non-news pitches
non-news section
kim kaufman- s&h editor
Hey guys, gals, and non-binary pals! It’s our last issue of Volume 66, and we’re shaking things up! My sports and health section is now the non-news “ALL IS WELL” section! Here we are bringing the satire about the unextraordinary to demonstrate why newspapers sometimes just appear as the bearers of bad news. In truth, journalists are responsible to report on what’s extraordinary be that good or bad news, so this section is meant to show why news focuses so heavily on things that are unexpected rather than things going exactly as anticipated.
This issue (and this issue only), everything is fine at the Carillon, just as it is all across Regina.
If you are feeling like you want to contribute with us, pick a pitch and shoot me an email at sports@carillonregina.com! If you have your own idea for an article, give me a shout and we can see if it fits in the section. Let me know the topic of your article, and what ideas and message you are looking at covering in it! Also, please let me know if you will have an image for your article, and whether it will be a half-page (550-750 words) or a full-page article (950-1,150 words). If you want help finding resources or brainstorming potential interview sources, I am more than happy to help out!
kim kaufman – sports@carillonregina.com
A peaceful day
The news so often covers all the bad things that are happening in the city, leaving readers upset or disheartened. I challenge you to go out and take note of all the normal things you experience over the course of your day. This can be small things like seeing geese or finding two matching socks in the morning, or large things that would never normally be in the paper but should be appreciated regardless (like, “no bear mace released in Cornwall today”)!
Options for this article:
- Speak with people on how their day went. What was normal about it and what did they do in the morning, afternoon, evening?
- Take a day and write down what you do all day, finding new perspectives to talk about your everyday experiences.
Exam period
Students are notorious for leaving their studying and schoolwork to the last minute, and exam season is creeping up on us all. Everyone wants to do their best, and knowledge is in the campus air…
To write this article
- Speak to students about how they study, how optimistic they are to pass their exams, and what they are doing to bring their expectations into reality.
- Do an “expectations vs reality” article, where you find out how students want to be productive and then what really happens when the time comes to be productive.
Travel season, anyone?
Planes are the horrors of the sky – big bulky contraptions that somehow stay up in the air. However, despite the terrible news that pops up every so often detailing a tragic event, airplanes are much safer than you might think.
We hear about the tragedy, but what does an average airplane travelling experience look like? How would news coverage of a completely standard day where all is well look?
Calling all satire writers!
The Carillon’s news section writes about important, factual events that the public needs to know about.
Your challenge? Write a satirical, blown out-of-proportion article to show that news is not the same as advertising.
- For instance, an article about the joys of travelling, which ends in shameless endorsement for a specific airline or product that you “have” to use on your next travel (bonus points for creatively riffing off existing airline names [e.g. EastPlane])
Wholistic Health (updated!)
Health in all forms is important, but its doubly important to recognize that you don’t have to do anything extraordinary to be healthy. Let’s reexamine our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health in the context of daily life, looking at the normal things we do that make us feel well everyday. All is well in our lives, so let’s look at why. Maybe you drink tea beside a window to soak up all that good sunlight in the morning, or you put away all your devices for some unplugged time, or maybe you just think “this is a good day” and so it is!