Category: Writing

The venerable 5 Ws

I spent 50 years writing and editing news stories every day — and the first 22 reading them out loud several times a day. Besides what I learned from colleagues and on the job, my entire journalism education was a one-semester class my senior year in high school, and that turned out to be all I needed for a successful career. I said that out loud to two of my most cherished colleagues one day — both J-school grads — and it was one of my more embarrassing moments.

Still, if you adhere to the venerable 5 Ws, you can do the journalism thing acceptably. As soon as possible once you’ve started writing, you need to explain the Who, What, When, Where and Why something happened or is about to happen. I can’t tell you how many times we threw up our proverbial hands in frustration over a press release that omitted the answer to one or more of these key questions.

And so, whenever I am asked about writing a good news release, I say: Tell us what’s going to happen, when and where (exact time and date with the address of the venue, please), who is involved, and why you’re all doing this. If those five elements are there in any kind of order, the report is a success.

For example: A book fair (what) to benefit Hometown Area Public Library (why) is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 30 (when), in the commons at the Hometown Area High School, 321 S. Main St., Hometown (where). The annual book fair is hosted by Friends of the Hometown Area Public Library (who).

The same principle applies to the average news story, or as I like to refer when talking about certain outlets, clickbait. You want to know who, what, when, where and why, and if one or more of those elements is missing, you will click on the story in hopes of finding out. One especially annoying kind of social media headline says something like “A community mourns (who) the death of a mother and six children (what) after a terrible incident last night (when),” and when you click on the story, you discover this happened in Timbuktu, South Carolina (where), thousands of miles away. When a local news outlet reports the news, you expect it to be local news, but that’s not strong enough clickbait sometimes.

Still, when you see that one of those five vital elements was missing, you get a frustrating sense that maybe your time and attention was wasted. And now you know how editors feel when you forget to answer all five questions in your news release.

Allen the Alien, Chapter 9

“Allen, my friend,” said Fearless Leader, looking down at his emissary through his catlike eyes. “How goes your mission to this primitive world?”

“In some ways they are more advanced than we surmised, and in some ways not so much,” Allen said.

“Let’s begin with the good news, then,” said Fearless Leader. “How are they more advanced?”

“They were welcoming and eager to make friends, even after learning we are from another planet,” said Allen. “As you know, most species are very wary and consider us scary at first.”

“That is a good sign,” Fearless Leader agreed.

“And for the most part they were trusting and honest with us,” added TriSight.

“Hmmm,” said their leader. “You said, ‘for the most part,’ which means they weren’t entirely trusting and honest.”

“Their leader seems to have an agenda she is reluctant to share,” Allen admitted.

“Oh, really?” said Fearless Leader.

“I believe she wants our help to defeat her political adversaries,” Allen said.

“And of course you told her we don’t do that,” the leader emphasized.

“Of course,” TriSight said. “Her aide did say she has good intentions and seeks peace.”

“Peace on her terms,” Fearless Leader scoffed. “This suggests this planet has not yet advanced much beyond amoebas.”

“So far, we’ve only encountered one such native,” Allen said. “Unfortunately, she is in a position of respect and power.”

“Unfortunate indeed. We have seen what disasters ensue on worlds where such so-called leaders are allowed to thrive. We may have to consider nipping this is in the bud.”

“If I may, I believe it’s too early to draw any conclusions,” said Allen. “Let me interact with them for time to get a better understanding of their civilization.”

“You may for now. But we don’t have a great deal of time to make a decision. We have three choices.”

“Three? Either they join the federation or they don’t. What’s the third choice?”

“If there is a proclivity towards violence, they present an eventual danger to the galaxy. The planet must not be allowed to become a danger.”

“You can’t mean —” Allen sputtered.

“I mean exactly what I said,” said Fearless Leader.

TriSight looked at his emissary friend and back to his leader. What passed through the aide’s mind was indeed troubling.

Song of the year

Ella Langley has been with Mary and me since the beginning. We love to tell the story about how Mary was interested in getting to know me but hesitant about whether to approach me after church, but then she heard the song where Ella says, “if you ever see a man … and you think to yourself, ‘I could use some of that,’ don’t waste your time, just give him this here line …”

The next Sunday morning, she said to me, “Everyone says I’m a hugger, would you mind if I gave you a hug?” and that hug was the beginning of something wonderful. We have followed Ella ever since, and we were tickled when she and Riley Green won a Grammy for “our song.”

And so we have been cheering this year as Ella’s “Choosin’ Texas” has become the biggest song of the year and then — by one key measure — the biggest song of all time. This week it is the No. 1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the 24th week, a feat that has never been done before. 

When the song passed Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” as the all-time chart topper last week, Langley got a lot of attention, not all of it flattering. I saw more than one comment online from people who had never heard “Choosin’ Texas,” and once they did they were not impressed. I even had one friend who checked it out and declared it “a horrible song.”

There’s inevitably going to be fallout when something hits on this scale. Back in 1977, I didn’t get around to seeing Star Wars until two or three months after it became a huge phenomenon, and my first reaction was, “It was pretty good, but it wasn’t THAT good.” Eventually I went to the movie theater to see it seven more times, so I guess it grew on me.

“Choosin’ Texas” isn’t my favorite Ella Langley song — that would be “Loving Life Again” — but it’s been a fun watching the song take on a life of its own. It’s a callback to classic country songs with its references to “Abilene,” “Smoky Mountain Rain” and “Amarillo by Morning,” and touches on the same country heartbreak theme as Dolly Parton’s immortal “Jolene.” It’s enough to leave you drinking Jack Daniels all by yourself.

Whether it’s your proverbial cup of tea or not, “Choosin’ Texas’ has made this Ella Langley’s year, quite literally: This is the 49th week that the song has been listed on the Hot 100, three weeks shy of 12 months. Good on you, young lady.