Explaining Why a Topic Matters

How to put information into a broader context and show readers why they should care.

Context-establishing questions

• Why do you care? And why should we care?
• Whom or what does your topic affect?
• How is it relevant to border questions in the filed, to the world today and to our own lives?

Most informational journalism explicitly addresses those questions. A recent piece about the coronavirus, for instance, begins with a story about a sick Chinese man who hasn’t been able to get even basic care at a local hospital. Then the story pulls back and gives us this context:

As it struggles to combat a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened more than 4,500 people and killed 106, the Chinese government is relying on a medical system that is overburdened and overwhelmed even in normal times. While other parts of everyday life in China have significantly improved in the past decade, the quality of health care has stagnated.

But even in articles about less serious topics, you’ll still find such a section. Let’s say, for instance, you’re a journalist writing about what it’s like to be friends with a social-media influencer.

At some point you will have to explain the significance of the topic and why it is worth your readers’ time.

To see what we mean, take a look at “Will You Be My #Content?,” a 2020 Style article about social media influencers and oversharers, and the friends who don’t necessarily want to be co-stars.

As you read, try to put your finger on the paragraph or paragraphs in which the writer explains to you why this topic matters now, and what questions it raises about our world.

Copy and paste the paragraph where you sense that the writer is explaining why this topic matters now and the questions it raises about our world.

With the rise of nano-influencers, more and more everyday people are turning their personal lives into full-time careers. And that raises important questions regarding the people who populate those personal lives: What expectations of privacy do friends and partners have a right to when hanging out with someone whose job or hobby it is to share everything about their day-to-day? Where do we draw the line between self-expression and unwarranted exposure?

This is what journalists call the “nut graf,” shorthand for “nutshell paragraph,” because it explains the context of a topic and gives you, more or less, the essence of the story. It often follows the “lead,” or opening paragraph or paragraphs that attempt to get your attention.

Poynter, a global journalism institute, explains it as when the writer “backs up to provide context for the scene in the lead, like a filmmaker drawing back from a close-up to a wide-angle shot,” writing:

This is the “nut section,” that provides the background by addressing “How?” and “Why?” the scene described in the lead came to be. Without context, the reader who is hooked by an arresting lead may feel left dangling.

Are you hooked on your smartphone? How much time do you spend looking at it every day? What would it be like if you had to go a full day without it?

Write a “nut” paragraph about why the topic of being “hooked on our smartphone” matters in our world today.

Now that you’ve written your own “nut graf” on the topic, take a look at “Hooked On Our Smartphones” and see if you can locate the place where Jane Brody, the author, moves “from a close-up to a wide-angle shot” and does what we just asked you to do.

Wall Street Journal Formula

• Story typically opens with a specific example presented in an anecdotal, descriptive or narrative lead.

Wall Street Journal Formula

• A nut graf relates that example to a more general point and explains what the story is about

Wall Street Journal Formula

• The body of the story provides support for the general points (Quotes, Transitions to background information, QTQT)

Wall Street Journal Formula

• Story typically ends with another anecdote or description--often featuring the person or people featured in the lead--or speculates on future development related to the lead