In this edited extract from the forthcoming third edition of the Online Journalism Handbook I look at how a ‘triangulation’ approach to sourcing can help broaden story research and improve reporting.

Two centuries ago journalists were called reporters because they drew their information from official reports — documents.

Then in the late 19th century a new source became part of journalistic practice: people, as interviews and eyewitness accounts were added to news articles. 

The late 20th century saw reporting undergo another expansion in sourcing, as digital data was added to the journalist’s toolkit.

Although reports had included tables and other sources of data, the properties of digital data — filterable, sortable and searchable — have been significant, and make data a qualitatively different type of source.

How documents, people and data all lead to each other

Considering sourcing along those three dimensions — people, documents, and data — can be particularly useful when planning sourcing.

One of the most common challenges for student journalists is identifying the right human sources to turn a lead into a fleshed out story. And one of the most common mistakes is not to spend enough time on this vital step in the reporting process.

To help with this, here’s a framework for brainstorming potential sources.

The five categories of source

There are five categories of source in the framework:

One of the most basic sources of story ideas for a journalist is a news diary listing forthcoming newsworthy events. For the journalist looking for ideas in data, having forthcoming data releases in your diary can be especially useful.

Here is a quick guide preparing your own data news diary.