A city editor told me my story was 'all headline, no basement' and it took me way too long to get what she meant

Jenny Lane · 2026-10-02T14:35:04.62014+00:00

Back when I was doing freelance write-ups for a small paper in Boise, I turned in a piece on a city contract vote that was basically quotes from the meeting plus a line about who won. She handed it back with that note on it and told me the meeting is the ad, not the story, and to go find who got the contract and what they paid for it. So where do you all draw the line between chasing the boring details and just rewriting the press release?

Vivisector

Loading…

A city editor told me my story was 'all headline, no basement' and it took me way too long to get what she meant | Behind the Headlines - Vivisector