Reporting/Interviewing Techniques and Tools

Search the Toolbox:

Open the Toolbox 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Index Advertising Advertising / Marketing Agriculture Broadcast Journalism Business News Business Resources Check Domain Names College Media Columnists Cool Sites Copy Editing Crime Daily News Sites Design/Visual Journalism Disability/Accessibility Resources Diversity Issues Education Entertainment: Movies, TV and Music Environment Ethics Expert Sources Federal Government Form 990s/Charities Free Speech/First Amendment Issues General Resources/Fact-Checking/Libraries Global Journalism High School Journalism History/Fact-Checking Holiday Trends and Traditions Internet/Tech News Investigative / Backgrounding Iraq Resources Journalism Job Links Journalist's Toolbox Labor Issues Legal Resources Lifestyles Listservs and Newsgroups Medical/Health Index Military and Bioterrorism News Industry Sites Olympics Resources Other Journalism Research Pages PR / Press Releases Personal Finance Phone/Map/E-mail Directories Photojournalism Public Records Public Safety Issues Religion Reporting/Interviewing Techniques and Tools Resumes and Cover Letters School Violence Science Resources Search Engines/Subject Directories/Weblogs Special Reports Sports Resources Spreadsheets State/Local Government Teaching Tools Title IX Urban Legends, Hoaxes And Scams Weather Women's Issues Writing Resources Writing With Numbers

Weekly E-Newsletter: Sign up for our weekly newsletter and get updates on new sites and other resources.

Click here to send us an update or comment on the site!

FEATURED SITES

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting: From the World Security Institute, this site provides in-depth resources on global affairs.

SpinSpotter: An interesting software tool that claims to expose news spin and bias, misuse of sources, and suspect factual support. Uses algorithms to spot spin keywords on sites you surf .

NinjaWords.com: A fast, accurate dictionary. Great for looking up words quickly.

Hard to Find 800 Numbers: Organizes companies alphabetically and displays phone numbers and hours of operation.

The Associated Press Polls: Lists links to recently released AP polls on various topics.

Neat New Stuff on the Web: A great list of resources, updated weekly, from library researcher Marylaine Block.

SiloBreaker: An online search service for news and current events that delivers meaning and relevance beyond traditional search and aggregation engines.

