Sourcing — Due Friday, Aug. 1
July 22, 2008
Hey Chipsters!
We know that the more sources contributing to a story, the richer and more accurate the story is. The hard part is working them all into a story that’s only 10 inches or 50 seconds long. Do your papers/eds require a minimum number of sources per story? Do you go beyond the min. no. in your reporting? Do all the people you talk to find their way into your story? How do you get the maximum sourcing bang in such a short space? Examples from your own work? Coach Col.
I’ve discovered that if you’re writing breaking news for the Web, one official source can be sufficient enough until you can update later that day or another reporter does. When I say official I mean someone–for example–from the police or fire department than just an eyewitness. If you do have comments from eyewitnesses, you’ll want to include that too.
I always think two sources is cutting it close, whether the story is 10 or 50 inches. Like Colleen said, more sources makes a richer story. It also gives more perspectives that you as the writer cannot write. But we all know that people aren’t as readily available or even willing to talk to us as we would like. I do try to go beyond the minimum in my stories to avoid having trouble attributing facts and what I said above.
Not everyone finds their way into my story. Sometimes I’ll interview five or six people and end up using two or three because they have the strongest quotes/story.
I think in order to get the maximum in a short space is to consider who is the most important. I’d link some of my stories but our Web site has a fee. For example, if you’re writing a story about the city, then make people like the mayor or city councilors your priority. Consider who else is affected–not just any residents, but which residents? Can these sources that you’re interviewing suggest anyone else that you should talk to? I often have city officials say, ‘Oh, you know who knows a lot about this is so and so.’
I also think it’s important to remember that you could interview 10 people for a 10 inch story, but is the story clear? Is it concise? Or do you just have 10 people saying one quote in your story that doesn’t really connect what the story is about?
I don’t believe the Providence Journal requires a “minimum” number of sources, but I was told (by someone interviewing me for CQ, actually!) that stories should almost never have less than 2 sources, so I’ve been adhering to that rule. If I only have two typically I go for official and normal sources. “official” could be a cop, a government official, someone who is the head of an organization…and then “normal” would be a resident, a passerby, a member, etc. I always try and talk to as many people as possible and if the story develops a new viewpoint as it continues, I’ll talk to that person as well. The story I’ve been working on for a few weeks now involves everyone from the common resident to animal control to animal cruelty specialists to the spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Management…and from a consumer standpoint, business owners. But it’s essential to talk to ALL these people to get the complete story.
I think what Kelly said makes sense. If you have people repeating the same point, don’t put them all in the story. Take the most prominent, the most trustworthy person, and quote them. Then find a different quote from your next person.
I used to lead with the official THEN go to my “normal” source, but I’ve been developing a lot of anecdotal ledes that lend itself to using the “normal” source as my primary, with the officials as backup. I’m not sure which I like better, but I do feel that my stories seem smoother when coming from a “normal” point of view rather than cramming official viewpoints down your readers’ throats…
And, also what Kelly said. Especially in my first interview with a source, I ask if there is anyone they can think of that would be knowledgeable on the topic. If a source doesn’t know what they’re talking about, most of the time they’ll point you in the direction you should be heading.
Three sources is sort of the unwritten rule in reporting, but sometimes a story requires more, and sometimes two or three sources is enough. The best approach is to gather as much information as possible and talk to as many people as you can who would provide some interesting perspective on the topic.
Once you get all your info, then you would weed out unnecessary quotes. A lot of times, two different people may say essentially the same thing about a topic, but one may phrase things better or more succinctly. That’s the quote you would use. It hurts not to use it all sometimes, but it’s better to have to take something out you don’t need instead of needing something you don’t have.
One thing I hate to do is cut down really colorful quotes because I’m running out of space. I try to get around that by summarizing or paraphrasing basic information, then putting the descriptive quote into the story. If i feel the need to use a ton of sources for a story, I will paraphrase information from multiple people to save space and get the nuts and bolts of their statements, like so:
Celena McGuill, marketing director for Prime Outlets – San Marcos, said traffic has increased greatly at the center since May. The traffic, measured by the number of cars in the parking lot, represents a double-digit percent increase over last summer, she said.
Michele Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for Chelsea Property Group, which owns Round Rock Premium Outlets, said the center has seen an increase in the number of shoppers signing up for VIP Shopper Club, a free service that gives members store coupons and notifications of sales at the outlet.
“(Customers are) thinking twice about buying something and looking for a good deal, so people are looking pretty favorably on outlets in general,” Rothstein said.
