Source Tracking
Diversifying the voices amplified in our reporting and sharing power with those featured in our work is a key means of building trust between journalists and their communities.
This means understanding who is featured most often and, whenever possible, using a source’s own words when describing their experiences and identities, so we can be sure we’re offering complete stories to our audiences.
The Reframe approach to source tracking reflects the need for reporters to incorporate self-description into their everyday reporting routines and to take ownership of the voices heard in their journalism. Our goal for this process is to balance the positive behavior changes that come from journalists consciously tracking their own sources with the labor required to get a full picture.
We’ve developed a protocol for source tracking in newsrooms that can meet this goal by educating journalists on how to collect data during interviews, creating easy-to-use data management systems, and collaborating with newsroom leadership to determine and measure their objectives.