Demetria Stephens’ first pitch

Name: Demetria Stephens
Your story format for this assignment:
_____ Text (2 photos and/or graphics)
   X    Video
_____ Live tweet, Storify version of tweets and story (1 photo and/or graphic)
Your pitch, written directly and concisely in one paragraph (imagine what your lede or nut graf would be) – 20 points

University of Nebraska-Lincoln students will be challenged to recycle as much as possible from Feb. 3 through March 2. It’s part of Recyclemania, a competition for colleges and universities. UNL is competing in its fourth year.

Explain why your audience would find your story compelling – 15 points

People on UNL’s campuses can see the recycling bins and they’re easy enough to use, but few know how effective the system is, who collects the recycling and where it goes. Interest and knowledge about recycling is growing. UNL climbed from 181st in Recyclemania 2010, to 159 in 2011 and 125th in 2012, based on the rate recycled during the competition.

Explain why this story is best told using this format – 15 points.

Video is best for this story because recycling has a lot of action. Video would show what kind of things are recycled and the scale of recycling.

How will you tell this story visually?  Please be specific. For example, list potential B roll shots for your video story – 10 points

I’d try to show the recycling process from the time someone tosses something in a bin, the collection and where it ends up, at a recycling plant. I expect to see heaps and mounds of recycling. There might be some gross bags in there, too, that can’t be recycled. And I might get some footage of people tossing something recyclable in the trash. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get in the recycling plant yet.

List the names and titles of the sources you plan to use in your story – 10 points.

Jeff Henson – UNL Recycling Coordinator
Troy Davis – Recycling Handler

What roles will your identified sources play in the story? – 10 points

Henson coordinates events and does office work for UNL Recycling.. Davis picks up recycling.

List the names and titles of the sources you have already contacted for the story – 10 points. (If you have not reached any sources, please leave this blank. If you are live tweeting, list the hashtag you have chosen and what other hashtags you might include in the course of tweeting.)

Jeff Henson – UNL Recycling Coordinator

What is your back-up story idea if this one falls through? – 10 points

The UNL Garden Gang club that started last semester is going to schools around Lincoln to teach children about gardening.