Also, if I finish writing my story and it’s too long, I re-read it and try to anticipate what my editor would take out. Then I tweak those parts and try to keep the absolute best and necessary quotes. Usually, it works out okay.
I agree with Kelly, I try to have at least four sources going into any story regardless of length.
Sometimes I need more, sometimes less, but it’s better to have more. Whether I will end up using all of them depends on the story. I find that when I’m dealing with a short story of nine or 10 inches it’s important to prioritize based on content the sources provided. Clearly.
So really, the more the merrier, but don’t go crazy because if you have what you need don’t waste time overdoing it.
This is something that I’ve struggled with. At my campus paper, there is a minimum requirement of two sources per story. When I got to the Post-Crescent, there was nothing really said about the number of sources required. The only thing I was told was that if a reporter uses only one source, no byline is put on a story. Sometimes that’s all you have time to get, but not putting a byline on a story like that is one way the paper protects reporters.
Personally, I like to keep to just two or three sources referenced in the story, especially if the story is short. It can sometimes read choppy. That doesn’t mean that other sources can’t be used to get background information.
I’ve been on both sides of the acceptable sourcing fence at my paper. Ideally, I wouldn’t ever use less than two sources - preferably three or four. But I’ve also received last minute assignments on Sundays, a day nobody seems willing to pick up the phone. And in the small-town church going area that my paper serves, this is the reality the Lord’s day delivers to reporters. Twice now I’ve had to rely on one source for a short 10 inch article. I don’t like it, but that’s the way things are here, and I take solace in the fact that it’s not because I didn’t make, like, a million phone calls.
Regarding working multiple sources into a short story:
I’ve found that if I’m covering a live event - real barn burners like ,say, the local church pancake feed - the narrative established by the begining, middle and end of the event creates one possible structure for the story. Since these stories are not destined to become the big expose that I’ve always wanted to write, I feel no shame in cranking the story out in an hour … and so the linear narrative it is (I wish I could have italicized that last bit). In these cases I plug in sources in accords with the event’s established timeline.
With larger 20 to 30 inch stories I do the “first five graphs” thing and then flesh out issues mentioned in the FFG in the stories body. Typically I will devote one story chunk to one issue, adding in the sources that are pertinent to each chunk’s theme.
On a side note, is anybody a West Wing fan? The lack of social contact provided by carpetbagging in a far-off city has led me to not only read a lot of books, but also get into this show. I watched the first two seasons in four days.
I find it almost counterproductive to self-mandate a set number of sources. As long as you’re sure you’re able to tell the full story, I think any number of sources is fine. Granted, that almost never means less than three sources, but I think it’s more important to focus on what your sources are telling you and whether it all adds up to a full picture or not.
When I was working on my college newspaper, we had the three sources rule — reporters would meet the quota and then people would feel like they no longer had to worry about balance, but that’s not actually true! Three sources can all offer the same exact viewpoint — just because you have three of them saying the same thing doesn’t mean you have a full story.
I set a limit for myself when it comes to sources: I make it a point to get at least three USABLE sources for my video. I don’t necessarily need to get a ton of sources but have two important sources and 3-4 regular witness type sources. Once you interview them you know which ones will work better for video. Not all the people I interview are in the story but it’s good information if you wanted to do a text intro or something.
I would suggest observing the surroundings and finding the most expressive people for a good quote, finding a person in charge and someone who is more likely a bystander.
My editor does want at least two sources in my stories. Three is ideal. But four can sometimes be too much considering how short all the other stories usually are. If the story is controversial, then i do tend to use about three to four.
Again, if its a controversial story i will be sure to talk to at least 5 or 6, (at one point i talked to 10 different people, though all of them didnt make it to the story) just to get an overall picture of the issue. I then have to decide what speaks to the issue best, and just hope they are credible. If they arent credible, then i call back one who is, tell them what i heard and have them confirm or deny.
The challenge then is, what information do i have now that will best tell the story as fair and as accurate as possible. Thats where my editor comes in.
At the Daily Herald we have a minimum of three sources, which is usually the number of sources I actually use for a story. I’ve occasionally used four sources, but more than that and it gets really hard to squeeze them into a 300 word story.
One procedure that I like here is as we’re working on a story, we continuously update to the website. So as I’m working on a story and have a good idea what I’m going to be writing about and have at least one source, I make a quick brief and get it posted online. Then as I’m working on it and get another source, I update the brief and get it online. After that I’m usually done with the story when I get my three sources.
I do usually get a lot more sources than I need, and pick and choose which ones give the best perspective or information about the story I’m writing.