Getting the Story
Interviewing, research, source work
Stories come from people. Finding them, winning their trust, listening properly, and taking down what they say without mangling it. Simon worked television, print, and radio, and interviewed thousands of people. What you will find here is how to do it without making a fool of yourself.
Start Here
FOI: How to Use Freedom of Information
Freedom of Information in Australia gives journalists and citizens a legal right to ask federal and state government agencies for documents...
Interviews: How to Do Them Right
Interviews: how to do them right (5 pages) Obtaining an interview Phone the person and ask. Or go through another person, such as a...
Quotes, how to write quotes
How to write quotes (6 pages) Punctuation Of Quotes You must use quotations 100% correctly. You will find different rules about quotations...
Resourceful wikiHow
How to be resourceful Re-printed with permission of the website wikiHow Life doesn't always hand us solutions to go with the problems and...
More in Getting the Story
Brush-off
This is called a 'brush-off'. It happens in romance, it happens in our social, sporting and work relationships. You give someone...
Data Journalism: Finding Stories in Numbers
How journalists find stories in datasets. A practical guide using Australian open data sources, ABS, Google Trends, and Trove.
FOI: How to Use Freedom of Information
Freedom of Information in Australia gives journalists and citizens a legal right to ask federal and state government agencies for...
Indirect quotes
You may misunderstand the term 'indirect quote'. A quote is something someone says. Your interviewee might have said verbatim...
Interviews, question & answer
I'm against Q&As I recommend against writing an interview as a Q & A. Most publications are not interested in such a style. Do...
Interviews: How to Do Them Right
Interviews: how to do them right (5 pages) Obtaining an interview Phone the person and ask. Or go through another person, such as...
Introducing Yourself as a Journalist
You ask about how to introduce yourself to prospective interviewees. Why not say: 'Hello, my name is * and I'm a freelance...
Journalistic Research
Journalistic research Research is a big topic. But let me give you a few basics. Your single greatest research tool is the phone...
Phone Shyness: Getting Over It
Phone shyness can be controlled By SIMON TOWNSEND You can't beat shyness, but you can control it. I can show you ways to help...
Quotes direct-indirect
Here's some advice on direct quotes and indirect quotes. When you use quotes, you are using fresh words said to YOU the...
Quotes of the famous
Famous quotes MUST be accurate If you use a famous quote from a famous person, you must get it 100% accurate. Your editor will...
Quotes use more
Do you think you could make more use of quotes? I think you should. Why use quotes? Because in mainstream articles, reading the...
Quotes without adverbs
When you quote someone, let their words convey the emotion. Do not describe the speaker's delivery yourself. For instance: 'You...
Quotes, difficult getting
First of all, you need phone numbers. So you must be quick and skilled at going to www.whitepages.com.au and finding numbers...
Quotes, how to write quotes
How to write quotes (6 pages) Punctuation Of Quotes You must use quotations 100% correctly. You will find different rules about...
Recording Interviews Successfully
Interviews: recording successfully For all interviews, you should use a recorder. I do not use the term 'tape recorder' as today...
Research & quotes - difference
Remember that research and quotes are quite different. When you use research, you use facts and figures from sources such as...
Resourceful wikiHow
How to be resourceful Re-printed with permission of the website wikiHow Life doesn't always hand us solutions to go with the...
Student, only a
You ask about how to approach people for interviews and information while you are 'ONLY' a student. No. Sorry, you misunderstand...
Telephone manner
You seem worried about phoning people to obtain information or to conduct an interview. Your life in freelance journalism will be...
The Pen Picture
I think you should give your readers a pen picture of *. Here's my standard advice on this important part of good writing. For a...