Putting It All Together

• Build a team.

• Database or tech support

• Graphics and design

• Photo

• Internet

• Upper editors

• Give your team a copy of the proposal and update members regularly.

Managing the information

• Create a chronology, either in text or spreadsheet format.

• Track records requests. Which ones are outstanding? What are the obstacles? What date did they promise to give you the records?

• Create a spreadsheet of sources, contacts for the project.

• Make your own database or spreadsheet for your data.

• Create a common area in the system for sharing files.

  Moving a project to the front burner

• Collect your data and analyze it.

• Spend some time pre-reporting.

• Bounce your theory off of the experts.

• Look for real-world examples to back up your data. If you can’t easily find anecdotal evidence to back up your story, it might not be a story.

• Build internal support for your project. Make sure your top editors are on board. Talk with your editor about how much time you will need, what resources you need etc.

• Provide a written project proposal and update your editors regularly about your findings.

Now comes the hard part: writing

• What kind of presentation works best for your story?

• Narratives with a beginning, middle and end that build suspense.

• Serial narratives.

• Traditional multi-part series with different themes on each day.

• Focus on one example to tell the whole story. Follow a single case from beginning to end to show how the system works.

  Writing investigative stories

• The rolling investigation

• Go with your strongest angle. Keep working on the follow-ups.

• Write what you don’t know as well as what you know. People are often motivated to help you fill in the blanks.

• Make sure potential sources know how to reach you.

• Go back and publish a recap story that connects all of the dots for readers.

• Write with authority.

• Cite your sources but don’t over-attribute.

• If it’s something you dug up, give yourself credit.

• Don’t overdo the numbers. Pick your strongest numbers. Put the rest in a graphic.

• Post PDFs of key documents, data, links to websites online.

Checking facts

• Before you publish, check every verifiable fact.

• Retrace your steps. How did you get each piece of key information? Can you document it?

• Make sure everyone in the story has had a chance to comment or take issue with your reporting. Can’t reach someone? Send a letter.

• Don’t be rushed into a story. Hold it if you aren’t sure.

• A small mistake (wrong age, date) can lead to a correction and allow people to question the integrity of the whole story.

• Ask people to read your story who aren’t familiar with it. What questions do they have?

Avoiding lawsuits

• Understand libel and the elements required:

• False statement that identifies someone and harms them.

• Plaintiffs must prove you were negligent (for private individuals) or acted with actual malice (for public officials).

• Don’t hide from corrections.

• Privileged documents and statements:

• Court testimony, police reports, government documents – must give fair and accurate report

• False light

Avoiding lawsuits

• Resources:

• Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press legal hotline

• FOI Oklahoma, Joey Senat

How I got the story …

• Tulsa World series on ABLE Agent Mike Easley

• http://bit.ly/fstaHA

• http://bit.ly/fkLkjj

• http://bit.ly/eD3qN5

• http://bit.ly/gJ4OMx

• Records used: time sheets, pikepass records, employee activity reports, class schedules found online, internal memos obtained from sources

How I got the story …

• State lawmaker Chad Stites

• http://bit.ly/h8HovS

• http://bit.ly/eBC1Gt

• http://bit.ly/hfcd76

• http://bit.ly/epSn67

• Records used: land records, city code enforcement records and tapes, legislative voting history, court records

How I got the story …

• The speeding Drummonds of Osage County

• http://bit.ly/huooKD

• Records used: traffic tickets filed in Osage County, land records, OHP records on license suspensions

Extras you can add to your story online

• Videos

• Audio

• PDFs of documents

• Maps

• Sidebars you don’t have room for in print

Web tips

• Online extras

• Searchable data

• Links to related past stories

• Slideshows

• If you reference a key document, people want to see it. Add a .pdf on your website.

• Don’t mark up or highlight documents until you scan them.

• Consider redacting social security numbers, home addresses.

Web tools

• Caspio – allows you to post searchable databases online. Price scaled for size of company. www.caspio.com.

• Google Fusion – allows you to build maps for your website and databases with little programming knowledge-- http://bit.ly/cYgF5j

• YouTube – quick solution to upload and feature video on your site.

Social media

• Use Twitter to get story ideas, Facebook to find people to talk about them

• People say things that make news on social media.

• Tread cautiously with juveniles.

• Photos may be subject to copyright if they are professionally done. Otherwise, profiles set to public are fair game.

• Build a list of local, state and national officials and organizations to follow in Twitter.