The Center for Public Integrity has compiled a comprehensive two-million-record database that includes every federal lobbying document filed since 1998. Read more.
[States] Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
[Countries] Albania Argentina Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Belize Bermuda Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Cameroon Canada Chile China Colombia Congo Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Denmark Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Ethiopia Finland France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Luxemborg Macedonia Malaysia Marshall Islands Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Pakistan Palau Panama Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Russian Federation Rwanda Saudi Arabia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom USA Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Yugoslavia Zimbabwe
[Issues] Abortion & Adoption Accounting Advertising Aerospace Agriculture Airlines & Aviation Alcohol & Drug Abuse Animals Appropriations Arts & Entertainment Automotive Industry Banking Bankruptcy Beverage Industry Boating & Fisheries Broadcasting Chemical Industry Civil Liberties Clean Air and Water Clothing & Apparel Commodities Computer Industry Constitution Consumers & Safety Copyrights & Patents Crime & Enforcement Defense District of Columbia Economics Education Emergencies Energy & Nuclear Environment Finance & Investment Food Industry Foreign Relations Gaming & Gambling Government Issues Guns & Ammunition Health Issues Homeland Security Housing Immigration Indian Tribes & Affairs Insurance Labor & Workplace Land & Real Estate Manufacturing Media Medicare & Medicaid Medicine & Research Mining & Money Natural Resources Oil & Fuel Pharmacy Postal Railroads Religion Retirement Roads & Highway Small Business Sports & Athletics Taxation Technology Telecommunications Tobacco Torts Tourism & Travel Trade Transportation Trucking & Shipping Unemployment Urban Development Utilities Veterans Wastes (Hazardous) Welfare
[Agencies] U.S. House U.S. Senate A & T Compliance Access Board African Foundation Agriculture Dept - Alt Agriculture - Farm Credit Admin ATF Amtrak Arms Control Arts & Humanities Botanic Garden Capitol Planning Cmsn Capitol Architect CFTC (Commodities) CIA Civil Rights Cmsn Coast Guard Commerce Dept - Census - Economic Analysis - Economic Dvlpmt - Export Admin - Intl Trade Admin - Minority Business - NOAA - Patent Office - Technology - Telecom CDC (Disease Control) - TSD Registry Community Svc Cong Budget Office Consumer Safety Credit Union Admin DEA Defense Dept - Secretary of Defense - Joint Chiefs of Staff - Air Force - Army - Navy - Marines - Auditing - Commissary - Corps of Engineers - Field Activities - Geospatial Intel - Info Systems - Intelligence (DIA) - Investigative Svc - Joint Service Schools - Legal Services - Logistics - Missile Defense - On-Site Inspection - Research (DARPA) - Security Assistance - Selective Service - Special Weapons Education Dept EEOC (Employment) FEC (Elections) FEMA Energy Dept EPA Export-Import Bank FAA FBI FCC FDIC (Deposit Ins) Federal Reserve FERC (Energy Reg) FTC (Trade Cmsn) Forest Svc GAO Geological Survey Govmt Printing GSA (Genl Servcies) Health & Human Svcs - Aging - Children & Families - FDA - Health Care Policy - Health Resources - Inst of Health (NIH) - Inst on Alcoholism - Medicare & Medicaid - Mental Health - Program Support - Social Security Homeland Security - Citizenship - Customs - Law Enfcmt Training - TSA Housing Finance HUD - Policy Development Indian Gaming Inter-American Fdtn Interior Dept - Fish & Wildlife Svc - Indian Affairs - Indian Health - Land Mgmt (BLM) - Minerals Mgmt - Natl Parks - Reclamation - Surface Mining Intl Devel Coop Intl Trade Cmsn IRS Justice Dept - Corrections - Drug Courts - Interpol Bureau - Justice Inst - Justice Programs - Crime Victims - Justice Assistance - Justice Statistics - Juvenile Justice - Special Counsel - Marshals Service - Prisons - Violence/Women Labor Dep - Employment Stnds - Mine Safety - OSHA - Pension & Welfare - Statistics (BLS) Labor Rltns (FLRA) Labor Rltns (NLRB) Legal Svcs Corp Library of Cong. - Copyright Office Library Svcs Inst Maritime Commission Mediation Bd Mediation Svc Merit Systems Bd Mine Safety Cmsn NASA Natl Archives Natl Security Agency NEA (Arts) NSF (Science) NTSB Nuclear Facilities Bd Nuclear Reg Cmsn Occ Safety Cmsn Ofc of Govmt Ethics Overseas Investmt Panama Canal Cmsn Peace Corps Peace Inst Pension Guar Corp Personnel (OPM) Post Office Postal Rate Cmsn President of the US - Executive Office of - VP of the US - Office of the VP - Budget (OMB) - Natl Security Cncl - Trade Rep (USTR) - Admin Office - Faith-Based Office - Drug Control Policy - Economic Advisers - Economic Council - Environment (CEQ) - Science & Tech - White House Office Pub Broadcasting Railroad Retirement Fed Retirement Bd SEC (Securities) Secret Service Small Business Admin Smithsonian St. Lawrence Seaway State Dept - Information Agency State Justice Inst Tenn Valley Authority Trade & Development Transportation Dept - Highway Admin - Highway Safety - Maritime Admin - Railroad Admin - Research - Statistics - Surface Transp - Transit Admin Treasury Dept - Comptroller - Engraving - Mngmt Svc - Public Debt - Thrift Supervision - U.S. Mint USAID Veterans Affairs - Emp & Training
[Industries] Accountants Agriculture Agriculture Products Airlines and Aircraft Automotive Banks Beer, Wine & Liquor Building Materials Building Unions Business Business Associations Business Services Chemicals Communications Computers Conservative Construction Contractors Credit Companies Credit Unions Crops Dairy Defense Defense Aerospace Defense Electronics Education Education, Public Electricity Electronics Energy Environment Environment Services Finance Food Food Processing Foreign Governments Foreign Policy Forestry Gambling Government Gun Control Gun Rights Health Health Workers Hmos Home Builders Hospitals Human Rights Industrial Unions Insurance Joint Candidate Law Firms Leadership Pacs Liberal Livestock Lobbyists Manufacturing Mining Non-Profits Oil & Gas Other Issues Pharmaceuticals Policy Organizations Poultry & Eggs Pro-Choice Pro-Israel Pro-Life Public Officials Public Unions Publishing Railroads Real Estate Recreation Religious Groups Retail Savings & Loans Sea Transport Securities Services Special Trades Steel Telecom Telephone Utlities Textiles Tobacco Tourism Transportation Transportation Unions Trucking Tv, Movies & Music Unions Waste Management Wildlife Women's Issues

