Covering the angles

Ashley M. Heher, retail writer for The Associated Press, helps readers understand what’s missing from their mailboxes in her article about the decrease in junk mail. She offers varied sources of information and good data as support.

Today’s Tip: Think about all the parties involved when you’re reporting and seek to provide all those voices.

Ashley’s article has a consumer, big-name catalogers, the U.S. Postal Service and a direct-mail company. When it comes to junk mail, that list about wraps it up. The process works the same way when you’re reporting on health insurance: doctors, hospitals, insured and uninsured patients, large and small employers, free clinics. Stopping to think about the voices you need upfront eliminates the dreaded “Why didn’t you call me?” after publication.

The article would have served readers even better with a link to the Direct Marketing Association’s Web site to opt out (or in) for direct mail.