Gift to

dients. Components will include
newness, imm edia cy,
prominence, proximity,
suspense, con sequence,
emotions, and /or oddity.
Get a copy of any Sunday
newspaper and examine
the features section,
You will find stories about
hobbies, unusual and
unique interests, and personalities.
Others ma y be
yarns that include everything
from fire prevention
to hurricane protection and
diet.
Pick a few of the
"straight" or " hard" news
stories from page one and
clip them. Select a feature
or two from t he Sunday
paper, and save both types
of stories as patterns for
yours.
Recognize that what you
do at the club meeting
Saturday can be news. Play
it all the way with an advance
"what's gonna happen
Saturday" story and a
follow-up " w hat did hap ­
pen" piece. An ad vance
story explaining that the
local repeater bunch , for inst
ance, will install au topatch
rather than have a
formal meeting is marketable
" ha rd" ne ws and
feature material. That club
members, for example, are
building the autopatch in
Joe's garage employing 30
key-thumpers from all
walks of life could give the
story the " feat ure" or
" hum an interest" angle
needed to unload your ya rn
at the city desk.
Nobody but a ham gives
a hoot in hell about ICs,
capacitors, and othe r miscellanea
of th e autopatch,
but readers do need to
know what a repeater
means to th em and how th e
autopatch serves in eme r­
gencies. They w i l l be
amazed that a walkie-talkie
can call a t elephone 15
miles away when their $350
CB won't reach a " good
buddy" down at th e pool
hall.
This gathering in Joe's
garage ma y also be w ort h a
high quality photograph
- in black and w h i t e,
precisel y focu sed , ac ­
cu rately exposed, well ­
planned, artistically composed,
and expertly printed .
A picture of th e w ho le mob,
beer cans and all , staring at
a nervou sly-held lnstamatic
is not news. A penetr ating
closeup of a 13-year-old
ham feeding so lder to the
gun tip mastered by the retired
ph ysician can be fe a­
tured on th e front page.
Good news or feature
photography tells mu ch of
the st o ry w it ho ut words,
although new s and feature
shots are supported by w ritten
capti ons under them,
called " cut lines." The best
photojournalism, however,
could st and alone.
In addition to ensuring
that the photograph is
te chnically tops, remember
that newspapers have limited
space. Their income s
are from advertising and
every word or picture is
"worked around " the dollar,
which is valuable spac e.
A group picture of the
beer-belly bunch consumes
at le ast three column s
of costly space to get ever y
grinning, yaw ning, shuteye
d mug. The suggest ed
" t ight" closeup, preferably
shot ve rt ically, id eally w ill
be a two-column shot, but
might even fi t in one . Sure,
it w ould be great to have
three or four columns, but
one top-grade photo w il l
find its w ay to publication
when a dozen " handshaking
, certificate-p assin g"
shots won 't stand a chance.
A wide angle 24mm or
28mm lens on a 35mm single-lens
reflex and a perspective
approach can help.
Outstanding examples of
agel ess phot ojournali sm of
th e hi ghes t quality can be
seen in an y old copy of Life.
Good photographers cra wl
in holes, bear blizzards ,
scale towers, and wallow in
lee ch-infested swamps, if
necessary, for that different,
unusual angl e. Look
for the vi ew t hat snat ches
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read er attenti on. Don't
underestimate the impact
of a fine photo to " sell"
your story.
Thirt y bu ck s or so ou t of
the club treasury for a professional
photographer is
w o rt hw hile if your gro up
can 't tap a member or
fr iend w it h a high-qu ali t y
camera and a trained eye.
Newspaper photogs don't
earn much money, and
most will freelance. Not only
will you get a quality sho t
from them , but newspapers
like to run their own stuff.
Snappy 8 x 10 glossy
print s are preferred by mo st
papers, and that size grabs
the green-eyeshade gang's
attention mu ch quicker
than your loc al drugstore
snaps ho t t ha t looks as
though it were de veloped
along with your tee nager's
socks in Monday's laundry.
A photo isn ' t al ways
called for, and th ere are
many other opportunities
for new s or feature rele ases
eve n if yo ur club isn't
meeting in Joe's garag e.
Story suggestions include
the following:
• Adv ance story on election
o f officers; po stmeeting
story on who was
elec t ed .
• Adv ance stories on all
club meetings - where they
w il l be held, w hen, and w hy .
• Adv ance stories on all
fund- raising activities and
w hat t he income w ill be
used f o r; fo llow-up on how
much w as raised and how it
w ill be used.
• Features or "brites" on
unusual contacts: A chat
w it h VR6TC, citing hi s relationship
to th e HMS Bounty,
t ies in hi story and adds
color to your hobby. A conversat
ion with any "rare" or
fam ous station is good for
at least a fe w lines (and
ma ybe a photo) in Sunday's
paper.
• Every field da y should be
co ver ed photographically
and in writing. This calls for
73 Magazine . October, 1980 77