Journalist questions work well because they help writers think through their topic in a familiar and systematic way. This is a method that is easy to remember and use in future assignments. Just as it helps you generate ideas, it helps you organize them and identify gaps in your understanding.
Many of us are familiar with the six traditional journalist questions: Who? What? Where? Why? When? and How? These questions help journalists identify the details of an event so that it can be reported on clearly and accurately. However, when using journalist questions for other writing projects, these six questions can be applied with more variety. After all, you are not just “reporting” on an issue; you are also analyzing arguments and constructing an argument of your own.
So how does a writer apply these six questions in a more expansive way? In our discussion board, we imagined a writer considering the argument that Omaha Public Libraries should eliminate late fees. In generating ideas for this argument, we might first begin by asking “Who is affected by this policy?” That’s clearly a useful question to ask, but it is not the only who question we might ask. If we push ourselves further, we could ask a variety of who questions: Who has the power to change this policy? Who is hurt by this policy? Who is helped by this policy? Who needs to be informed about this policy? Who might be conflicted by this policy? Who is debating this policy in my community? Who uses library resources the most? Who doesn’t use these resources? Who funds the library? Who are the readers of my argument? Who is unexpectedly affected by this policy?
