researchIntermediateAbout an hour

Report and Publish a Story Like a Journalist

Maps to: Journalist · Analyst · Author · Researcher · Editor

Write a news story that argues a point of your own.

You leave with a news story where you checked every fact. It shows you can make one clear point and get the facts right.

Fairview's city council wants to close the town library on Saturdays to save money. You decide what you think about it, check six sources on it yourself, and write a short story that argues your point. Then Farah reads it and argues back. The skill is saying why you believe something, using only what you can prove, and cutting what you can't.

How this shows up on a resume or college app

I wrote a short news story arguing your point about a town's plan to close its library on Saturdays. I checked six sources myself, threw out the two that did not hold up, and answered a reader who argued back. I learned the difference between summarizing what is out there and making a point I can prove.

When you finish you have the thing itself, plus a Common App activity description Sidequest drafts from what you actually built.

Not sure yet? Play 5 minutes as a journalist first and see how the work feels.

See what this career pays and what it takes to get in.

The plan

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Step 1
Pick your point and write it in one sentence
The story: Fairview's city council votes next month on closing the town library on Saturdays. Before you look at any proof, write the one thing you are going to argue about it, as one sentence. It has to be something a sensible person could disagree with. If nobody could, you're about to write a summary, and a summary is the one thing nobody needs from you.
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Step 2
Check the proof, every bit of it
An AI search found six sources on the library's Saturdays. AI search is great at finding leads, and it also turns up things that look completely real and are not. So the rule is simple: you check every one yourself, and anything you can't find at the original doesn't exist. Then you sort what holds up: what backs you up, what argues against you, and the background.
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Step 3
Write every sentence yourself, then cut
The writing, and the wall: checking things feels useful forever, and starting to write is where most people stop. So write it badly and fix it later. Every sentence is yours, because the whole value is that it reads like a person thinking. Then the hard part: read it back and cut every paragraph that just explains the topic instead of arguing your point.

Go further

What counts: Your story has a headline that says your point and its own page, and you changed one thing after Farah argued back.

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Step 4
Give it a headline, and let Farah argue back
Give your story a headline that says your point, and it gets its own page with a link. Then Farah reads it and tells you what she argues with. Someone disagreeing is the good outcome: it means they read closely.