Show & Steal story ideas you can use for the Oscars and other awards shows
(Oscar statuette courtesy of Oscars.org)
On Feb. 8, 2024, the Society for Features Journalism revived a helpful SFJ offering that had been on hiatus for several years: Show & Steal!
Back in the day at our in-person national conferences, our Show & Steal sessions provided a popular (and easy!) way to get coverage ideas to try at home. Features journalists and editors from around the country helped each other by sharing what worked well and what they learned.
We’d love to resurrect Show & Steal in casual monthly brownbag sessions on Zoom. The event is open to all our members.
At our first virtual Show & Steal event this year, we brainstormed coverage ideas for the Oscars (coming up on March 10!) and other awards shows. Here are some trends that emerged from the discussion:
Unless you work for a national publication, prioritize hyper-local story angles.
Local and regional publications are finding value in differentiating themselves from wire services and national outlets. They’ve been sharing local angles about awards nominees (no matter how obscure!), identifying unexpected locations of film shoots, sharing fun stories from backup dancers and other behind-the-scenes characters. Here are some examples of local coverage from around the country:
The Seattle Times: Lily Gladstone’s path from Seattle theater to an Oscar nomination
The Seattle Times: Oscar nominee Kerry Condon on why she has a horse farm near Seattle
Des Moines Register: Iowan Don Hall wins animated feature Oscar
Des Moines Register: Elijah Wood set to guest star on the Showtime hit series ‘Yellowjackets’ … (not awards coverage, but coverage of a star from Iowa!)
Newsday: Oscar-nominated films with Long Island connections (This is a link to a Facebook video to avoid Newsday’s paywall!)
Newsday: A Jericho teen was named best high school theater performer by Tonys-related organization (TikTok video)
Whether you work for a national or a local outlet, give readers a peek behind the curtain.
Explainers describing the nuts and bolts of how mysterious systems work tend to perform well. Some examples:
The Seattle Times: Sound mixing vs. sound editing? Cinematography? Your guide to what these technical Oscars categories actually mean.
TODAY.com: Who chooses Oscar winners? All about the Academy’s voting process
If your publication has an arts critic with a strong voice, rejoice!
Popular arts critics are worth their weight in gold. Some fun examples:
The Seattle Times: Moira Macdonald on Oscars 2023’s charming, emotional night
Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Chris Hewitt: Who will win this year’s Oscars? Who should win?
If appropriate for your publication, lean into SEO for the long haul.
Especially if a news site doesn’t have a paywall, it can be worthwhile to put serious thought into search engine optimization strategies. Here are some examples of stories designed to bubble up in search results. Such stories can be updated with minimal hassle each year, creating a “puffer fish” approach for expanding a publication’s overall content offerings during awards season:
Huge thanks to Stefanie Loh of The Seattle Times for hosting our Feb. 8 Show & Steal session. We hope this roundup makes awards season at least slightly easier for you this year!
We’re aiming to do our next Show & Steal at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT / 11 a.m. PT on Tuesday, March 5. The theme will be … drum roll … Your Choice!
Bring your best evergreen story ideas, spring story ideas or examples of innovative stories you’ve done recently that you’re proud of. Let’s help each other out with an open swap.
If you want to participate but you’re not a member yet, it’s easy to join and it’s free! Here’s how to join.
Laura T. Coffey is president of the Society for Features Journalism and a longtime editor and feature writer. She’s also the author of the bestselling nonfiction book “My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts.” Connect with Laura here.