Build files before the news breaks
When major news breaks, audiences expect journalists to provide the first elements of understanding. The difference often lies in what the reporter already knows. A well-kept documentation file turns earlier reading, reporting and conversations into a resource that can be found when needed.
The essentials
Build files from four materials: your own notes; articles written by you or other reporters; books and specialist publications; and radio or television programmes worth keeping track of. Their value may become clear long after you collect them. Documenting a subject should become a habit even when the immediate use is uncertain.
Choose practical tools rather than an elaborate system you will not maintain. Paper folders, digital files, saved links and phone notes can all work. Two rules matter: classify as you go and keep backups. Material you cannot retrieve cannot help the story, however useful it might once have seemed.
Think of files as preparation for your beat as well as individual assignments. Nobody can know everything about politics, sport, culture or the economy. Identify the recurring questions you are likely to cover and deepen your knowledge of those first. Record a document’s source, date, usefulness and limits, including what still needs verification. Good preparation lets you respond quickly without pretending that speed replaces fresh reporting.
Take it to the field
Name each document so you can retrieve it: subject, date and source. Add a short note on its usefulness and limits. A well-kept file also records what still needs checking before its material can support a story.
Your turn
Create three documentation files today, on paper or digitally, for the subjects you are most likely to cover this year. Add one useful item to each and label its source and date.