Welcome to Journalism 201, students. I’m instructor Fitzpatrick — you can call me Mr. Fitz — and I’ll be taking you through this single-session course, worth five credit hours toward your journalism degree.
I know that all of you got A’s in Journalism 101, otherwise you wouldn’t be here today.
Before we get started, you can see that I’ve written my expectations on the dry-erase board. Let’s review:
One…Pay attention. If I can’t see your eyes, you’re not listening.
Two…Turn off all electronic devices and store them away. Otherwise I throw them out the window.
Three…No gum chewing. NO GUM! If I see your jaw moving with your mouth closed, you’re going to the dean’s office.
OK, now down to business. Today, we’re going to talk about the “nut graph.”
…Hey, hey! You with the tattoos on your neck and ring through your nose…Stop laughing!
I’m not talking about almonds, cashews, salted nuts or genitalia. There’s nothing funny about the nut graph. This may be the most important, single lesson you learn about journalism, so hark back to Rule No. 1. What does it say? That’s right…pay attention!
OK, as you were, then…So, what do you students think the “nut graph” might be? Anybody…
Yes, you with the tortoise-rimmed glasses and plaid, pooling pants…
That’s precisely right! It’s the key paragraph, found within the first few paragraphs of a lengthy story, that summarizes what the story is all about and why it’s important. It’s the story “in a nutshell.” It’s the one paragraph that is responsible, in many cases, for either keeping the reader reading or losing his interest right off the bat.
…What’s that, young lady right up front here with the mid-thigh skirt and gray-green eyes? Do I have examples? Of course, I do!
Let’s take a look at the front page of Sunday’s Kansas City Star. Feature writer Eric Adler wrote this story about young people who already have fallen into alcoholism and have turned to Alcoholics Anonymous.
Adler starts with an anecdotal lead, describing the young people arriving for a typical AA meeting, this one in a storefront room. Those who introduce themselves include a 20-year-old woman, a 23-year-old woman, a 25-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl.
After seven short, introductory paragraphs — still on the front page before the story “jumps” to the inside — Adler hits us with the nut graph. It reads:
“At a time when binge drinking remains at epidemic levels, and as tens of thousands of high school and college students begin packing for spring break destinations where alcohol flows freely, thousands of other young people nationwide will flow into meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, having concluded that what they once thought was a rite of youth is an addiction.”
What does Adler do in that graph, students? …He tells us something we know — that binge drinking is a big problem — but then he layers it with information that a lot of us probably don’t know — that “thousands of young people” have given up the illusion of partying and have acknowledged that they suffer from a serious illness and want to get better.
Also, putting the icing on the cake, so to speak, Adler reminds us that this story is topical: It’s time for hundreds of thousands of students to descend on warm-weather destinations for a week of drinking and all-out partying.
That graph probably propelled tens of thousands of readers to the “jump,” where he examines the problem in the equivalent of a full page of text. A job well done by a seasoned journalist.
…Hey, hey! You with the black trench coat on…What the hell was that that you just let fall out of your coat sleeve into your hand? Was that a cell phone I saw?…It was your watch, you say? Well, whatever it was, I don’t want to see it again, you understand? You don’t need to know what time it is, anyway…You’re on JimmyC time now.
OK…Here we go with example No 2…
Let’s take a look at this Saturday story in The New York Times about the New Jersey trial of the guy who had his Web cam trained on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, while Tyler was making out with a boyfriend in his dorm room at Rutgers. As you know, Clementi committed suicide a few days later, and his roommate, Dharun Ravi, is being tried on three felony charges, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation.
The reporter, Kate Zernike, starts out the story by recapitulating some key testimony from Friday’s court session…Then, in paragraph eight, shortly after the jump, Zernike delivers this impressive nut graph:
“Mr. Ravi is not charged with Mr. Clementi’s death, but the suicide hangs over the case. It prompted a worldwide debate about the bullying of gay teenagers, particularly in a cyber age, when taunting and harassment come not always face-to-face but on an array of technological devices and forums. Several gay teenagers had committed suicide in the months before Mr. Clementi jumped off the bridge, and his death became a symbol of their collective pain.”
“A symbol of their collective pain…” Isn’t that a nice turn of phrase, students? It not only describes the breadth of the issue but directs your empathy toward the result of the psychological cruelty.
OK, so that’s it, students. Now, what I want you to do after you leave here is, when you read significant stories in the coming days — either online on in print — look for nut graphs. When you find them, think about them…Do they adequately summarize the stories? Are they well crafted? Also, look for stories where you would expect nut graphs but can’t find them. It happens a lot. Not all papers and other publications make them as high a priority as they should.
Class dismissed, then. Thanks for your attention…
Hey, wait a minute…you with the trench coat…Can I borrow your cell phone? I left mine at home and need to call my wife to see what she wants me to pick up at the store.
Thanks, buddy, I hope you enjoyed the class…
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Professor Fitz – I saw a story on the Star’s web site yesterday about the Missouri Speaker of the House wanting to place a bust of Rush Limbaugh in the Hall of Fame at the Capitol. Should I reasonably expect to have found a “nut graph” in that story or just a couple of nuts? Would that story be front page material or out-the-window material along with those annoying electonic devices you were worried about? What is your expert opinion? Thanks!
The Limbaugh story is the lead story (A1, top right) in today’s published edition, Rick. And rightly so…The decision on whom to select for for the Hall of Famous Missourians lies solely with the speaker of the House, in this case Republican Steve Tilley, who lives in Perryville, Mo., about 35 miles north of Limbaugh’s hometown, Cape Girardeau.
