Reporting
Introduction
Interviews are at the core of why I love journalism. I have the privilege of meeting incredible people across the community and understanding what they’re passionate about. Through my articles, I foster change — writing about the climate crisis, gun violence, school funding disparities — in ways that uplift the voices of those around me.
To explore my reporting, I’ll highlight a project that I've worked on since August. Attending school board and other administrative meetings, I’ve worked to increase Ladue Publications' coverage of the district's administrative operations, emphasizing the importance of student political literacy.
Reporting Process
1
Research
For each article I write, I start by creating a Google Docs research plan. This includes every piece of information I can possibly find for the subject; for the school board stories, it centered around the current board members and legislative topics that are top-of-mind for the public. This is also the space where I inform myself on each meeting's agenda items, such as finances and district goals.
Localized Perspectives
As an in-depth reporter, most of my topics (climate change, gun violence, affirmative action) centered around larger, societal issues. To localize the article, I always search for a angle that is especially relevant to the Ladue community. For climate change, I spoke to a researcher at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center on St. Louis flooding. While covering gun violence, I highlighted the perspective of Emily D., a student who lost her cousin to a Nashville school shooting. My affirmative action piece included perspectives from Grace Chapin James, the Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Washington University in St. Louis.
2
Establishing Relationships
Before every interview, it's important to me that my interviewees understand who I am and feel comfortable speaking candidly about topics that may be sensitive in nature. Thus, my initial "can I interview you?" email goes beyond a simple question. For school board reporting, especially, I sent emails that fully introduced myself and Ladue Publications, intending to establish a relationship with individuals I'd be reporting on for a long while. During meetings and while emailing follow-up questions, these initial bonds streamlined communication, ensuring that each interview was a conversation rather than a transaction.
3
Preparing Questions
As a first-year reporter, my interviews followed the standard 21-question format: no follow-ups, solely pre-written questions. Now, I'm more comfortable and no longer follow such a rigid structure. Rather than establishing questions, I jot down topics I'd like to explore with my interviewee before the interview. I use this list to guide the conversation, but largely use my interviewee's responses to generate follow-up questions that further the conversation. I always use physical paper-and-pen, rather than a laptop, to ensure that no physical barriers hinder my connection with the interviewee.
4
On the Ground Coverage
To understand the story fully, I emphasize meeting sources where they are. No matter if it's primarily a print, photo, broadcast or design story, I make every effort to travel to the location my interviewee is most comfortable in, so that that environment can be evident in the article. On the right is a picture of me at Ladue High School's school board meeting Jan. 29. Rather than playing back the recording, as many school board reporters do, I attended the entirety of each meeting. Next to that picture is one of me at the Debre Nazreth St Mary and St Gabriel Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a location I went to while covering a student's religious engagements.
This coverage goes both ways. In March of my sophomore year, my in-depth team decided to cover St. Louis' unhoused population. Because I wasn't able to attend the primary interview, I elected to take myself off of the copy team so as to preserve the story's integrity.
5
Laying Out Quotes
Once my interviews are done, I start laying out the story. I first transcribe each quote, playing the recording back multiple times to ensure accuracy within each word. Then, I sketch out a reasonable flow for the article and set the quotes up in that order, outlining the necessary transitions. From there, I write and rewrite the story until it's complete.
6
Emailing Thank You's
After I publish a story, I email my interviewees, thanking them for their time and sending them a link to the article. I do this to ensure that they feel accurately represented, so I know if I need to correct any unintentional error.
Read the Stories
