Illustration by Andre da Loba
The worksheet is view-only but you can make a copy here.
Local and national reporters covering an array of issues such as housing, elections, public policy, healthcare, misinformation or public safety can benefit from identifying the various opportunities for impact within their coverage area. Consider filling out this worksheet for each beat you cover or throughout the year as your reporting priorities change. Having a theory-of-change for each coverage area will help you make decisions about story ideas and formats, key audiences to reach, ways to reach them, and how you’re going to measure your success.
If you are already working on a specific reporting project, use this worksheet to tailor your project to your potential outcomes. Identifying impact potential in advance will help you figure out what your project needs to look like and who needs to see it. It can help you decide if a year-long investigation is the best course of action or if you can have more impact through serialized storytelling and the creation of community resources.
Filling out the worksheet doesn’t need to be time consuming. For example, evaluating community needs doesn’t need to be a months-long endeavor. Instead, it can be as simple as calling a few key sources during your pre-reporting process to help you shape your work.
Your editor, in addition to your audience, is one of your most important stakeholders. We encourage getting their buy-in early as you identify the various ways your project can unfold.
If they’re skeptical of your audacious ideas – great. Your editor can help your pressure test your assumptions and refine your approach. For deeper engagement, you can also send them the editors version of this toolkit.
We’ve sketched out a simple conversational framework that takes into consideration the criteria editors often care about most: the timeline, project costs or other resources and the overall impact. Once you’ve completed your worksheet and have settled on an approach, consider using this framework to pitch your idea.
First, give a brief summary of the community needs or opportunities for change based on your reporting. You can frame this as the common questions that came up during your pre-reporting and/or the important decision making events on the horizon such as an election, a legislative vote or other community action.
Here’s what my reporting revealed…
Impact for this project could look like …
The most important opportunities ahead are…
Next, explain your main project elements and how they connect to the needs and opportunities you outlined.
I want to produce an explainer to address….
The main story will focus on…
The key resource we can create….
Finally, identify the additional resources you’ll need to pull this off and overview your proposed timeline for producing and publishing each element.
To pull this off, we’ll need…
The sequence of stories could look like…
By XYZ we’ll have accomplished…