Company accounts can be a goldmine of story leads — from “following the money” and uncovering complex webs of relationships, to simply reporting concerns and individual payments.
I’ve put together a playlist of videos covering a number of different techniques you can use to find stories. Those are:
- What stories can be found in company accounts
- How to find stories in the text section at the front of company accounts
- Finding stories in the cash flow statement
- Using accounts to find stories about relationships and potential conflicts of interest
- Tools and tips for journalists using company accounts
- Finding stories about tax, pay, debt and other leads
The entire playlist is embedded below.
You can also read my posts on teaching journalists how to find stories in company accounts; how one journalist used these techniques to tell a story about a social media platform for sex workers; and tips from a story about a fashion charity.
You can find resources related to the video in this GitHub repo including examples of accounts and links to stories using these techniques.
The video was first made for students on the MA in Data Journalism at Birmingham City University and is shared here as part of a series of video posts.