What journalistic stratagems are employed when New York Times reporters go searching for the perfect source to illustrate their trend stories? The stratagem of "email everybody you know." What did you think it would be? Here, you can see Julie Scelfo's story shaping up in advance:

From: Julie Scelfo
To: 'Julie Scelfo'
Sent: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:39 am
Subject: request from Julie for your out-of-town friends

Friends,

I'm looking for someone to interview outside of New York and really need your help.

According to US Census data, the high number of layoffs and unfavorable economic conditions have forced many
grown adults to move back home with their parents, and some parents to move home with their adult children. For a story about the ups and downs of this living arrangement, do you know anyone who fits the bill? Or more specifically, do you know someone outside of New York who might know someone who fits the bill? I ask because it's been really hard for me to find people in this situation, mainly because living quarters in NY are typically tight so this doesn't occur as often in the Big Apple as it does elsewhere.

Thank you for forwarding this to anyone who might know someone-either whose kids have moved back home with
them, or whose parents have come to live with them. I'm not looking for young adults who move home after college because they haven't yet found a job. Rather, the people I'm looking for are full-fledged adults who previously established their own households, but had to give that up due to economic circumstances.

I am reachable at the below email and phone.

Thanks so much for your help!

Regards,

Julie

Julie Scelfo, Reporter

The New York Times

Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.