Seek Source Diversity

Mitchell Hartman of American Public Media’s Marketplace Money offers listeners a piece that focuses on people who aren’t showing up on the standard unemployment numbers because they’ve given up on the job search.

Mitchell ‘s segment includes the voices of a 54 year old, a 28 year old and an ex-convict.

“Of course, in a recession this deep, unemployment doesn't discriminate,"Mitchell said."Some who've barely gotten into the job market have already dropped out.”

Today’s Tip: Diversify your sources, especially when covering economic issues that affect everyone.

While social media sites like Twitter have helped expand our source searches, you still need traditional pavement pounding to ensure your story captures a variety of people. As a Business Insider piece pointed out, different sites attract different audiences.

For more tips on diversifying sources, check out this handout from No Train No Gain, which offers resources for newsroom trainers.

Bringing data to life

Rico Gagliano of American Public Media’s “Marketplace Money” used a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland to create a segment questioning how two seemingly similar areas could have such dramatically different foreclosure rates.

North Collinwood's rate in 2007? Almost 21 percent. Braddock's? 5 percent. Both places should have been equally hit by foreclosures, but the Ohio community got hit harder.

Today’s Tip: Use additional sources to bring data from agencies such as the Federal Reserve alive.

Rico adds the human element by driving us around a neighborhood with him to see what the data means. He also focused the segment by citing only the foreclosure rates, although the Federal Reserve report offers lots of numbers.

Also of note, the same show aired a segment illustrating the ripple effect of reduced spending by Cleveland consumers. Dan Bobkoff shows how the loss of the father's job affected one family’s spending at individual businesses. The lesson: follow the money.