Initiating coverage for sensitive stories

Talking with others at the institute revealed so many new possibilities for coverage that I have avoided in the past.  Now that I have a stronger sense of purpose when I consider writing a sensitive piece, I'd like to ask people: where do you start?

Let's say, for example, that the students want to cover gay marriage, and in narrowing the topic down, students decide it would be interesting to do a feature on a gay student at the school.  Where would the staff go from there?  Should they begin by listing some students who they think would be amenable to such a story?  And, let's say they have someone in mind--do they simply get in contact with that student, let him or her know about the direction of the feature, and ask if it would be okay to meet with him or her for an interview?  Do parents play a role, and if so, when?

Or, what if no one on the staff can think of a good person for such a feature?  Should the story idea--which has potential--be dropped because no one on staff knows a gay student?  Or, are there next steps to take in trying to see the story through?

It seems that in many cases, the issues that are either most interesting to students--or the ones that impact them most directly--are the ones that require the most sensitivity in covering.  I'd like to do more coverage that resonates more strongly with the student body, but I'm still not entirely confident in how to approach such coverage.

Does anyone have tips, or can you provide an example of your protocol, that might help?

David Gwizdala

James B. Conant High School

Hoffman Estates, Illinois