Reply #7: I have noticed that to be typical of most news stories these days. [View All]

I teach writing classes in college, and one of the things that many young students have trouble with is getting outside their own heads and figuring out what their readers need to know. They know the stuff they are writing about, so it doesn't occur to them that their readers don't unless they tell them.

I always tell my students that if they raise questions in their readers' mind, then they should at least try to address those questions, but it is hard for them to understand that they have even raised questions.

But those are college freshmen and sophomores. By the time someone is a reporter, he should already know that his stories should have actual information in them. It's called basic reporting!