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News Gathering
One of the most important parts of telling a story is the research. Every journalist has their own process of collecting information, drafting questions and conducting interviews. Over the years, I've discovered my own personal process of news gathering.
Research beyond the interview
After COVID-19 first stuck the U.S., I was unable to produce the amount of coverage I was accustomed to, and since we were lacking in certain areas of multimedia, I decided to spend my quarantine during spring and summer break creating my own podcast series called TenMinuteTalks. Since then, our presence in the audio department has grown drastically and has inspired other Pitt Media staffers to delve into podcasting.
Example: "Protesting for Equality: How the Black Lives Matter movement effects Pittsburg"
I began writing this story in June, just a few days prior to a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest taking place in my community. After a staff member contacted me with the idea, I felt honored she thought I would be a good fit for telling it. While I was only able to be at the protest for the first hour, it impacted me as a storyteller. My goal was to shine a light on what the movement meant and to inform others of what a peaceful protest looked like. This story both challenged me and aided me in growing more as a writer.
1. Research topic
I always begin my story writing process by researching whatever topic I'm going over. When writing about how the BLM movement and how it was effecting Pittsburg at the time, I knew that whatever information I used was vital when it came down to telling the story in the best way possible. I began reading news articles about George Floyd and the protests that had been taking place.
2. Delving deeper
After looking into what the news said about the movement, I decided to delve a little deeper into what I wanted my article to entail.
From reports on George Floyd's death, statistics on the protests taking place globally and finding the names of those that lost their lives to police brutality.
3. Compile information
After I read the news and taken a deeper look into the topic to have a better understanding, I begin collecting my data and compiling it into the doc I'm using. Then I sort my research through importance. One of my favorite tactics to do this is through highlighting with green and yellow to determine what statistics and facts would benefit my story most.
I use green to highlight my statistics and then I use yellow to determine what quotes would be best to support the angle for my story.
4. Finished project
After going through the process of researching, forming and asking questions, being able to see the end product of my work is always the most rewarding part of the process.
When writing the BLM story, I wanted to tell both the truth and the stories of those who protested. This story both challenged me and made me grow more as a writer because I was writing about a topic that had affected a majority of the Black community. I am grateful for the opportunity of writing the story and contributing to the national conversation.
The importance of interviewing
Once I've collected my research, I begin by identifying potential sources and forming questions. When writing questions, I find it best to begin by getting to know my source before delving into the bigger questions. My purpose of an interview is to make it into more of a conversation in order to make my source comfortable.
After I finish my interviews, I begin transcribing and highlighting quotes with green and yellow so I can begin crafting my rough draft.
Example: "Counselor Stef Loveland shares her experiences with adoption"
In November, several Pitt Media staff members and I began creating an adoption multimedia piece that consisted of three stories, a podcast episode and video. The PDF below are questions I asked my school counselor, Stef Loveland, about her experience with adoption.
Loveland had previously mentioned her story to me, so when I began writing quotes for this story, I wanted to make sure they were thorough, respected both the story and my source, along with being conversational rather than a question and answer. I wanted Loveland to feel as though she could be open with me while having this conversation.
Below is a list of questions I asked Loveland during our conversation and her responses.