Local Reporting 101
You don’t need a journalism degree to cover your community. You need curiosity, honesty, and a willingness to do the work. This guide will walk you through everything — from your first pitch to your finished story.
How Freelancing with Newsberg Works
Newsberg is a community-supported local news outlet. We rely on local contributors — neighbors, parents, retirees, small business owners — to help us cover the stories that matter to Newberg. You don’t need to be a professional journalist. You do need to be fair, accurate, and willing to follow our editorial process.
Pitch your idea
Send us a short email describing the story you want to cover — what it’s about, why it matters to Newberg, and who you’d talk to. We’ll get back to you within a few days. If we assign it, we’ll discuss the angle, word count, and deadline together.
Report and write your draft
Once assigned, you’ll do your reporting — interviews, documents, on-the-ground observation — and write your story. Don’t worry about making it perfect on the first try. That’s what editing is for.
Edit together
An editor at Newsberg will review your draft and send it back with questions, suggestions, and fixes. This is a collaborative process — we’re not grading you, we’re making the story as good as it can be.
Publish and get paid
Once the story is approved, it publishes on newsberg.org and often goes into the newsletter. We pay a per-story rate discussed at assignment. Community contributors are credited by name in every byline.
How to Write a News Story
News writing is different from most other kinds of writing. It’s not an essay, a blog post, or an opinion column. The goal is simple: give the reader the most important information as clearly and quickly as possible.
The Five W’s (and H)
Every news story answers six questions. If your draft can’t answer all six, you’re not done reporting yet.
- Who is this story about?
- What happened or is happening?
- When did it happen or will it happen?
- Where did it take place?
- Why did it happen, and why does it matter?
- How did it happen?
Writing the Lede
The lede (first sentence or two) is the most important part of your story. It should give the reader the core of the story — ideally in under 40 words — and make them want to keep reading.
“The Newberg City Council held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening at City Hall, where a number of topics were discussed by council members.”
“Newberg’s city council voted 4–3 Tuesday to approve a $2.4 million contract for downtown sidewalk repairs — over objections from business owners who say the construction will hurt foot traffic.”
Quotes: Less Is More
Use direct quotes for opinions, reactions, and things only that person could say. Use paraphrase for facts and background — it’s almost always cleaner.
- Get the exact words right — never paraphrase a quote inside quotation marks
- Attribute every quote: “said [Name], [title]”
- One strong quote beats three mediocre ones
- Don’t use quotes just to have a quote — use them when the person’s own words add something
Keep It Clean
Good news writing is invisible. The reader should never notice the writing — only the information. A few rules:
- Short sentences. One idea per sentence when possible.
- Active voice: “The council approved the budget” — not “The budget was approved by the council”
- No jargon, no adverbs, no editorial opinion disguised as fact
- Numbers under 10 are spelled out; 10 and above use numerals
- When in doubt, cut it. If a sentence doesn’t add anything, it probably takes something away.
The Inverted Pyramid
The inverted pyramid is the core structure of a news story. Put the most important information first, then fill in context and background, and leave the least essential details for last. This way, a reader who stops after two paragraphs still gets the story — and an editor who needs to cut for space can trim from the bottom without losing anything critical.
The Lede
Who, what, when, where — the core news in 1–2 sentences. The reason anyone should read this story.
The second and third paragraphs. Explain why it matters, add the most important supporting facts, and include the key quote.
Background, other voices, additional quotes, related history. Deepens the story for readers who want more.
General Background
Context that’s useful but not essential. Safe to cut if space is tight. Boilerplate about organizations, related upcoming dates, etc.
A Crash Course in Journalism Ethics
Journalism ethics aren’t a list of rules designed to make your life harder. They’re the practices that make people trust what you write — and trust is the only thing that makes local journalism worth anything. Here are the principles we hold ourselves and our contributors to.
Accuracy Above All
Get the facts right. Spell names correctly. Verify numbers. If you’re not sure about something, don’t publish it — ask your editor. A single factual error damages trust in ways that are hard to rebuild. When in doubt, verify again.
Give Everyone a Fair Chance to Respond
If your story makes a negative claim about a person or organization, you must give them the opportunity to respond before publishing. This isn’t optional. Contact them, ask for comment, and include their response — or note that they declined to comment. This protects you and the publication.
Transparency About Who You Are
Always identify yourself as a reporter for Newsberg when reaching out for interviews or information. Never misrepresent your identity or purpose to get a story. If a source asks whether they’re being recorded, tell them the truth.
Conflicts of Interest
Don’t cover organizations you’re involved in, businesses you have a financial relationship with, or stories where you have a personal stake in the outcome. If you think there might be a conflict — even a small one — disclose it to your editor before you start reporting. We’ll figure out together whether you’re the right person for the story.
Off the Record — What It Actually Means
Information is only “off the record” if you agree to those terms before the source shares it. You can’t retroactively agree to keep something off the record. When a source asks to go off the record, you can agree or decline — but be clear about which you’re doing. “On background” (information you can use but not attribute by name) and “on the record” (fully attributable) are also common terms worth knowing.
Separate News from Opinion
In a news story, your opinion doesn’t appear — period. You report what people said and did, not what you think about it. If you believe a policy is bad or a person is wrong, the way to express that is through reported facts and fair quotes from people on all sides — not through your own editorial voice. Opinion and analysis pieces are different, and they’re labeled as such.
Practical Tips for New Reporters
Record your interviews
Always ask permission first (“Mind if I record this so I get the quotes right?”). Most people say yes. A recording protects you and your source if there’s ever a dispute about what was said.
Take notes anyway
Even with a recording, take notes. Write down the best quotes as they happen, note body language, jot questions that come to mind. Notes help you find things you couldn’t easily search for in an audio file.
Call, don’t just email
Emails get ignored. A phone call or in-person ask gets you a much better response rate — and often a better interview. People talk more openly on the phone than in writing.
Get documents
City council agendas, budget reports, meeting minutes, permit applications — these are almost always public record and often contain exactly the details you need. Ask for them. Oregon has strong public records laws.
Follow up
The best stories come from following up on earlier stories. If you covered a city council vote, check back six months later — did anything actually change? Follow-up reporting is rare and almost always valuable.
Show up in person
Go to the school board meeting, the community cleanup, the ribbon cutting. Being there gives you detail, color, and quotes that a phone call never will. It also builds relationships — sources who’ve met you in person are more likely to call you when something happens.
Pitch Your Story to Newsberg
Have a story idea? An issue you think deserves coverage? A community voice that isn’t being heard? We want to hear from you. Fill out the form below — a few sentences about what you want to cover and why it matters — and we’ll take it from there.
First-time contributors are welcome. We’ll work through the process with you.
- A clear subject — one story, not five
- A sentence on why Newberg readers need to know this
- At least one person you’d interview
- Why you’re the right person to report it
- Local government and public policy
- Schools, nonprofits, and community organizations
- Local business and economic development
- Arts, culture, and community life
- Public safety and infrastructure
Submit Your Story Pitch
Tell us what you want to cover. We review all pitches and follow up within a few days.