Journalism Today

Chapter 9: Doing In-Depth Reporting

Overview

Like their professional counterparts, high school journalists produce thoughtful, in-depth stories on a wide range of important subjects from school budgets to school violence, from censorship to family crises, from student rights to animal rights. No matter the subject, the in-depth reporter must research his or her subject extensively and conduct interviews with key figures in order to provide a detailed account of a significant story.

Watergate, or the name applied to an array of deeds and events in the early 1970s that led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon, was one of the biggest investigative stories of the century. Investigative reporting is a type of in-depth reporting that seeks to uncover and expose something hidden. In many cases, the investigative report reveals illegal activity or information that has been purposefully kept from the public.

As a high school journalist, you don't have to search for scandals or sensationalist pieces, but you don't have to settle for shallow stories either. Concentrate on causes as well as effects and always ask "why?" Assign an in-depth report to a team of writers to provide the best coverage.

When writing in-depth stories, stop thinking of leads and start thinking of introductions. Set up your longer story with a scene or an anecdote. To stress the significance of an in-depth story to your readers, incorporate a local angle by tapping into school or community sources. After the introduction, introduce the story's real theme in a nut graph. The nut graph foreshadows the rest of the story and functions as an internal lead. In-depth stories should come full circle: they should have an ending. Look to the introduction to find your story's ending.

Many in-depth stories are long; in order to create space in your paper, condense minor stories into a "bulletin board" type of column or news-brief format. The news-brief format is made up of one or two sentences and will allow you more space to cover stories of significance.

Once you have the space for an in-depth story, consider how to best present it. Extract the mainbar, or main story, that gives the pertinent facts needed to set up other stories. The other stories will be sidebars since they elaborate on the main story. If the story has a lot of numbers, consider pulling the numbers out of the mainbar and translating them into a chart or graph.

Research, organization, time for reflection on what your research recovers, and writing are the elements of in-depth reporting. Always analyze the validity and reliability of the primary-source information you use and cite the source appropriately. A primary source is an account of an event produced by firsthand observers or participants, such as diaries, government records, field notes, and speeches.