What do you do if your news story lacks a clear angle?

I always think, what would I tell a friend about this story? You will always chose the most interesting aspect of a piece to share with a mate - not the boring bits! Thats the story - right there.

Na minha avaliação, mais importante do que ter um ângulo claro (o que denota a ideia de que tenho que escolher apenas um ângulo) é ter uma exposição clara de ideias e argumentos. Podemos ter vários ângulos num texto, desde que a narrativa faça sentido e seja compreendida. Aliás, penso que a diversidade de ideias, enfoques e opiniões (desde que sejam qualificadas e não apenas "achismos") enrique o debate.

If the story seems to lack a clear angle, it may be that the writer doesn't fully grasp its essence. I find it helpful to distill the core message into a short sentence, concise enough to be shouted to someone with weak hearing from a great distance.

— It can be explained by their association of the term “journalism” with agenda setting “hard news” either based on current events, When writing a story, a journalist will consider what angle to take. The angle has to do with the story's point of view, or perspective.

Este processo se relaciona mais a etapa de produção da notícia. É certo que durante o momento de análise de informações, ou dados, podemos ter a dificuldade de encontrar o melhor recorte/ângulo para a notícia. Com isso, pensar no fator "qual a mensagem que quero gerar aos leitores?" pode ser uma alternativa para um lide mais assertivo.

A story is only as good as its reader. Ask a colleague, manager or industry professional to look it over. Read it cold and get their insights, perspective. Really helps with finding the point of your article. Develop your journalist’s “third-eye” also, take a break (a glass of wine helps) and then read it back again. The angle may be hidden and just needs fleshing out, or requires digging deeper. Ask yourself “why is this story /issue important?” along your editorial journey.

Sometimes I try to shut down my journalist ratio and think as a ordinary people do. Observing story from different psichological perception also can be very helpfull.

I usualy carefully observe posibble consequences of publishing story on particular person. If I find some posibble negative consequenses, I drop the story.

Após pensar na mensagem que se deseja gerar aos leitores, é importante pensar em humanizar o texto para comunicar a mensagem da informação. Escrever uma notícia de forma mecânica, sem levar em consideração aspectos que a tornem impactante gera apenas mais um texto que pode ser gerado por IA. Um recurso pode ser as aspas dos entrevistados.

Finding new angle is crucial, especialy in nowdays. Thinking out of the box is crucial for any story. Searching for a story mode is constantly turned on in my brain.

You can add a different angle to add interest and create a better impact. Try asking questions which invoke interest or begin with some shocking statements which can be debatable. Any picture or video to capture attention is also a good technique. Play of words with a dash of humour or drama also can add punch to the articles.

In certain situations where I might not have a colleague nearby, I often seek opinions from whoever is available to give me their perspective on what I'm writing, always mindful of the "so what" factor. This approach has consistently proven effective for me.