tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67446897154091893982011-07-08T04:17:31.612-07:00<b>Student Journalism That Matters</b> <p>A project of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Humboldt State University</p>Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-38080776028033907292009-12-08T08:27:00.000-08:002009-12-08T09:08:02.792-08:00

When you talk to many sources you collect so much information you can get lost in it. Try diagramming your notes.Each source you talk to only sees a small piece of the big picture. You get a sense of the big reality by connecting all these small pieces.It helps to draw a circle for each piece of information and connecting them together.You can do this on your computer and share it among your

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-9110313592791077102009-06-21T07:25:00.000-07:002009-06-21T08:08:40.291-07:00

That's the advice from investigative reporters who cover higher education. Here's some tips on what to ask and look for:All emails sent to your college president or athletic director. That will tell you about all the problems people complain about.All public records of academic misconduct -- ask for every case for the last five years.A list of all public records requests. If lawyers are snooping

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-61763258813065465922009-06-12T11:14:00.000-07:002009-06-12T19:10:23.194-07:00

I'm at the yearly gathering of Investigative Reporters & Editors and am going to report to you some of great ideas for student journalists that I'm getting here. First Off: Use maps and timelines to report your story not just to present it to readers.That's the advice from Washington Post Sarah Cohen. She's the author of the book Numbers in the Newsroom which is a great guide for the

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-22273443564335673112009-06-10T13:26:00.000-07:002009-06-10T13:35:25.577-07:00

The Center for Campus Investigations was founded at Humboldt State University in 2007 as a place on the Internet geared to encouraging investigative reporting at the college level. Its mission is to give advice to student journalists and highlight and share investigative projects done by student journalists.You can find us online at http://campusinvestigations.org

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-19208497757189506972009-06-01T08:28:00.001-07:002009-06-10T13:21:44.163-07:00

You don't have to do an investigation alone. Think about teaming up with your student radio or TV station or other publications or student organizations on campus. Or consider whether your idea for an investigation would be relevant at other colleges and universities. If so, contact their student newspapers and see if they want to partner with you on an investigation. That's called Distributed

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-89977482941546963692009-05-11T16:58:00.001-07:002009-06-10T13:22:31.271-07:00

Think about that investigative story you didn't get a chance to do. This is the time to plan out a project for your student paper for next term. Here's what you can do over the summer:1. File those public records requestsIf your school is a publicly-funded university or college it is subject to public records laws. That means that you are entitled to just about any document the administration

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-90457526311230832462009-02-10T16:15:00.000-08:002009-02-10T16:19:28.193-08:00

Great ideas for investigative stories don't always involve something new. Sometimes the best investigative stories come about when a reporter decides to expose a long-standing problem that people have chosen to ignore. But it is difficult to sell an investigative idea to an editor without a news angle. And without a good one, you won't get good play for your story on your organization's web site

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-90450881037294887892009-02-10T15:48:00.000-08:002009-02-10T16:14:54.623-08:00

The premise is a statement that makes a tentative assumption.Throughout an investigation -- regardless whether its a two-day or two-month investigation -- you will test the premise against the information you gather. In the professional world you will have a difficult time getting your editor to greenlight a big story if you can't frame it in a focused premise. They'll fear you are on a wild

Marcy Burstinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04298703588805389521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6744689715409189398.post-21169315213300585542009-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:002009-01-29T14:36:36.878-08:00

It's the beginning of the term. It's time to find an idea for an investigative story.Here's some tips for doing that:Begin with a small idea. Barbara Ehrenreich's bestselling book Nickel and Dimed, which explored the world of minimum wage work, began with a high priced lunch and the notion that it must be tough to live on minimum wage.Follow up on tips and pay attention to gossip. Don't accept

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