ur-grue Story Angle Finder
What This Skill Does
Generates 6–8 distinct editorial angles from a broad topic or news event, each with a unique perspective, target audience, and reporting approach.
When To Use This Skill
- You have a topic but not yet a story — you know the subject but not the specific angle that makes it publishable
- You are pitching and need to see the full range of angles before deciding which to develop
- An editor has given you a beat or broad subject and you need to identify the most compelling entry point
- You want to see how the same event could be covered differently across publication types (news, feature, opinion, profile)
What You Need To Provide
Required: The broad topic, subject area, or news event you are working with; publication type or target outlet (or describe your audience if no specific outlet) Optional: Any angles you have already considered and want to avoid; specific sources or data you already have access to; geographic scope (local, national, international); timeframe (breaking, evergreen, anniversary); whether you need a pitch-ready one-liner for each angle
How the Assistant Approaches This
- Identifies at least six distinct editorial lenses through which the topic can be approached: the personal/human story, the systemic/structural analysis, the data story, the historical perspective, the counterintuitive or contrarian take, the profile, and the process/how-it-works explainer — selecting those most appropriate to the topic
- For each angle, specifies the core question the story would answer, the primary type of reporting required (documents, sources, data, observation), and the most likely publication home
- Marks which angles are time-sensitive versus evergreen, and which require significant access versus desk research
- Notes where angles overlap with common coverage so the journalist can differentiate their pitch
- Closes with a "Next Step" recommendation: which one or two angles to develop first given the user's access and publication target, and whether to run research-brief-creator or headline-generator as the immediate next skill
Output Format
6–8 numbered angle briefs. Each brief includes: Angle Name (3–5 words), Core Question, Reporting Approach (2 sentences), Ideal Publication Type, and a Pitch Line (one sentence, ready to drop into a pitch email). Total length: 500–700 words. No jargon beyond standard editorial vocabulary. Output ends with a "Next Step" note: which angle to develop first (based on access and publication fit), and which skill to run next — research-brief-creator to build out the reporting plan or headline-generator to refine the pitch line.
Quality Criteria
- Each angle has a genuinely distinct editorial perspective — not just a different framing of the same story
- Every angle includes a concrete reporting approach (not just "interview experts")
- At least one angle is counterintuitive or challenges the conventional framing of the topic
- At least one angle is suitable for long-form feature treatment
- Pitch lines are publication-ready — specific enough to stand alone in an email
- Time-sensitive versus evergreen distinction is made for each angle
- Output includes at least one concrete next action the user can take immediately (which angle to develop first, and which skill to run next: research-brief-creator or headline-generator)
Example
Input
Topic: The growing number of people leaving major cities to move to smaller towns since 2020 Publication type: National general-interest magazine Avoid: Any angle that's essentially "remote work made this happen" (editor says it's been done to death)
Output
1. The Town That Got What It Wished For Core Question: What happens to a small town's culture, prices, and social fabric when urban transplants arrive in large numbers? Reporting Approach: Embedded community reporting in one specific town that has seen significant population gain. Interview long-term residents, local business owners, and the newcomers themselves. Ideal Publication: National magazine, long-form feature Pitch Line: "In one small town in [region], the population grew 22% in three years. This is a story about what the locals think of that." Timeframe: Evergreen
2. The Infrastructure Reckoning Core Question: Can small-town infrastructure — water, schools, roads, medical services — absorb urban population growth without state and federal support? Reporting Approach: Public records on municipal budgets, school enrollment data, and interviews with town administrators and state planners. Ideal Publication: Investigative feature, policy desk Pitch Line: "Small towns are gaining residents faster than they can afford to serve them — and nobody in state government has a plan." Timeframe: Evergreen with news hooks available
3. The People Who Moved Back Core Question: Among those who left cities for small towns, who has returned — and why? Reporting Approach: Self-selecting survey of urban returnees plus 4–5 in-depth profiles. Counterbalances the triumphalist migration narrative. Ideal Publication: Lifestyle/culture feature Pitch Line: "The stories of people who moved to a small town and hated it don't get written. Here are five of them." Timeframe: Evergreen; counterintuitive angle
4. The Housing Export Problem Core Question: Are urban housing pressures being exported to small towns, pricing out the working-class residents who lived there first? Reporting Approach: Real estate price data, interviews with longtime residents priced out of their rental market, local housing advocates. Ideal Publication: Economic/social policy feature or investigative desk Pitch Line: "In towns where house prices were stable for decades, the urban migration wave has created a new affordability crisis — for the people who were already there." Timeframe: Evergreen with strong local-angle opportunities
5. The Profile: The Town Planner Core Question: Who is actually managing this transition — and what do they think of it? Reporting Approach: Single-subject profile of a small-town mayor, planner, or economic development officer dealing with the migration surge. Ideal Publication: Magazine profile, Sunday supplement Pitch Line: "She has lived in this town her whole life. In three years, it's become unrecognizable — and she's the one everyone calls." Timeframe: Evergreen; strong human-interest angle
6. The Myth of the Simpler Life Core Question: Does moving to a small town actually deliver the quality of life improvement people expect? Reporting Approach: Longitudinal survey data if available; interviews with urban transplants at the 1-year and 3-year marks; mental health and life-satisfaction framing. Ideal Publication: Health/lifestyle desk or culture magazine Pitch Line: "Studies show life satisfaction doesn't reliably improve after a major move. So why do people keep leaving cities for small towns — and are they happier?" Timeframe: Evergreen; challenging the migration narrative without dismissing it
Note: Angles 1, 3, and 5 are strongest for a long-form general magazine. Angles 2 and 4 suit an investigative or policy desk. Angle 6 is a strong pitch for a lifestyle or health publication. None of these require the remote-work framing you want to avoid.
Known Limitations
- Angles are generated from the topic description only; the assistant does not have access to current news databases or what has recently been published on this topic — always verify an angle has not been recently covered before pitching
- The strength of any angle depends on the availability of sources and access; an angle requiring embedded community reporting may be unusable for a journalist based elsewhere
- For breaking news, time-sensitive angle assessment may be inaccurate without current event context; provide the date and recent developments for more accurate evergreen vs. time-sensitive classification