J Talk

“People were really willing to talk about their experiences. It was kind of shocking to them that this had gone on for so long, that they wanted to be a part of tackling and addressing the story.” Grace Madigan, an arts and culture reporter at Tacoma’s public radio station KNKX, talks about her recent reporting on allegations of abuse in local youth soccer. We discussed building trust with sources in difficult stories, how to balance being a reporter and a human, the joy of Google spreadsheets and the U.S. Women’s Soccer team. J Talk is an interview series that seeks to inform and enlighten working journalists. It’s a project by the Western Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Learn more about us at spjwash.org. Follow Grace Madigan’s work at twitter.com/Grace_Madigan19. This episode was recorded July 17. Stories cited: https://www.knkx.org/sports/2023-07-10/allegations-culture-sexism-racism-abuse-crossfire-premier-soccer-redmond https://www.knkx.org/sports/2023-07-20/u-s-soccer-has-suspended-the-coaching-licenses-of-two-seattle-area-youth-coaches

“Everyone has to choose for themselves whether they speak with us. … But you can’t force anyone to do that, and you just have to try to be fair and give them the opportunity, and if they decline it, you just want to make sure you’re not surprising them.” On this episode of J Talk, hear from Investigate West investigative reporter Kaylee Tornay on her story about allegations against a Pacific Northwest telehealth CEO. We talked about strategies to manage and carefully comb for documents in big investigative stories, strategies for giving the accused a fair shake in the press, and what we do to handle the anxiety of making those high stakes phone call interviews. J Talk is an interview series that seeks to inform and enlighten working journalists. It’s a project by the Western Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Learn more about us at spjwash.org. Follow Kaylee Tornay’s work at twitter.com/ka_tornay. This episode was recorded June 8. Resource mentioned: Documentcloud Stories referenced: https://www.invw.org/2023/05/08/its-not-the-first-time-a-puget-sound-psychologist-faces-accusations-he-shortchanged-workers/ https://www.invw.org/2023/06/14/telehealth-business-closes-after-investigatewest-report-details-alleged-wage-theft/

“I think one way journalism can fail is if it judges the constituency of any story before doing it. … So I think going after stories you feel need a reporter on them, no matter what, is important.”  Welcome to J Talk, a new interview series that seeks to inform and enlighten working journalists. It’s a project by the Western Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Learn more about us at spjwash.org. On the first episode, hear from The Seattle Times’ investigative reporter Sydney Brownstone on how she broke stories about persistent issues in Washington’s jail systems. We went over how to respect and care for sensitive sources, handle projects that require canvassing dozens of counties and trust in the value of your own work. Follow Sydney Brownstone’s work at twitter.com/sydbrownstone. Resources mentioned: Tabula (for copy-pasting information from PDFs into other formats) Stories referenced: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/a-seattle-man-began-the-night-in-crisis-then-a-sudden-death-in-restraint/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/wa-jails-have-among-the-highest-death-rates-in-the-country-why-dont-we-know-more-about-them/