Chapter 2: Reporting the Story

Explore

STORY IDEAS

Developing story ideas
MIT's Media Lab developed this tip sheet for a citizen journalism project.
http://stringers.media.mit.edu/TheIdea.html

50 places to shop for stories
NewsCollege, a Canadian site, says you're guaranteed to find stories if you just shop around.
http://www.newscollege.ca/p18.htm

Where enterprise comes from
Laurie Herzel, writing coach at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, put together this piece on finding good ideas for her newsroom newsletter, Above the Fold.
http://www.notrain-nogain.org/list/lau.asp

SOURCES

Developing and cultivating sources
Writing coach and trainer Steve Buttry offers suggestions for reporters.
http://www.notrain-nogain.org/train/res/reparc/res.asp

Evaluating online sources
John Henderson of Ithaca College has a six-step plan for evaluating information you find online. Be sure to try the quiz at the end and compare your assessment to Google's ranking of the same sources.
http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html

INTERVIEWING

Advice on interviewing
The journalism training site No Train, No Gain has a collection of tips on interviewing.
http://www.notrain-nogain.org/Train/Res/Report/intv.asp

Interview tips
Investigative journalist Don Ray has 30 suggestions to help you prepare and conduct interviews.
http://www.rcameron.com/journalism/interviewtips.html

The Question Man
Read the profile in "American Journalism Review" of Canadian journalist John Sawatsky, and be sure to check out the lists of dos and don'ts under "related reading."
http://www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=676