Find one person to tell the story. Find one fifth-grader at Earth Day who is nagging her parents about recycling. Expand your definition of news. Fuson advises that reporters wouldn't be writing as many routine stories if we concentrated more on writing about affairs of the heart rather than affairs of state. Don't let them be dull.
Graphics are much more effective than prose at communicating statistics.
Find a person, family, town or organization that illustrates the findings in the report. Focus on what the figures show, not on the numbers themselves. Census stories lend themselves well to this approach. Seek out innovation. It's a routine for many statehouse reporters to advance the legislative session with a roundup of the key issues legislative leaders expect to dominate the upcoming session.