Throughout the program, cherubs used everything from street interviews to Reddit to contact sources in search of quotes. Most stories required cherubs to interview at least three sources.
Anna Feng of Palo Alto, California, said finding sources for her feature article was “a struggle.”
“Waiting for sources to get back to you [is stressful],” Feng said. “You obviously have a deadline. I was worried that my ideas weren’t going to lead me anywhere.”
Feng said she pursued four story ideas for her feature before settling on the Northwestern chapels.
“Make sure you have backup plans,” Feng said. “Pursue a lot of different story ideas.”
Annika Singh of Fremont, California, said she found success in Discord when seeking sources for her astrology trend story.
“After three days of staring at unopened [Instagram] DMs, I decided to join a Discord server and I managed to get an interview there,” Singh said. “It taught me you always have to think of a more creative solution. Discord worked.”
Olivia Cyrus of Collierville, Tennessee, said she used many methods to find sources for her trend story about virtual reality used in blood donations.
“You will face a lot of rejection,” Cyrus said. “You have to have thick skin and think about various routes. My initial thought was just email and call, but you’ve got to DM, you’ve got to really, really research.”
