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Brenden Sager knew exactly how to begin crafting a feature about a local Naval base's imminent closure earlier this month.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter headed out to the Naval Air Station Atlanta and talked to employees and officials. He then filed a 1,000-word story about the internal consequences of shutting down NAS Atlanta -- which the Pentagon has recommended as part of its Base Realignment and Closure project.
NAS Atlanta employs more than 200 civilians and contractors and 4,000 military personnel. Closing it, Sager says, "impacts the community quite a bit."
The BRAC story is layered and important. It is both national and local in scope, with political and social elements, drawing reporters from the national and metro desks. But at its heart, it is a business story.
Most reporters discuss the economic issues of BRAC prominently in their pieces. But by also telling the story through regular people, reporters can make the issue intriguing and comprehensible to the lay reader.
The Pentagon has approved this round of BRAC, the first in a decade, to save $5.5 billion annually after the costs of the initiative are paid, according to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Closing 180 bases and realigning numerous others severely impacts the local economies, especially in communities where they employ large percentages of the local workforce.
That local angle appeals more to readers than any others in the BRAC story, says Eric Schmitt, a military correspondent for The New York Times.
To cover that angle, reporters are turning to Pentagon and base officials, and community leaders, such as economic consultants and chamber of commerce directors.
Those sources can supply a plethora of information, perspectives and data, such as how many jobs would be lost by a closure and how much money that would cost the local economy -- data often calculated by the military or local chambers of commerce.
"You have to rely on the military," says Sager, who covers
Because these figures are sometimes unverifiable, Schmitt says he tries to get to know officials before he interviews them and then decides whether their word is reliable.
"You've got to go out and see who's credible and who isn't," he says. "You look at their credentials. You call them and check them out. You can get a feel for people."
Josh Partlow, who has monitored two
"You could legitimately question their conclusions," Partlow says. "I don't think that's such a crucial point. The point is that it [economic loss] will be significant and that's what you're trying to get across by using those figures."
While the Defense Department was tightlipped about revealing closure and realignment recommendations before the list was publicly released May 13, department officials have been cooperative about other media requests, Partlow says.
That helps reporters craft typical business and news BRAC stories. But making the issue colorful and appealing to the average reader takes more work.
For example, Partlow led a March 6 Post story about the threat to Indian Head, a Naval base in Maryland's Charles County, with an anecdote about how visitors had to turn off their cell phones before entering.
A wireless call could trigger an explosion, he reported, aiming to help readers understand what goes on at Indian Head, where a lot of sensitive material is made. Partlow also hopes that tidbit illustrated how vulnerable Indian Head and the surrounding community would be to closure (the base is the largest employer in
When Sager composed a June 9 story about NAS Atlanta in the Journal-Constitution, he focused on the perspective of base employees. Sager talked to a civilian mechanic and administrator, and the base commander, among others, during his visit to the base.
"We try to play up a more human angle of being outsourced or relocated, which is a universal notion," Sager says. "You can only tell so many people that 2,500 reservists … are going to be moved before it's just a bunch of numbers.
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
