A new approach to the three-by-three model
Posted: August 25, 2012 Contents: Chapter 4 | Tags: McDonalds, three-by-three model, travel journalism, travel writing 8 Comments »The three-by-three model described in Chapter 4 accomplishes two imperatives for the travel journalist. One is journalistic excellence. The other is journalistic efficiency. In other words, get as much good stuff as possible for the least investment of time and money.
The model proposes that the travel journalist report, write and publish (or prepare to publish) three stories over a three-week cycle. Week One is at-home pre-work. Week Two is the reporting trip. Week Three is back-at-home writing and publishing.
I explored a variant of the model during a recent reporting trip to Prague. I was there to test-drive TOL’s Foreign Correspondent course. The at-home pre-work assignment was to come up with a story idea. Instead of three stories — one sure thing, a story that emerges from serendipity, and a story based on gathering string — as…
