props to "math champ" author

So I stumbled onto the lovely homepage of Brigham Young University and one of the featured articles caught my eye. I clicked on the link and was brought to a page full of text that under normal circumstances I probably would not have read. But I started....and kept going to the end. Now most journalists are well aware and somewhat accepting of the fact that readers are not likely to read an article in its entirety. Hence, the journalistic format--the inverted pyramid.

As this diagram shows, the crucial information goes at top (Who, what, why, where, how) because the reader "could stop reading at any time." And journalists write to accommodate that. While this is just one format, it captures the idea that journalists are trying to balance providing the information you need with providing an intriguing, interesting angle that will make you WANT to get all the way through the article.

So I have to say props to the unknown author of "National math champ commits to BYU" (Having been that unknown author several times myself, it's nice to have people appreciate your article even if they don't know its from you.)

I think the author did an excellent job of finding a unique and intriguing story through which a lot of other information could also be tied in. Not only does this article focus on BYU freshmen Sam Dittmer and his unique accomplishments, but it also uses this story opportunity to focus on the new school year with 4,684 new freshmen, BYU's impressive ranking (tied with Harvard) for the rate of admitted students who enroll, its excellent math department, BYU's success record in national math Olympiads, BYU's role as a launching pad for graduate schools, and BYU's top-ranking intramural participation.

Now you might naturally fit some of those topics together, but this story does an excellent job of reaching outside of the box and bringing in topics that you might not ever relate to a high school kid from Illinois. Not to mention, this is a fantastic story for presenting stats about a school. Take the general idea, find an interesting quirk, and use that quirk to present the idea and information in a way that make people care.

I've written my share of stories about school and personal rankings so I know first-hand some of the challenges that come when writing such a story. While working at the Marriott School, I wrote these stories EVERY TIME a new ranking came out. Sometimes we had a half hour to turn around and publish/release the stats....which gave us time to give the normal, boring, informational facts that BYU went up two rankings from last year, is among schools such as X, Y, and Z, and was recognized for its exceptional faculty...and blah, blah, blah. Sometimes, I would even just update a story from the previous year, changing the dating information and, of course, the ranking (which hopefully went up). But no one really cares about all that. They care about people, situations, experiences.

Anyways, I was impressed with this article and all that the author accomplished with it. I think it is an excellent example of a great way to present information and to connect with the reader in a way that keeps them reading...in the end, they've read the whole thing and know all about the success BYU is experience in a variety of fields. This is something I would use to show journalism students how to present a story....and maybe I will someday. (For those of you who don't know, I would LOVE to teach a high school journalism class one day!)