Interviewing

Detroit Free Press: A Psychologist's View on Interviewing
An interesting perspective.

Guide to Taping Conversations in All 50 States
Can we tape or can't we? Answers from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

"No Train, No Gain"
A helpful site for newsroom training tips from Steve Buttry of the Omaha World-Herald.

Cyberjournalist: Online Reporting Tips and Resources
Dozens of tips and lengths.

Oatis.com Reporting Resources
A comprehensive resource for reporters on deadline, this site offers links and tips for finding public records, business coverage resources and tips on software and how it can be used by journalists. It is run by Jonathan Oatis, an American journalist working for Reuters in London.

Using Hidden Cameras
From RTNDF.

NY Times Campus Weblines: Interviewing Techniques
Covers the basics very well. Good for college, high school journalists.

TheBackhaul.com: Web Crawler
Great for developing story ideas, this site scans the Web sites of more than 400 local television stations, and compiles and e-mails the results. Also a free e-mail newsletter.

AJR: Journalists Are Questioning News Embargos

Interviewing Basics for Bloggers

Poynter.org: Checklist for Recording Phone Conversations

Beat Reporting/Specialty Reporting

NY Times Campus Weblines: Beat Reporting
Covers the basics very well. Good for college, high school journalists.

Media-Alliance.org
Training resources for the media.

Snarkmarket
This blog highlights useful sites and articles of interest to journalists.

National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting
Countless seminars and training on using databases and software.

The J-Files: CAR Skills Checklist
From Jeff South at Virginia Commonwealth.

Covering Courts
Tips from the St. Petersburg Times and Dr. Cecil Greek of Florida State.

Covering Courts Criminal Justice Links
Dr. Greek's criminal justice links.

What Reporters Need To Know About Municipal Budgets
Includes terms, and it walks you through the process.

LinkedIn.com
Good networking site for journalists seeking sources and for non-journalists looking to connect for business purposes.

Providence Journal: Journalists Primer to Budgets
From the Journal's Dave Herzog.

Poynter.org Suicide Coverage Guidelines
Tips from Poynter's Al Tompkins.

Obit Writing and Reporting Tips
Suggestions from journalist Gerry Goldstein.

Poynter.org: Tales from the Obit Desk
A veteran newspaper journalist offers advice on obit writing.

The Obit Page
A resource site for obit writers.

GoodbyeMag.com
"An opinionated quarterly magazine that chronicles the dead -- famous, infamous and non-famous. Warning: Some is fictional.

JournalismTraining.org
Run by SPJ, this site offers a centralized location for journalists seeking development opportunities. It includes a database that allows you to search by zip code.

