story. Most importantly, you will feel a sense of belonging. You have just done something a staff reporter would have had to do in your place. And you did it as professionally.

By successfully writing the breaking story, you become worthy of those words “Staff Writer” below your byline.