Investigate a Local Question With Real Records
Maps to: Investigative Journalist · Editor · Researcher · Civic Journalist · Data Analyst
You're going to pick a real question with a real answer (how much your school spends on sports versus art, why a local landmark closed, what your city actually does with recycling) and answer it with the real paperwork, not opinion. The skill is working from proof: seeing what the paperwork actually shows versus what you assumed before you looked, and only saying what you can back up. That's the whole job. You'll end up with a real answer nobody handed you.
You're done when: A 2,500 word report, out where anyone can read it, that answers a real question using the actual paperwork instead of opinion. You can say which parts the paperwork proves and which parts you only assumed. Not 'I have a theory,' but 'I can prove this, and I cut what I couldn't.'
How this shows up on a resume or college app
I investigated topic using public records and primary sources, separating what the documents actually proved from what I assumed, and published the piece for N readers. I learned what journalism requires beyond opinion: you can only claim what you can prove.
When you finish, BuildMe drafts your Common App activity description from what you actually built.
Not sure yet? Play 5 minutes as a investigative journalist first and see how the work feels.
The plan
- 1
Step 1
Pick a question with a real answer
Pick a question narrow enough that a real number or a real piece of paper could settle it. Then work out where that answer sits: a spending plan, a table of numbers the city posted online, or the written notes from a public meeting. Vague questions ('is my city well-run?') don't work. Specific ones ('how much did the school spend on X versus Y last year?') do.
- 2
Steps 2-4
Get the paperwork, and talk to people
Get the actual paperwork. Some is already on your city or school's website. For the rest, email the office that holds it and ask; that's free, and the law says they have to answer. Talk to 2 or 3 people if you can. This is the wall: emails go unanswered and people stop replying. The waiting and chasing is the job.
- 3
Steps 5-6
Decide what the paperwork actually proves, then write
Go through each piece of paper and write down what it actually proves, next to what you assumed or hoped before you looked. Then write only the proven part, and cut the rest, even the idea you liked best. This is the decision the whole thing turns on.
- 4
Steps 7-8
Put it out and send it around
Put the report out on Substack, send it around, and get it read. If someone it's actually about writes back, that's the real thing.