Before you start interviewing people you need to know what part they play in a story. Only then can you reach out to them.
A reporter interviews a source for a story. (Illustration by News Decoder)
People, not numbers, are the heart of your stories. Finding those people is often the most difficult part of journalism. But once you find the people to interview everything else tends to fall into place.
There are four types of people you can seek out for any good story. And while you might not include all four types of sources in each story, try to think about what’s important for your particular topic and question.
First there are the people affected by the problem. Some journalists call these people “stakeholders”, because they have a stake in finding a solution to a problem.
They might be local communities, students, patients, workers, consumers or parents. These people are a critical source to have in your article. Your story will look at why a solution is needed for a particular problem, so it’s necessary to give a voice to those being impacted by it, to shine a light on the problem.
Stakeholders can provide anecdotes: little stories about something they experienced or something their community experienced. Anecdotes can bring a story to life and make a story compelling by bringing the reader to a place where something is happening and introducing them to the people it is happening to.
The people connected to a problem
Sometimes it’s not so obvious in your story who is being directly affected. Say you are looking into an industry in a Global North country that has a high carbon footprint. Ask yourself: who is paying the price for this industry to continue emitting at such high levels? If you can’t find someone on the ground who is being affected, use your words, images or data to focus on who or what is being impacted and how.
Next are the folks who regulate or monitor the problem. They might work for government or police agencies, industry or watchdog organizations. These people are often referred to as officials and are an important source if you want to find out what is being done about an issue or what should be done.
Third are those responsible for the problem. These might be people who represent a corporation or nonprofit or governmental organization. They might be landowners or manufacturers or retailers.
It is important to attempt to include quotes from this type of source when you’ve painted them in a negative light.
Finally, there are the independent experts. These are people who are knowledgeable about the problem, such as psychologists or sociologists, scientists or financial or legal experts, but they are not connected to the problem. They might be academics or ex-workers or business competitors.
Could you use AI to find sources for your story? Yes!
In a newsroom, reporters often brainstorm with their colleagues and editors for people to interview for a story. More and more journalists work independently or remotely and don’t have easy access to that type of brainstorming. AI can simulate that a bit by giving you suggestions for people you might reach out to.
An AI app can suggest the different stakeholders when you explore a problem — the people, communities and organizations most affected by the problem.
AI can also help you identify experts on the topics and the people, corporations, organizations or governments that might be responsible for causing the problem or standing in the way of solutions.
You might ask it:
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- Who is most affected by [the problem you are exploring]?
- What, if any, people, organizations, governments or corporations have been identified in credible news reports as causing [the problem] or letting [the problem] continue or worsen?
- What university professors have studied or written on this topic?
- What NGOs or think tanks are studying this problem?
- What historians have studied this issue?
- What economists have studied this issue?
But don’t rely too much on AI.
Artificial intelligence algorithms work by scraping information from the internet, but there is a considerable amount of bad information out there. Use AI as a starting point to finding sources. Definitely don’t accuse anyone of anything based solely on suggestions by AI. The best sources of information will be credible people who have experiences and knowledge relevant to your topic.
They can be a useful sources when you’re trying to find out what needs to happen or why something is happening. When your story relates to solutions to development or climate change in a specific country or region, find experts from that country or region, as they have a better understanding of the situation on the ground.
Don’t grab just anyone.
Journalists often find themselves short on time and under tight deadlines. They can easily fall into the trap of grabbing sources who will get back to them quickly, or turning to sources eager for the publicity or the attention that being quoted in a news story will get them.
The result is that journalists often ignore the many people with important stories to tell or information to impart: groundbreaking scientists, people experiencing the damaging effects of climate change every day, individuals and groups working on systemic and just solutions.
The perspectives that we find in the media are therefore limited. The problem here is that the sources can then shape the story and that many perspectives go unheard. Bear that in mind that when you go looking for your sources.
And remember: there is a big difference between a stakeholder and an expert. While an expert can help you identify a problem and explain its causes and effects, a stakeholder gives you the first person accounts and the emotions — anger, fear, pain, frustration — that make a story compelling and urgent. The first person accounts are what will connect with readers or listeners.
If you only have stakeholders, you won’t give your readers a sense of scale or the context needed to understand the problem and figure out how to solve it. But if you only have experts, the story will feel cold and readers won’t connect to it. When you’re telling a story about the climate crisis, for example, you need experts to tell your audience what is happening and what we can do and you need humans on the ground to tell your audience why it matters.
Where to start looking for people
It can be tricky to find stakeholders. People who are victims of some problem might not advertise themselves as such. Here are some ways to find them:
Start with people you already know. They might have relatives, friends and colleagues who you can ask. Those people have relatives, friends and colleagues. Through your own personal network you have access to many, many different people. Let everyone know the story you are working on and the types of people you are looking for.
You will find people in surprising places: Cafes, markets, doctors offices and schools. But they won’t come to you if they don’t know you want to speak to them. And don’t forget the power of social media. Just one person you know who has 2,000 social media friends can reach a lot of people you might not know.
The leaders in your local church, mosque or community center know a lot of people. School organizations are great networking places. So are trade groups, environmental and social advocacy groups and labor unions.
Visit places where people live and gather. There is nothing as good as face to face interactions.
Search out the comments sections of news articles. People often post about their own experiences at the end of articles. Sometimes you might be able to contact them through those comment chats.
The best stories reflect multiple perspectives and include both people’s emotions and opinions and information from experts. The ability to find and talk to these people is the best part of being a journalist.
Marcy Burstiner is the educational news director for News Decoder. She is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and professor emeritus of journalism and mass communication at the California Polytechnic University, Humboldt in California. She is the author of the book "Investigative Reporting: From premise to publication."
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