The following is taken from the second part of a lecture given by Luuk Sengers, here he looks at managing the information you gather using a research project database.
The database is built around the hypothesis, it is where we store documents, questions and notes in a way that makes it possible to check how the project is going.
How good would it be if we could easily find out who we have to call back today, the questions we want to ask this person, which documents they have provided us with so far, and what they have told us in previous interviews?
Although keeping your information in a Word document will allow you to search for information, it can’t filter or sort the information. This is where Excel comes in.
how the system works
The system uses six worksheets
• Contacts
• Documents
• Questions
• Facts
• Time and Expenses
section summary
Journalism is about conflict, right?
How to find conflict in a subject?
Compare! In comparison lays conflict.
Compare theory with practice; plans, rules and procedures with reality, and you will see: the conflicts start to pop up immediately.
Compare today with yesterday.
Compare costs with revenues.
For this purpose, of conflict hunting, I strongly advise you – while reading and interviewing – to keep notes of at least four things:
Important events (put them into a chronology for comparison)
Laws, rules, procedures and plans (for they form the theory behind the subject)
Problems that have emerged in regard to the subject (for they point in the direction of harsh reality)
Money transfers (‘follow the money’)
You can find out more about the research database on Luuk Sengers Digital File website.