Brittny: We asked some reporters in the newsroom for phone numbers of people they had already interviewed, but mostly we contacted survivors through social media. We also tried to reach families of the people who died, thinking they would have heard from cops about what transpired in the moments leading up to their loved ones’ deaths. We messaged people on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (the last being by far the most effective). Most people didn’t respond to our messages, but if they did, we asked for their cell numbers and called them. We pulled people’s phone numbers from databases. Once we had built trust with a survivor, we would ask him or her to ask their friends who were also at Borderline that night to call us.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times