Developing sources on a beat.

I hate not being on the inside of deep jokes. Wah.

 

I used to be very shy and it hurt me early on in my career. I really didn't like walking into places that had lots of people and I didn't know many of them.
The biggest way I overcame this was by going into my "reporter personality" which is a much more confident personality than in my non-work life. I tend to come across as cocky at work, but that was the only way I could make it so I could do my job. I just pretend I am supposed to be there and force myself to talk to people.
As far as building sources I think part of it is trust. When you follow through on promises or don't turn their quotes around just to fit the story you are writing, people start to trust you and open up more.
Perhaps the biggest thing, though, is face-to-face meetings and interviews. When coaches and players know what you look like and get a chance to BS with you for a bit, that really gets them to open up.
I also always try to go off the record with coaches when I am done interviewing them just to talk to them in a way where they feel they can open up about how much their team sucks without getting in trouble.

 

If you want to build sources, don't think of them as sources.
Think of them as people. Don't just talk to them to get information from them. Make conversation as well.
If they come to like you, they'll feed you information. If they keep seeing you around and make polite converstion, they'll come to like you.

 

I like what Angola said. Aside from a short time working in my hometown, I've always worked in unfamiliar territory, so I didn't know anyone or really much about the area teams going into the beats. Fortunately, I've always been able to maintain very good rapports with my sources.

The best advice I can give is to ask the coaches about the program, not so much for a story, but about the history and what the team is built to do in the next couple of years. I ask the players about other players and crack small jokes to loosen the initial tension. And when I ask the players about themselves -- like what they did in college or high school -- I take an interest in it and let them speak without interrupting. Let them feel like they're conducting the interview for a bit.

And don't bullshit them because they're smarter than we give them credit for a lot of times.

This might just be me, but if I'm in a one-on-one, I like to shake the person's hand when I introduce myself and when I thank them at the end. It's just a little showing of courtesy from my part, and it seems to go over quite well.

 

This is sound advice. While I understand that a lot of young beat reporters need to ratchet up their Reporter Identity to overcome shyness, don't forget to be a person. More important, don't forget that your interview subjects are people, too, not just job titles or positions on a field. Stop thinking of them exclusively as assistant SIDs or coaches or shortstops. They're people. Interact with them. Talk to them. Be curious about them. Share some of your own stories with them - when appropriate - and they'll share some of theirs.

 

I do that all the time as well. In fact, I was just thinking about this yesterday when talking to a player - I interviewed him, walked to another locker, and hopped back to the original player for a quick minute and caught myself shaking his hand again, even though I was away for him for maybe three minutes and we've talked multiple times in the past.

Something else I just thought of that I might do, perhaps, to excess, is to always introduce myself even if I've talked to someone four, five, six times. Granted, it's different for a professional baseball beat to introduce yourself before Game 89, but I usually don't stop until I find it unnecessary or until the player says "Yeah man, what's up?" That way, I know they know who I am.

Angola's advice about talking off the record is good too. I like to make light-hearted comments with coaches and players before and after events, when I get the chance. Also good, if you have time to kill, is to go to charity events someone is sponsoring. If you get a little bit of face time and show you care about their inititive to stop the theft of toaster ovens in Bangladesh, they'll be more than willing to care about you in the future.

 

I've found that being very interested in what you're writing about -- truly interested, not just I need to get this done interested -- makes people want to tell you things. This is hard to feign though, so might not be advice you can put into action.

Also, be a source of information for THEM. Mention tidbits they might be interested in. "Hey did you see what your rival team did last night? I heard such and such..." Drop nuggets you picked up from other sources (nothing too revealing, but more than they can get from reading your stuff). They will want to talk to you if they might get something out of it too.

 

I will agree with Babs. Telling them what you know/heard will make them more willing to tell you what they know/heard.

Of course, that's an advanced step after getting to know them. The biggest mistake I made starting out was trying to develop sources thinking that so-and-so would be a good source. Get to know them thinking they could be a good person to talk to in a friendly, non-professional manner, and if a source blossoms from that, bonus.

 

Exactly. This is why I go to practice just about every day I can, not just to watch the Xs and Os, but to chat with people in a non-interview sort of setting. Maybe it's the father of a player who's hanging out, or maybe the AD drops by, or maybe someone else in the athletic department does. And it's just friendly BSing. Plus, your sources will notice when you're around.

Head coach of the college team I cover said to me last week on Thursday, "wow, you've been here every day this week, haven't you?" They definitely notice ...

 

I was thinking a 12-pack and a hooker, but you have the right idea.

 

Yeah Wicked, you can't be shy if you expect to excel as a reporter. Half of the job is actually talking to people. Athletes are people too, no matter how high on pedestals they are put. If you are really shy, why not go to the grocery store one day or a public place and say hello to a bunch of people or strike up a random conversation. All suggestions of course.