How do you find reliable video story ideas and sources?

1 Start with your audience

Before you look for stories and sources, you need to know who you're making videos for. Who is your target audience? What are their interests, needs, and preferences? What kind of videos do they watch and share? Knowing your audience will help you narrow down your focus, choose relevant topics, and tailor your style and tone.

2 Use multiple sources

When you have an idea of what kind of stories you want to tell, you need to find sources to back them up. Sources can be people, documents, data, or anything else that provides information or evidence for your story. To ensure your sources are reliable, use multiple methods such as searching online databases, libraries, archives, and websites for relevant and credible information. Additionally, contact experts, authorities, or organizations that have knowledge or experience on your topic. Additionally, consider interviewing witnesses, participants, or beneficiaries of your story and observe events, locations, or activities related to your story. Finally, use social media, forums, or blogs to find leads, opinions, or feedback on your topic.

3 Verify your sources

Finding sources is not enough; you also need to verify them. Verifying your sources means checking their accuracy, reliability, and validity, and ensuring they are not biased, outdated, or fabricated. To do this, you should cross-check information from different sources and evaluate the reputation, credentials, and motives of your sources. Additionally, ask for evidence, references, or citations to support your sources' claims. You can also use tools such as reverse image search, fact-checking websites, or plagiarism checkers to detect fake or manipulated images, videos, or texts. By verifying your sources in this way, you can ensure that the information you use is reliable and trustworthy.

4 Organize your sources

Once you have verified your sources, you need to organize them in a way that makes sense for your story. To do this, create a system to label, tag, or code your sources and keep track of their names, dates, locations, and types. Additionally, use tools such as spreadsheets, databases, or software to store, manage, and analyze your sources and data. It is also important to make backups, copies, or screenshots of your sources and store them in a secure place. By organizing your sources in this way, you can easily access and retrieve them when needed.

5 Craft your story

To craft your story, you must write a script that outlines the main points, arguments, and evidence of your story and guides your narration and editing. Select the most suitable sources to back up your story and determine how to present them, like utilizing quotes, clips, graphics, or voice-overs. Edit your video in order to create an appealing and continuous flow between your sources, visuals, and audio. Finally, review your video to verify for any errors, gaps, or inconsistencies and ensure that your story is accurate, impartial, and ethical.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?