The Journalistic Writing Process How to craft a strong report.

Homan Square The Disappeared: Chicago police detain Americans at abuse-laden ‘black- site’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain- americans-black-site

I. Scoop – Finding a Newsworthy Topic. When considering a topic for reporting, consider the following elements: - Impact – Does the topic have a wide reach? Stimulation- Does the topic arouse specific emotions? Conflict – Has/will the conflict create disagreement? Relevance – Is the topic applicable to a demographic? Prominence – Is the topic well-known? Proximity – Are you familiar with the topic?

II. Brainsourcing – Develop Your Topic What do you already know? What information do you need to know? Where will you get this information?

III. Interviewing – Meet Face to Face State the purpose of the interview before beginning. Avoid questions that prompt a simplistic response. Prepare open ended questions that are aimed at your goal. Don’t ask questions that you should already know the answer to. Identify the most important, complete quotes from the interview.

IV. Organization