Providence Journal: Power of Words
A weekly lesson on writing. Tips, links, stories, etc.

Lee Newspapers: Writing Matters
Writing tips from reporters on staff of the Lee chain.

Poytner: Covering Political Speeches

Tips for Uncovering Sealed Cases

SLA News Division: Surveys and Forms Section
Great resources for public documents and research.

Reporting on Suicide: Recommendations for the Media
A tips and ideas sheet from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School. The document recommends considering stories such as trends in suicide rates, recent treatment advances, individual stories of how treatment was lifesaving, myths about suicide, warning signs of suicide, etc.

Providence Journal: Reporters and Photographers Working Together
Tips from Bob Wyss of the Journal.

Journeys in Sound: Radio Storytelling Techniques
National Public Radio reporter John Burnett offers tips in this session, which includes audio clips.

Reporting Tips on Indo-Pak Tensions
From SAJA, background and links to news sources on relations between Indonesia and Pakistan.

No Train, No Gain
A great collection of handouts and contacts for newsroom training.

Newsnext.com
An independent editorial calendar, a forward planning tool for UK journalists to spot future feature ideas and story leads.

RobertNiles.com: Finding Basic Stats Online

Guru.net
A complete reference library available for a $40 annual fee. Includes reference books from dictionary to medical, government, etc.

Media Professional's Guide to the Net

Harvard's Nieman Narrative Digest
Updated every couple of weeks with tips and ideas about narrative writing.

Harvard's Notable Narratives Database
A database of narrative journalism samples. Search by dates, source, topic, etc.

NY Times Interviewing Techniques
A great set of tips from the paper's learning network.

HighSchoolJournalism.org: Covering a Beat

SportsJones: Good Sportswriting
Recommends examples of good sportswriting.

Reporter.org: The Sports Beat
Maintained by Investigative Reporters and Editors, includes Web links by sports category.

Poynter.org: Writing Tips from Buster Olney
New York Times beat reporter shares suggestions on writing on deadline, covering a beat and staying fresh.

Scowling at Their Notebooks: How British Journalists Understand Their Writing
Donald Matheson Cardiff University, UK.

The IRE Resource Center: Tipsheets from CAR Conference Speakers
This is an actual database of tipsheets that IRE members can download as PDF files directly from the Web site. You have to be an IRE member to access the database.

Critical Thinking/Analysis/Accuracy

CriticalThinking.org
Many useful tips and techniques.

Longview (Mo.) Community College: Critical Thinking in Journalism

Common Nonsense
A free online textbook about the scientific method and critical thinking, written for students and professionals in business, law and journalism.

James Lett: Developing Critical Thinking Skills

Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
The magazine for science and reason.

JustThink.org
Resources for critical-thinking.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly or Why It's A Good Idea to Evaluate Web Resources
From Susan E. Beck of the New Mexico State University Library.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators at DiscoverySchool.com
Tips on evaluating Web resource.

Evaluating Web Resources
From Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate of Widener University.

Bibliography on Evaluating Web Information
From Nicole J. Auer of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.

San Jose State University: Critical Thinking Resouces
Another good university site that features links to readings exercises and more.

Miscellaneous Reporting Techniques Sites

ASNE: The Local News Handbook

Consumer Price Index
Check the index for your area.

The Privacy Paradox Online
From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

KLAS TV: Guide to Copyright in Readable English
A Las Vegas TV station covers the basics.

FedBlog
A must-read for anyone covering politics and federal government. Daily updates on what's going on, links, resources, etc.

The Washington File
Another must-read for anyone covering politics and federal government. It's a feed of government-generated stories on global and national issues.

SportsMediaGuide.com
This site, affiliated with The Sports Institute at Boston University, explores the art and craft of sports journalism. It consists of Q &A interviews with sports media pros - veteran and novice. The site's goal is to humanize sports media while serving as a teaching resource.

Utterz
File audio reports off your computer or by cell phone.