Reporting
For me, the reporting process has five distinct steps that occur before I consider a work for publication -- my work wouldn't be complete without them.
01.
Story Selection
What's the right story?
02.
Background Research
What should I know?
03.
Interviews
Who should I talk to?
04.
Drafting
What is the story?
05.
Editing
​
What does the reader need?
Story Selection
Before I even think about writing a story, I think about what the right story is. What are the important issues facing the school? What will interest readers? What can I do as a writer to pull this off? I consider all of these in class pitch assignments as well as brainstorming activities, while as a member of the ODYSSEY's Leadership Team, I've also vetted pitches and assigned stories to staffers.
Above: The upper left and bottom right photos show examples of work I've done pitching and brainstorming stories, while the bottom left and top right photos show me assigning stories to staffers.
Background Research
My next step is figuring out what I need to know to accurately write the story. I often conduct online research on the people or issues that will be featured, while I also conduct internal research with my classmates to determine viable stakeholders and acquire contact information. I will often use this to generate a rough outline of things I want to include in the story.
Above: The top, left, and right photos show research I've done for potential stories -- one a profile of my own, one for a panel discussion of journalists, one a feature story for another editor. The bottom image shows how I apply this research into transition-size questions for me to answer in the story.
Interviews
When I feel I understand the story I'm writing, then I dive into interviewing. I always try to interview more people than I strictly need for the story so as to get all sides of the story and remain objective. This means drafting lots of email requests, building relationships with frequent stakeholders, generating interview questions, and transcribing on the back end.
Above: The upper left photo shows an email request sent to a rival school's football coach. The upper right photo shows a text from an Associate Athletic Director with whom I have a close relationship alerting me to a coverage opportunity. The bottom left photo shows questions I wrote for an interview with a district employee. The bottom right photo shows one of my transcriptions.
Drafting
I'll usually start drafting the story when I've done my main interview and can visualize the story in my mind. Crucially, at this stage, I challenge my preconceived notions about what the story's theme should be -- is the theme the same? Do I need to change my angle? When I've decided, I begin to write a long, rambling draft, paying no attention to word count, simply trying to get all the information conveyed in a logical order. I then input the necessary quotes to fill in the gaps.
Above: The top photo shows my initial draft of an editorial with a thesis to guide me. The bottom left photo shows my drafting process in half-hour bursts. The bottom right photo shows an outline I used to write a draft of a feature story on cell phones.
Editing
Before I pass on my draft to an editor, I self-edit. This is where I go back and cut words myself, focusing on the essence of the story and cutting unnecessary information, making the draft more presentable. I'll also highlight sections that I want future editors to look at. From there, I will receive edits and look to accept them with an open mind. If the edits are small-scale, I will often make minor tweaks and proceed to publication. If the edits are bigger, I don't like to keep the same format -- I'll start the drafting process over until I get it right.
Above: The top photo shows my attempt to solicit feedback from an editor on a caption quote. The bottom left photo shows an edit I responded to and made on a profile. The bottom right photo is the same image as the editing section, but the December 18 revisions show my self-editing.
Practice and Philosophy
Immersion
As a reporter, I’ve been influenced by the methods of the great immersive journalists writing in the style of New Journalism (or, as my favorite book puts it, The New New Journalism). I draw inspiration from authors like Susan Orlean, who physically embedded herself in the community of a Florida orchid dealer, and Ted Conover, who rode boxcar trains with unhoused Americans and worked at Sing Sing as a prison guard in pursuit of his stories. On a much smaller scale, I’ve practiced the immersion techniques, remaining with my subjects as long as possible to more accurately capture them as characters in a narrative.
My Research
My research process is somewhat unique – I’ve read about many different styles and approaches, but what works best for me is this: for my first interview, I go in with only a base level of scholarly research. I find that not feeling like an expert stimulates my natural curiosity, making me a better interviewer and guiding me to the story from the eyes of the experts, my interviewees. From that moment on, however, I’m meticulous about my research. Once I have a sense of direction, I over-educate myself to make myself as knowledgeable as the people I interview.
To Catch my Eye
As I’ve matured as a journalist, I’ve stopped running away from transition writing – and stopped conceptualizing my writing as a transition. As a young journalist, I used to run from my writing and allow long quotes to drive my stories, but recently, I’ve taken more responsibility in my writing, building out an authorial voice. In interviews, I look for things that, when applied through the filter of my writing, can communicate a more cohesive theme in the story at large.
My Favorite Quotes
“A crisis, by definition, is time-limited. I think that this is probably more chronic than a crisis. When we've been calling (it) a mental health crisis for six months, a year, an entire presidency, it's no longer a crisis. It's a chronic issue. It is systemic.”
-- Christopher Collins, Salem State University Associate Professor, for "After Apalachee"
“They always tell athletes, ‘Don’t leave when you’re at the bottom, leave when you’re at the top,’ and it is so nice to know that in my final years in education, people still felt like I had something to contribute.”
Dr. Cindi Lowe, CCHS Associate Principal, for “Associate Principal Dr. Cindi Lowe to retire”
“I think the whole reason for having the meeting was to give parents an opportunity to come ask questions, speak, and (have people) hear the voice about what’s going on in the community. We’re talking about the security of your child, the safety of your child, and you didn’t show.”
-- Jaclyn Brown, Career, Technical and Agricultural Education department co-chair, for “CCHS hosts Community Conversations”
“I got on a baseball high 55 years ago and I’ve been on one ever since. I can’t come down.”
-- Jerry Boatner, CCHS head varsity baseball coach, for "Old school, new school"
“(At the hospital), they opened this room that was filled with reporters and people, too many people. I said, ‘I don’t want to come to this room, I want to see Percy. Where is he?’ (Anderson Junior College Coach Steve Lytton) looked at me and dropped his head. I said, ‘Where’s my baby? Don’t tell me my baby’s dead.’ I got on my knees and started praying. I didn’t know nothing else to do.”
-- Geneva Johnson Eberhart, Percy Eberhart's mother, for "The impossible dream"