Investigative Reporting: Story Ideas

Creating time for projects

• View yourself as a cook. Dailies are on the front burner, mid-range stories in the oven and long-term projects on the back burner.
• Try to spend some time each day working on each category. Don’t let projects sit without stirring them.
• Keep a running list of tasks to accomplish on your mid-range and long-term projects. When you’re waiting on phone calls or other actions for daily stories, work on those items.

Don’t forget about human sources

• People lead you to documents and documents lead you to people. Use both to “triangulate.’
• Cultivate sources regularly. Have a system for saving business cards, contacts etc.
• Spend at least some time checking out tips from sources, even those that seem unlikely to pan out.

Is it worth a project or just a daily story?

• Is the issue important? Are there real victims?
• Has the story been done before?
• Can you break new ground by obtaining records that haven’t been released?
• Will it make a good human story with characters and drama?
• What results will likely follow?

Questions to ask when you get a tip …

• Has the caller exhausted all avenues of appeal?
• Are there documents to back up the story?
• Who can you get to go on the record about the story?
• Is it just a problem for one person or possibly many?
• What is the caller’s motivation?

Coming up with good ideas

• Sources are key
• Read agendas, ask for the full packet of info that the board gets
• Routinely ask for the documents: tort claims, personnel actions etc.
• Localize big national stories
• Look for larger issues in anecdotal stories
• Create email alerts
• Use Facebook, Twitter other social media

Investigative story ideas

• Run a background check on all key public officials you cover:

• Criminal, civil issues?
• Lies on their job apps or resume?
• Public disclosure forms, campaign contributions
• Check the environmental record of major industries in your town (DEQ, EPA)
• Ask for payrolls, line-item expenditures

• Use your city’s pet license database to find favorite pet names or breeds. Or: do your city officials have their animals licensed?
• Use traffic ticket data to find members of the “100-mile-an-hour club” or to find speed traps.
• Use voter registration data to find the most faithful voters, or to find elected officials who can’t make it to the polls.
• Use day-care center inspection data to find centers most often cited.
• Use jail blotter data to find people most frequently arrested or to analyze arrests by race.
• Who is cited most often for code violations in your city?
• How often does your state environmental agency waive fines?
• Which city employee claims the most overtime?
• Who are the highest paid city (or school or county) employees?
• Examine teacher turnover, pay and experience at low-performing schools.