{"id":1560,"date":"2021-02-20T18:57:38","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T18:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/journalism\/?page_id=1560"},"modified":"2026-01-08T03:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:45:36","slug":"how-to-cover-city-council","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/journalism\/how-to-cover-city-council\/","title":{"rendered":"How to write a city council story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Radford Va city council meeting via Zoom & Facebook Livestream. Zoom meetings became common in March, 2020 as a way to stop the spread of coronavirus. Now that meetings are once again being held in person, the gain in public access is being lost.<\/p><\/div>\n

Imagine you’ve been assigned to write about a City Council meeting. There are a dozen speakers and a bunch of different issues. How do you decide what’s important?<\/p>\n

First, be sure you have the following:<\/p>\n

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  1. Background<\/strong> — Who’s who —\u00a0 Be sure you know who the council members and staffers are. For instance: https:\/\/www.radfordva.gov\/179\/City-Council.<\/li>\n
  2. Agenda<\/strong> — What’s what — Have the agenda handy in case you need to be more specific about ordinance numbers or the topics of public hearings. For instance:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.radfordva.gov\/AgendaCenter\/City-Council-2<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Record the meeting.<\/strong> (Or find out where it is already recorded) Follow the meeting and take notes, along with time notations, so you can go back to your recording and get an exact quote if you need to. (Experienced reporters capture their direct quotes as they go along).<\/p>\n

    Write a lead.<\/strong>\u00a0 You’ll need to use your news judgement to decide which of the agenda items is most important.\u00a0 Sometimes, what is important to city officials is also what is important to your audience. If there is a well attended public hearing on a controversial new ordinance, that, obviously, is where you lead will focus.\u00a0 But sometimes the day-to-day work of government is too\u00a0 far down in the weeds for your audience.\u00a0 Think of what will matter to them. Example:\u00a0 If an engineer’s report says the football stadium lights are unstable, and could fall any time in a high wind, that would be a more important news item for your audience than, say, how the city is negotiating a lower rate for a municipal bond, which is the kind of detailed work that we expect our city governments to do well, but without a lot of public input.<\/p>\n

    For a small city, the following list of typical items might help you prioritize, but, as always, common sense and experience will help you develop you own news judgement.<\/p>\n

    Priority issues for\u00a0 news coverage in a small city\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Human life,\u00a0 public health, environment and medicine (the pandemic, for example)<\/li>\n
    2. Criminal justice, courts, law, police, public safety<\/li>\n
    3. Elections and democratic politics<\/li>\n
    4. Education, school board, libraries<\/li>\n
    5. City finances &\u00a0 infrastructure (transportation, utilities, etc)<\/li>\n
    6. Economic issues for the city’s business community<\/li>\n
    7. Land use (parks, zoning) and long term planning<\/li>\n
    8. Reports from and appointments to boards and commissions<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      City council priorities\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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      1. Proposals and votes about ordinances, budgets, hiring & firing of city officials, managing operations<\/li>\n
      2. Public hearings<\/li>\n
      3. Discussions and presentation about public issues<\/li>\n
      4. Closed non-public sessions (personnel, real estate or legal issues)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Five “W”s and other news tips\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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        1. Your job is to summarize and highlight what happened in the public meeting. Be brief.<\/li>\n
        2. Remember to consider the who, what, where, when, why and how.<\/li>\n
        3. Stick to the main facts. Example:\n
            \n
          1. City Council voted yesterday to approve a new ordinance that would\u00a0 \u2026<\/li>\n
          2. Not this:<\/em>\u00a0 After the pledge of allegiance and a greeting from our wonderful mayor, city council tackled a couple of interesting things on their agenda that I thought were very interesting, including a new ordinance that would …<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
          3. Use at least two or three direct quotes to add life and color, high up in the story. These should come directly from city council members, staff or public comments made in the meetings, not just from a random observer.\n
              \n
            1. Don’t use quotes for everyday facts.\u00a0 Example: “The\u00a0 population of our city is 41,000,” the mayor said.<\/li>\n
            2. Use quotes for opinions from people in the city council meetings. “With 41,000 people in the city, you’d think we would have a decent ice cream shop,” the mayor said.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
            3. Use objective methods.\u00a0 Get the best quotes and information from all sides of all controversy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
            4. Be neutral. Don’t make editorial comments, even for obviously good or bad things. Quote other people making those comments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
            5. Avoid personal references and opinions. A news article is not the place to tell your readers \/ audience what you think.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
            6. Follow up to make sure you have accurate spelling of speakers names and a good understanding of issues and resources for the public.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Structure your story\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Once you have a lead and color quotes up front, develop the information in your story in a logical way.\u00a0 Often you’ll need to have a paragraph that serves as a “roadmap.”\u00a0 Example:\n
                  \n
                1. There are three possible futures for the hydro dam, city engineer Steve Smith said:\u00a0 Abandonment, status quo, or rebuilding. Each has their benefits and drawbacks… (Then use a paragraph or two for each possibility).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
                2. You may need to add other information in the same story, and you’ll probably use a transitional paragraph. Example:\n
                    \n
                  1. “In other city council action, the mayor sent in a proposal for a new municipal swimming pool. “<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Additional items and media\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n