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Reporting process
1. Story planning documents
2. A good interview transcript
3. Question documents
4. Notes
Table of contents
Before writing
Reporting is everything; to report well, you have to be planned and organized with your information. Every story you write must have in-depth reporting prevalent throughout. This section should represent how I report, how I prepare when reporting, and what I recommend most writers in the ODYSSEY to do as well.
Enterprise planning document
Left: Here is a PDF of a planning document I made for an enterprise story I did on suicide prevention. A big part of my reporting process is a planning document, which is the first step. My ideas often run around in my brain, so without writing them all out, I forget them very easily. In this specific document, I start with a few notes, then stakeholders with contacts and updates on communications. I also included a couple of loose ideas and several drafts' worth of outlines. I love planning documents because they help me stay organized throughout my reporting.
Parking lot story planning document
Left: Here is a PDF of the planning document I made for my feature news story on my school's student parking lot. As this story evolved, I had to rewrite outlines, questions, and ideas, all of which are present here in this document. For these big stories, I find they require a very high degree of organization, so with a document like this, I can execute that. I even used this document during conferences to take notes so I could apply them as easily as possible. All in all, this represents my dedication to proper preparation in my reporting.
Parking lot story planning document
Above: Here are two images of planning documents I made for my beats and menus. For the ODYSSEY beats are assigned news stories produced on a three-week cycle, with my ideas for each one listed in that green section. Given that often my beats are more simple stories, my planning documents mainly consist of interview questions, outlines, and stakeholder ideas. Menus are monthly choice-based stories where you can pick a given topic and execute that story. The example I provided on the left is of a podcast I made with the full outline present. All in all, even for the smaller stories, I make sure everything is detailed and planned so I can execute it to the best of my ability.
Quality interview transcription
Left: Here is a quality transcription from an interview I had with the Clarke County School District Executive Director of Special Education, Jacinta Henry. The interview itself was great and got me all the quotes and information I needed. What I want to focus on with this is the way I organized my transcription to support the writing process. With my interview transcripts, I highlight quotes I like in green and information I want to use in yellow. This way, when I start writing, I always have ideas to use for my transitions, and I don't have to reread the whole thing for certain parts. I encourage other staffers to do the same so their writing process can be more productive and efficient.
Before interviews
Interviews are likely my favorite part of journalism. I like to talk to new people and get to know them better so I can tell their story to the best of my ability. To have these good conversations, you need to research your topic and create a large question bank you can pull from when needed, while also making room for follow-up questions.
​Interview questions pt1
Left: In this image is a question bank I made for a story I wrote on new recycling bins in my school. I have a section for the teacher and the president of the club in charge of it, and for a press conference. I do use questions from different parts of the list for anyone; the sections are just a starting point. One thing I have improved on since the creation of this was a more equal distribution of the 5W 1H. However, I do still feel like this is a very good question bank.
Right: Here is an image that has both starter questions and an organized list for a longer interview. So on the top is a list of 6 start questions I ask in every interview with some variation. I use these questions to both get the stakeholder a bit more comfortable before jumping into it and also to get the hard facts I may need. They also help me record my stakeholders in my publications database. The second section is for an interview I did with a director at the organization I was doing a profile on. I segmented the questions into three key parts I wanted to talk about in my story. I like this form of organization because it helps the concepts behind the questions to stay solid during an interview.
​Interview questions pt2
Jeff Pearlman notes
Left: Here is a PDF of the notes I took during a meeting my EdBoard had with Jeff Pearlman. He started with a basic lecture, but then I got to ask several questions about his journalistic process, which I found very interesting. The thing that stood out the most during our meeting was our discussion of persistence. He told us an anecdote about when he wanted this interview but only had an address; he showed up and got it, believe it or not. It taught me the power of just introducing myself and giving it a shot, something I have applied heavily. The other thing that stood out was his experience with fact-checking. At the time, I was the DEI Editor, so fact-checking was my day job, so I enjoyed hearing his tricks and the emphasis he put on always checking it. Overall, it was a great conversation, and Mr. Pearlman definitely lives up to his name.
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