Category Archives: Finding Stories

Apr 03

Help for covering religion this week

Okay, so you didn’t grow up Jewish or Christian and you need a little help this week.  It’s Holy Week for Christians, and Passover begins Saturday for Jews, so here’s some key resources to help you understand the days, their … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Mar 20

Calendars Help You Find Stories

Finding stories is one of the hardest things about reporting — at least for me.  So I like to gather online calendars that I can check for story leads of upcoming events. Here’s a list I use for Syracuse, N.Y: … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Mar 12

How to find twitter accounts of media

You are working on a story that tracks to another market.  You’d like to know what the media in that location are reporting, so you can stay on top of the story.  A quick way to do that is to … Read More

Posted in Continuing Coverage, Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Mar 09

Quick way to dash off a FOI request

Need the goods tucked in some government document? Or wonder if there is something in someone’s file cabinet or computer archive that will explain what’s going on? Busy reporters have little time to draft and produce freedom of information requests … Read More

Posted in Backgrounding for News Stories, Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Nov 30

Use Globe of Blogs for story ideas in your hometown

Blogs are the electronic water cooler of our day–like the copy machine or maybe the Starbuck’s line — the place where you find out what people are talking about.   Seasoned reporters told me to listen to the chat there … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Nov 14

Track words or stories in the blogosphere

update: Blogpulse was purchased and shuttered in January, 2012. If I put the word “Sandusky” into a blog search two weeks ago maybe I would have come up with something about the city in Ohio, near my hometown, that is … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Nov 03

Find out the buzz online

If you’re new to a topic or even trolling online for story ideas, why not spend a few minutes seeing what people are blogging about. It’s my new mantra — spend seven minutes on something to see what I can … Read More

Posted in Backgrounding for News Stories, Finding Stories, Searching | Leave a comment
Oct 28

Let the news come to you!

I like the way Professor Jeff South of Virginia Commonwealth University put it at the Journalism Interactive Conference today:  “sign up for news to come to you.”  I’ve long suggested professionals and students should subscribe to e-releases from government agencies … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Sep 29

Help with news story ideas on environment

Stuck for story ideas? Get the free  biweekly email or RSS of  story leads from Society for Environmental  Journalists, @sejorg. The list includes 4-5 leads every other week and it tips you off on reports to be issued, trends or … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment
Sep 20

Set grandma straight by snopes-ing that email!

Think one of those warning emails from your grandma about bad fast food or dangers at the gas pump is a story? Check out snopes.com What started as a hobby for a California couple, @snopes,  became a small business in … Read More

Posted in Finding Stories | Leave a comment