Class, for today’s Journalism 101 lesson we’ll learn how to meet deadlines by plumping up odd incidents into gripping news events.
The story of a sick pelican crashing into a car may not seem to the layman to make for particularly interesting news. But on a slow news day you too can learn how to massage it into headline-worthy material. Let’s see…. How about saying the pelican was intoxicated and is now being held on suspicion of flying under the influence? But nobody would believe it! Or would they?
Calif. pelicans held on suspicion of being drunk
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — "Four pelicans suspected of being drunk on sea algae were being tested at a Southern California wildlife centre on Saturday after one of them crashed headlong into a car.
"Three of the California brown pelicans were found wandering dazed in the streets of Laguna Beach after another pelican struck a vehicle’s windscreen on a nearby coast road.
"It suffered internal injuries and a long gash in its pouch and was undergoing toxicology tests.
"Officials at the Wildlife Care Centre said the seabirds may have been under the influence of algae in the ocean that can produce domoic acid poisoning when eaten."
And that, my young journalistic apprentices, is how you turn a Non-Story into a Story.
