Where the News Comes From :

Journalists find news in all sorts of places, but most stories originate in one of three basic ways:

• Naturally occurring events, like disasters and accidents

• Planned activities, like meetings and news conferences

• Reporters’ enterprise.

Unplanned events frequently become major news stories. A ferry sinking, a plane crash, a tsunami, or a mudslide is newsworthy not just when it happens but often for days and weeks afterwards. The extent of the coverage depends in part on proximity and who was involved. A fatal automobile accident in Paris might not be big news on any given day. But an accident in Paris in 1997 was a huge news story, not just in France but also around the world, because one of the victims was Britain’s Princess Diana.

Citizens who witness a disaster will often contact a news organization. Journalists also learn about these events from first responders: police, fire, or rescue officials. In some countries, news organizations are able to monitor emergency communications between first responders and can dispatch journalists to the scene quickly so they can watch the story unfold.

In many newsrooms, the most obvious source of news is the daily schedule of events in town, which includes government meetings, business openings, or community events. Often called a “daybook,” this list of activities is not automatically newsworthy but it provides a good starting point for reporters searching for news. Reporters who regularly cover specific kinds of issues or institutions, also called “beat” reporters, say they often get story ideas by looking at agendas for upcoming meetings.

Press releases can be another source of news, but again, they are just a starting point. Dozens of press releases arrive in newsrooms every day, by mail, by fax, or even on video via satellite. Government officials and agencies generate many of them, but other large organizations like private businesses and non-profit groups also issue press releases to let the news media know what they are doing.

A press release may resemble a news story but because it is produced by someone with a vested interest in the subject it is not likely to tell the complete story. Press releases may be factually correct, but they usually include only those facts that reflect positively on the person or organization featured in the release. Even if a press release looks newsworthy, a professional journalist first must verify its authenticity, and then begin asking questions to determine the real story before deciding if it’s worth reporting.

Staged events, such as demonstrations, also can produce news, but journalists must be wary of being manipulated by the organizers who want to tell only their side of the story. Politicians have become adept at staging events and “photo opportunities” in order to attract coverage, even when they have no real news value. That does not mean journalists should ignore these events, but only that they need to do additional reporting to get a complete story.

Most reporters say their best stories come from their own enterprise. Sometimes story suggestions come from strangers, who may visit, telephone, or e-mail the newsroom with a complaint or concern. Some news organizations actively solicit ideas from people who live in the communities they serve, by providing a telephone number or an e-mail address where suggestions can be submitted. Journalists spend a lot of time building relationships with people who can provide them with information.

Journalists frequently find stories simply by looking around and listening to what people are talking about. What you overhear at a sports event or in line at the post office could turn into a news story. Ask the people you meet when you are not covering a story what is going on in their lives or their neighborhoods and you might find yourself on the trail of a news story no one else has covered.

Another way to find news is to ask what has happened since the last time a story was in the paper or on the air. Follow-ups often lead to surprising developments that are even more newsworthy than the original report. For example, a story about a fire the day after it happened might tell you how many people were killed and the extent of the property damage. But a follow-up several weeks later could discover that a faulty radio system made it impossible for firefighters to respond quickly enough to save more lives.

Documents, data, and public records can lead to terrific stories as well. Reporters can use them to look for trends or to spot irregularities. This kind of work requires more effort, but the results are almost always worth the trouble. It’s considerably easier when the data are made available electronically, of course, but reporters have been known to enter data from paper records into computer database programs just so they can search for the most significant information in a pile of statistics. For example, a list of people who have received speeding tickets might yield a story if it could be sorted by name instead of date.