So, Tilley has selected a like-minded Republican from his area of the state, and it has caused a big furor. It’s a symbolic honor, and, as Tilley said, “It’s not the Hall of Universally Loved Missourians.”
This is not a story with significant social consequences, but it it a fun story and will have tremendous readership. Smart move by The Star to lead with it in today’s paper….And, no, it doesn’t need a nut graph: Some stories speak for themselves.
Thanks Fitz! Interesting inside baseball stuff.
The Adler story was brilliant! It was also timely as a good friend of mine just got out of rehab for the third time, at the tender age of 26. He has struggled with making meetings a part of his recovery and he’s having trouble with his HP. For anyone familiar with addition and recovery Mr. Adler’s article touched on all the bases. I’m sure it has been forwarded all the way around the world by now. Not only was it great journalism, it may very well save some lives.
I know that you substitute teach in the SM school district. How do your classroom rules fly there?
I’m glad you enjoyed the piece, Smartman…Eric is one of The Star’s stellar writers and reporters. He brings a lot of brain power and focus to his work and has a very appealing way about him, too.
About the teaching…The most flouted rule in high schools everywhere is the “no electronics” rule. These kids have figured out all kinds of ways to get access to them during class; I’ve even heard that some kids can text without looking at the screen.
I was helping with a class at Shawnee Mission North a couple of years ago, when a very popular teacher brought up the subject of texting. “How many of you are texting right now?” he asked. About 10 hands flew up. He went right on with the class.
The one situation I depicted in the story, where the guy cradles the phone in his coat sleeve…I’ve seen it done. There’s almost always a giveaway sign, however, that a kid is texting: He’s looking at you, and not like he’s interested in what you’re saying..just looking at you like, “Do you know what I’m doing?” Oh, yes, I do.
Despite the “no electronics” rule, most teachers don’t take the time to write kids up and send them to the office because it’s generally not a disruptive activity. There are so many more disconcerting things to worry about — insolence, kids who can’t or won’t sit still, compulsive talkers — that it’s not worth interrupting class to write up a cellphone user. Besides, while you’re writing one kid up, that gives everybody else an opportunity to fire off a quick text.
A phrase and technique (Nut Graph) I was not familiar with, even with the “inverted pyramid” of Arch Wrisinger (of local legend) at Ruskin [High Light] and Mizzou’s J-school.
It seems to be that the NYT example is bad form because the nut graph was after the jump. If I didn’t know what the story was about by the time it jumped, why bother? I thought the inverted pyramid of importance was the rule and nut graphs 7 and 8 paragraphs down doesn’t seem to fit with that style.
PS, you might want to make sure the guy with the trench coat on is wearing pants – or maybe not.
As a rule, John, I would agree with you, but in this case, the start of the story was so riveting that a “delayed nut graph” — a term that is used in journalism — was in order.
Here’s how the story began:
“As he and his new boyfriend lay naked on a bed in a nondescript dormitory room at Rutgers University, the man sensed he was being spied on.
“As he left the room that night, he testified, he passed a group of students looking at him in a way that unsettled him. When he and his boyfriend, Tyler Clementi, met in the room again two nights later, he said, he heard people joking outside, in tones suggesting it was at someone else’s expense.
“He said he had hoped he would see Mr. Clementi again — they had been exchanging e-mails for weeks, though they had had only three dates. But he was not sure he wanted to return to the dorm.
“They never saw each other again. Mr. Clementi, an 18-year-old student at Rutgers, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge the next evening, Sept. 22, 2010, after posting a message on Facebook that ended, ‘sorry.’ ”
Thanks, Jim, for letting me know about the placement of the Limbaugh bust story in The Star. Just got back from Joplin, where The Star is probably available in print form somewhere if I look hard enough for it. Kudos are in order for some of our Rockhurst College kids, mostly girls in this case, who are spending their Spring Week in J-town helping with the rebuilding effort. No nuts in the bunch that I could tell, but I literally did work with some nuts and bolts in assembling a couple of ladder jacks for wall work. We had a strong, fairly hot wind out of the south all morning and into the early PM. Rush must’ve been speaking down in Arkansas somewhere.
Funny line…Limbaugh spewing hot air from the South.
It would be interesting to know how many copies of The Star are sent to Joplin every day…I’ll bet it’s not very many, and I would think you could only find them in convenience stores and maybe a few racks around hotels.
@Fitz, understand.
Like the squirrel who gathers nuts in preparing for the long winter ahead, I will endeavor to keep looking for those elusive “nut graphs” as I peruse the pages of The Star and other newspapers. Moreover, I will endeavor to circle the ones I do come across and save the clippings for future reference. Given the ever-shrinking “news hole” in America’s papers, what do you think the days ahead have in store for the “nut graph” as a potential tool of journalists?
Some techniques come and go — like the dreaded “Boca Jump” of the late 80s, I believe. Named for the Boca Raton paper that initiated it, the Boca Jump gave a three or four paragraph summary of the story on Page 1 and then guided the reader to an inside story on the the same subject. In other words, you got to read the same story twice, just in more detail inside. Crazy…We all hated it at The Star. But almost every other major metropolitan daily was doing it (The Star never originates anything), and we, obviously, couldn’t be left behind. It faded away after less than a year, as I recall.
As for the nut graph, don’t worry, Rick, it will always be with us; a writer has got to provide a summary paragraph or two if he or she wants the reader to stick around for the whole she-bang.