Which technique focuses on the journalism questions who, what, where, when, why, and how to generate lists of relevant topics and ideas?

• A. Mind mapping
• B. Indicators/Sign posts
• C. Starbursting
• D. Driver Identification

Answer: (C)

Starbursting uses the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions to generate a broad set of topics and ideas around a central topic. This approach helps you surface angles you might not consider and create a structured list of prompts to research or discuss further, ensuring comprehensive coverage before moving into deeper analysis. While mind mapping also creates a web of ideas, it emphasizes relationships and associations rather than systematically posing six journalistic questions. Indicators/sign posts are cues used during analysis to spot relevant information, not a method for generating topic lists. Driver identification focuses on pinpointing the forces driving an issue rather than generating questions to explore.