As I’ve noted elsewhere, I’m launching a Substack newsletter in January 2024 and it will include What I Do, a weekly series in the newsletter.
The newsletter itself will be called Explaining Crime, and it will help readers explain crime to their various audiences, whether those audiences are readers, viewers, or listeners.
The weekly series is one of a few planned regular newsletter components. Each week What I Do will feature a single creator in the crime content space and their answers to a series of questions about what they do.
I define “creator in the crime content space” fairly broadly, and I hope to feature a wide variety of people, including crime reporters, academics, podcasters, authors, victims’ advocates, YouTubers, researchers, and more.
The idea is to share and spread ideas about the different ways people are doing this kind of work and tips for how to do it.
The questions, version 1.03
[Update: This version of the question set has been replaced by version 1.04.]
Note: While all questions are primarily focused on what you do in the crime content space, bring in what you think is relevant. Also, assume that readers are somehow engaged in similar work (or want to be), though their medium, audience, experience, and background may vary.
Location: (City, Country)
- What do you do?
- Who is your audience?
- What are the most useful tools in your work?
- Who or what are the most useful sources of information in your work?
- What’s your process? (That is, how do you go from finding ideas through to finished content?)
- How do you distribute or otherwise share your work?
- What’s something you wish people understood about crime, justice, or another related topic?
- Why do you do this work?
- What was your path to doing this?
- What advice would you give to someone just starting out who wants to do what you do?
- What book, podcast, documentary, or anything else would you recommend to people reading this?
- Who would you like to see answer these questions?
- What do you do in your off-time to decompress from such heavy subject matter?
- What haven’t I asked you about that you’d like to add?