Before writing an article, New York Times health reporters typically spend days, weeks or even months interviewing sources. This includes people like doctors, researchers, fitness coaches and other health professionals who are leaders in their field or who have valuable knowledge about the news we’re covering.
The process of finding sources can vary from reporter to reporter, but there are a few basic guidelines we follow to help us choose which experts to talk to — and which ones to present to readers.
We look for researchers with a specific focus.
One of the first things we consider is whether a person is truly an authority on the topic we’re writing about. In the hyper-specialized world of health research, just because someone is an expert doesn’t mean they’re the right expert.
Scientists often spend their careers studying and designing experiments focused on a narrow question. We want to interview the researcher whose work most closely aligns with the questions we’re trying to answer for our readers.
For example, when I was writing an article about who needs a whooping cough booster shot, I didn’t just want to find an expert in infectious diseases; I wanted to find someone who had dedicated their career to studying those specific shots and had preferably published papers about how immunity from the vaccine holds up over time. That signals to me that the person has enough expertise to thoroughly answer my questions.
Not every source I interview makes it into the final article. Sometimes, these conversations help me understand the nitty-gritty of a subject, so I know whom I should talk to next and what questions I should ask them. Other times, I realize the source’s expertise doesn’t fit into the article I’m writing, or the focus of that story changes.
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How Do Times Health Reporters Choose Experts?
