Dear Coach,

When I do stories on policy issues, cultural customs, trends, etc., the topics are so huge they tend to send me into a panic. How I can ever learn enough about a topic to adequately write the story? What do more experienced reporters do? As a reporter, how do you deal with the fact that even an in-depth story can never fully cover a topic? — Overloaded

Dear Overloaded,

You have touched on the essence of what it means to be a reporter. And you are smart to ask what experienced reporters do.

What they do: They find and follow a focus.

They know that a “topic” can be endless, but that a focused story within the universe of that topic is both containable (good for the reporter) and easy to swallow (good for the reader).

They know that complex stories require an info-immersion period, just long enough to turn them into instant experts. (Maybe 20 minutes to an hour or two for a routine story, to a day or more for a major takeout.)

During that brief immersion, they learn the basic dynamics and background of the issue at hand, who the major players are, who is affected and how, and which sources are key to telling the story.

Then they report the story.

What we’re talking about here is a skill, learned over time, of quick information sorting, vetting and digesting.

To experienced reporters, it is second nature. To greener ones, it can seem an overwhelming mystery.

Remember, no one can “fully cover a topic” — not even a book author or a Ph.D. candidate. Certainly not a news reporter.

So please don’t panic. Instead, focus.

Here’s an exercise to help you. After your brief info-immersion period, ask yourself these four questions, and answer each in no more than one paragraph:

– What’s the news? (Who’s doing what, and why)
– What’s the context? (The underlying background or issue)
– Where’s the proof? (Data that help illustrate the point)
– What’s the impact? (In the grand scheme of things, who wins, who loses and who cares)

If you do this, you will end up with at least the bare bones of a story top for any issue or trend.

Then you’ll do more such stories. And they will seem easier to do and you’ll do them faster. Then one day down the line, sorting, vetting and digesting will be second nature.

Because you will be an experienced reporter.

Share