Step 1: Decide What to Map

Most journalists choose to map either a specific geographic area of the community, such as a neighborhood; an issue or beat, such as education; or a community of interest, such as people involved with the environment or Internet users.

You cannot possibly map at one time your entire community or a host of beats or issues. Make sure to keep your map focused so that you can get it done and put to use what you learn.

Start with the newsroom.

Who to include:

• Reporters, editors, researchers, photojournalists and librarians and any others who can help out.
• Some newsrooms may want to include people from advertising and other departments.
• Not all of these people need to be included throughout your entire mapping work.

You need to find out:

1. What areas/topics of the community most interest us? For instance, is it a:

• Hot topic or future trend?
• Topic or area that hasn’t received adequate coverage in the past?
• Something that relates to our core reader-ship or new areas of readership?

2. Are there some areas/topics we know more about than others? Initially, do we want to build on that strength, or target areas/topics we know less about? Why?

3. What areas/topics might be of most interest or benefit to our readers? Why?

4. How much effort and resources might it take to map the area/topic we are considering? Is it too great?

5. Is the area/topic clear and concise to us? Will it be to others in the newsroom?

6. Can we really get this done? Good maps translate quickly into better and more stories; will ours?

7. What do we think are the dimensions or boundaries of the area/topic we are planning to map?

MAPPING EXAMPLES FROM OTHER NEWSROOMS