Spotting what's hot

Cherubs find topics for trend stories

By Molly Davis

While sitting in an ethics lecture, Cattie Rolfe, a cherub from Winnetka, Ill., noticed instructor David Weissman’s Keen footwear and realized she had found the inspiration for her trend story.

“I saw David’s shoes and started wondering why people wear outdoor shoes when they are inside,” Rolfe said.  “I realized that people are doing that a lot and it seemed that it’s a trend.”

Cattie Rolfe’s story on the rise of ugly outdoor shoes was one of the 88 original cherub trend story topics. The trend story is a nearly 1,000-word article that allows cherubs to cover a trend and explore its causes and effects.

Jim Santel, a cherub from St. Louis, MO., using the popular frozen yogurt machine that gave Molly Davis, a cherub from Woodland Hills, Calif., the inspiration for her trend story.

The Live Earth concert inspired Ally Bain, a cherub from Vernon Hills, Ill., to focus her trend story on the increase of environmentally safe products being used in homes.

“I’m very concerned with the environment,” Bain said. “I believe global warming is becoming worse every year.”

Unlike other reporting assignments which involved interviewing people on the street, the trend story also encouraged cherubs to expand their circle of sources to include businesses, doctors and admissions officers.

“I was a little nervous about it,” said Alyson Weiss, a cherub from Spring, Texas.  “I’m a little phone-a-phobic.”

Kim Kirschenbaum, a cherub from New Jersey, wrote her trend story about the use of the Internet by teens for religious purposes. The story prompted her to visit churches to interview clergymen.

“It was something I had never done before, but it was a really cool experience,” Kirschenbaum said.  “I learned the importance of perseverance.  You really have to pursue people to get things out of them.”

After  speaking with a variety of sources including  an author of three environmental books, Bain is no longer afraid of interviewing strangers.

“I feel a lot more confident in my interviewing skills,” Bain said.

Kirschenbaum also said the trend story has influenced her journalistic style.  She reread her roommate story, which she wrote the first night of the program, and reflected on how much her writing has changed since then.

“I just laughed because I thought I was a good journalist back then,” Kirschenbaum said.  “When I compare the two stories, there really is no comparison.”