If you were a journalist, what topic or topics, large or small, would you want to investigate through reporting?
Think about the problems or injustices in your community or school. Consider questions you or others have about how local systems work — or how they don’t. Think about the big investigative pieces you have read in national news outlets and “localize” them: What does that same issue look like in your area? (To help you brainstorm, you might scroll through this list of “21 Excellent Stories of Student Journalism Against the Odds” from The Student Press Law Center.)
When you have a topic idea, tell us: What makes you curious about it? Why do you think it is important or relevant?
What questions would your investigation try to answer?
Whom might you interview in the course of your reporting? How could you get in touch with them?
Other than interviews, what kind of research or evidence might be important in your investigation? Where would you look for more information?
What might be some of the challenges of reporting on your topic?
What changes, if any, do you imagine might result from your reporting? Why?
When you have a topic idea, tell us: What makes you curious about it? Why do you think it is important or relevant?
What questions would your investigation try to answer?
Whom might you interview in the course of your reporting? How could you get in touch with them?
Other than interviews, what kind of research or evidence might be important in your investigation? Where would you look for more information?
What might be some of the challenges of reporting on your topic?
What changes, if any, do you imagine might result from your reporting? Why?
