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Produces a structured research brief for a reporter starting a new story assignment — covering the key questions to answer, the types of sources to seek, documents to obtain, and potential story angles to investigate.
npx claudepluginhub ur-grue/autopunk-media-skills --plugin autopunk-media-skillsHow this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
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Produces a structured research brief for a reporter starting a new story assignment — covering the key questions to answer, the types of sources to seek, documents to obtain, and potential story angles to investigate.
Generates 6–8 distinct editorial angles from a broad topic or news event, each with a unique perspective, target audience, and reporting approach.
Transforms a company update (funding, launch, hire, milestone) into 3-7 structurally distinct, journalist-ready story angles with headline frames, story types, and required proof. Rejects rephrasings, invented facts, and AI-marketing slop.
Translates academic research into accessible public content: op-eds, blog posts, community reports, policy briefs, podcast/media prep.
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Produces a structured research brief for a reporter starting a new story assignment — covering the key questions to answer, the types of sources to seek, documents to obtain, and potential story angles to investigate.
Required: The story topic or assignment in one or two sentences; the publication type (news, magazine feature, investigative, business press, general interest); any known constraints (time available for reporting, word count, known deadline pressure). Optional: What you already know about the topic; any obvious angles the editor mentioned; similar stories you've read on the topic (to understand what's been covered); geographic or demographic focus; any specific sources you've already identified.
Five sections: Story Territory Map, Three Potential Angles, Source List, Documents to Seek, and Reporting Order (what to do first through last). Total length: 500–700 words. Written for a working reporter, not an academic — practical, direct, no hedging. Output ends with a "Next Step" note: the single first action to take before any other reporting, and whether to run story-angle-finder if the angle recommendation needs to be expanded further.
Assignment: A new study shows that children who grow up near major freight routes have measurably higher rates of respiratory illness and lower test scores than peers from comparable socioeconomic backgrounds. Write a feature investigating this. Publication: General-interest magazine (3,000–4,000 words) Constraints: 3 weeks to report, publication in 6 weeks What I know: The study is new, published by a university public health department. I know the headline finding but haven't read the full methodology. There's growing policy attention on this issue nationally.
Research Brief: Children Near Freight Routes — Health and Education Outcomes
Story Territory Map
Established: The link between traffic pollution (particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide) and respiratory illness in children is well-documented in peer-reviewed literature going back to the 1990s. Socioeconomic factors correlate strongly with living proximity to freight infrastructure — lower-income and minority communities are disproportionately located near highways, rail yards, and distribution centers. This is not new knowledge.
Contested: The specific effect of freight traffic (as distinct from general traffic) on school performance is less settled. The new study's finding on test scores will be contested by freight industry representatives and possibly by school district officials who will have alternative explanations (teacher quality, funding disparities, family circumstances). The direction and magnitude of causation is where the story lives.
Unknown: What policy levers exist at city, state, and federal level to reduce freight corridor exposure for children? Which jurisdictions have tried interventions and what happened? Are school districts near freight corridors aware of this research, and have they changed anything in response?
Three Potential Angles
Angle A — The Health Story (most direct) Primary question: What does it actually feel like to grow up in one of these corridors, and what do the families know about the risk? Focus: One or two families in a documented high-exposure area; their experiences; what they were or weren't told. Supported by the research and a public health expert. Evidence type: Personal narrative + peer-reviewed research.
Angle B — The Policy Failure Story (more original) Primary question: Local and federal regulators have known about this for years — why haven't freight routing decisions changed? Focus: The gap between what researchers have documented and what policy has done about it. Requires documents from city planning and freight licensing processes. Evidence type: Documents, institutional sources, regulatory records.
Angle C — The Schools Story (most timely given the new study) Primary question: Are school districts near freight corridors even tracking the health data that could explain their academic performance gaps? Focus: Two or three school district administrators — have they seen this research? What do they attribute underperformance to? Are they doing anything? Evidence type: Interviews with school officials, district data, the new study's school-level analysis.
Recommendation: Angle B will require the most document-intensive reporting but produces the most original story. Angle A is fastest to report and will give you the human material every angle needs anyway. Start with A, use that access to build toward B.
Source List
Documents to Seek
Reporting Order