And the winner is … public records!

Training Idea

The idea:
Journalism contests happen every year on the state, regional and national level. Public records typically play key roles in the big stories that capture the top awards in many contests. Set up a brown bagger or a more formal session to explore how public records drove or enhanced the winning entries in key contests of the year. The stories can be from your news organization or others.

If the winner is from your staff, invite the reporter(s) to talk about the story and underscore how it came together, particularly from the standpoint of research and public records. Invite the reporter(s) to make copies of relevant public records used in the winning work.

The goal:
Increase awareness of the important role that public records play in big stories and illustrate how those records can be used for future stories.