Sourcing is a crucial part of every story and it’s important to break barriers and source widely.

Avoid pitfalls. This means don’t rely too much on official sources and experts, especially those who are continuously tried and used. Do not fish for people to fill what you need or to confirm an idea you have for a story.

Identify your stakeholders in the particular issue, topic, or event and go from there.

Crossing the fault lines means to consider all sources in terms of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, socioeconomic status, geography, age, religion, and political party. In fact, some media companies make it a priority to ensure every story has at least one male- and one female- identifying person for example.

One of my recent stories (click here) involves a Missouri River Relief cleanup effort put on by Missouri River Relief and YouthBuild. YouthBuild is a nonprofit program under Job Point and provides professional, educational and practical skills to income-eligible youths ages 16 to 24 without a high school diploma.

I began by interviewing the director Job Point, Missouri Relief, and some volunteers. Who was I missing? Those who actually are in YouthBuild! I realized this toward the end of the event and thus interviewed one of the program members, Diamond Dunn.

Reporting is a learning process, and I learned it is so crucial to ensure you have every possible stakeholder involved in the story.