Business Daily on January 29 ran a story that read like gobbledygook. The headline said, “Current account deficit at 10-year low.” Here, sample the story:
“Kenya’s current account deficit narrowed to a 10-year low of 4.6 percent in the 12 months to December 2019 from five percent a year earlier.”
To a business savvy reader, that intro is spot on. But to a Standard Eight pupil, the average newspaper reader, it’s an attention killer right off the gate.
By the third paragraph, the story by Charles Mwaniki needed a business encyclopedia. Here, an example:
“The regulator (meaning Central Bank) had projected the deficit as a percentage of GDP to come in lower by the end of the year in earlier Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings – estimating 4.3 percent in the November meeting – but lower earnings from commodities expert weight against the expectations.”
It was all Greek. Until the fourth paragraph:
“A narrowing of the deficit in the current account, which is a balance of the country’s forex inflows and expenditure, helps the shilling due to the reduced pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves that finance external payments.”
Aha! That paragraph, the nut graph, is the explainer. It saves the story.
Every news story ought to have a nut graph. It provides context in readable English. It summarizes the essence of a story, explaining swiftly why what you’re reading is important.
**********
The Standard last week raised eyebrows with two surprising decisions.
One, the story that sold the newspaper on February 1 had no author. No solid byline. No ownership.
The headline leaped off the front page: “How Raila oath altered power mix.” The story was a withering analysis that may have been, indeed, lead-story quality. Why an analysis should be yanked off the inside pages and slapped on the front page to sell a newspaper is a matter for another debate. The matter here is, who wrote the story? By Special Correspondent, the Standard told us.
Who the heck is Special Correspondent? That headline cried for a legitimate byline.
Two, the story of Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria pulling a stunt last week at a public forum for the Building Bridges Initiative in Kitui was reported February 1 by most media outlets. All narrated how in the middle of Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana’s speech, Kuria, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, reportedly stormed the dais, caused a scuffle in the background and got thrown off his chair. The host, Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, order him removed for allegedly insulting the President.
The resulting photo of Kuria dressed in a sharp business suit but sitting in dirt surrounded by security agents had a powerful, dramatic effect.
In the online editions, all other media carried the story in full. The Standard did something different. In their version titled, “Kuria ordered to leave BBI rally minutes after arriving,” the story came to a sudden halt after five paragraphs.
Next, a signpost: “For more of this and other stories, grab your copy of The Standard newspaper.”
That signpost was a hyperlink to an App for The Standard Digital e-Paper, which is charged. It’s innovative. But how effective is a teaser followed by a prompt to buy the full story? This is going to work, we should all hope.
