Behind the Story: When local news goes national

Last week, thousands of students nationwide staged walkouts at their schools in protest over gun violence. That headline is true to what happened and, whatever your political stance, is powerful on a national and international level.

But what did you see when you looked out the window? How did - or didn't - this act of protest matter to your community? 

Could it be that your middle-schooler in Scottsdale, Ariz., was suspended for protesting, along with 39 others? Or that you couldn't find any media coverage from what happened in Greenville County, N.C., because the media was banned from covering it?

There are a lot of reasons to care about the news, and a lot of vantages from which the news can be understood. The Paste BN NETWORK, composed of Paste BN and more than 100 local markets (likely the reason you're getting this newsletter - hi new subscribers!), is exactly positioned to cover stories that matter on both a local and national level. 

"Our coverage was so comprehensive and representative of the entire country, I felt very proud to be a part of it," says Holly Moore, Manager of Network Engagement. "We had reporters in the Florida school where it all started and reporters covering schools where students chose to not participate. We were at the Capitol and the West Coast. The Paste BN Network has such a diverse footprint, we really shine when the story is everywhere."

To get the full story required planning. Moore started by asking editors to share their plans so they could all be organized in one place. From there, she analyzed what collaboration could happen, and got strategizing -- for everything from impactful image galleries to reporting to a rolling Instagram story takeover.

"The list of people involved is super long. We have editors at each of our 110 news sites, social media editors, interactive storytelling teams, video producers. It takes a village to tell a story across the country. Communication varies by group, most of it is through email, but there are also calls, video conferencing and Slack conversations," Moore says.

One of the places where everything came together was the main news article on USATODAY.com, which was reported with help from more than 60 feeds from cities across the U.S. and a contributor byline including 17 people.

To make that happen, Paste BN Breaking News Reporter Christal Hayes made sure the story went live right in the morning and would be updated throughout the day. She used feeds from around the Paste BN NETWORK to get voices and color from students, teachers and school administrators on the protests and how schools were handling the events. (Oh yeah, and she also reported in person from Washington, D.C.)

Hayes says there's a shift when reporting versus putting together a national story.

"If an officer is killed, we add in how many others have been killed this year and why this time is different, if a bridge collapses, we look at other big disasters over the years and infrastructure as a national issue," she says. "You have to take a step back from the breaking news aspect, and try to include some context and some bigger-picture themes."

And ultimately, Hayes says, "You have to think and write for your audience and ask yourself why does this matter, what's different about this and how can I make both someone living in New York City and rural Indiana care about this."

Behind the Story is a bi-weekly exclusive subscriber newsletter giving you a peek into how the Paste BN NETWORK's biggest stories come together. 

Want to see more collaboration? Check out the 1968 project, capturing the year that transformed the USA.