Reporting

Digging for info Reporter’s job is to gather info that helps people understand events that affect them Reporters keep digging until they get to the bottom of things – the truth of the event Nose for news – helps reveal info for stories

Reporting The process of gathering important material through a variety of means – observation, interviews, examination of documents, use of databases and Internet sources – and subjecting the material to verification and analysis

Three layers of reporting: Surface facts – press releases, handouts, speeches Reporting enterprise – verification, investigative reporting, coverage of spontaneous events, background Interpretation and analysis – significance, causes, consequences

Surface facts Layer I story: The careful and accurate transcription of material from a source – the record, the speech, the news conference The source for the facts used in most news stories. Info comes from material that begins with and is controlled by the source Story relies almost completely on info a source has supplied

Layer I reporting The reporter Tries to observe events Is alert to the media event, an action staged to attract media attention Relays info from a source Sorts out and rearranges the delivered facts, verifies addresses and dates and checks spelling of names Most stories are based on source- originated material

More Layer I reporting Journalists report on: City council meetings Legislative hearings United Way fundraising drives Street closings Traffic accidents Basketball games Appointments of new college presidents Verdicts at trial

More on Layer I Coverage is essential Provides reporting of public affairs Provides public with access to the statements and activities of its officials Helps make for responsive government Material is easily and quickly available, but reporter can be manipulated

Fake events TV’s need for pictures helped create staged media events Sources learned to stage events for the press Events look spontaneous, but actually controlled by the source Source plans, plants or incites event to be reported

Media manipulation Sources in government and politics routinely orchestrate media events Info increasingly is generated by people who wish to promote something – a product, a cause, a candidate The press becomes a conduit for junk mail

Trial balloons A way to manipulate the media Here’s how it works: Give reporters inside info Material to be used without attribution Info is published Public reaction is gauged If public rejects idea, no one is blamed because there was no source

Dangers of Layer I Often hard to distinguish between journalism and PR Media events To combat dangers, double check all info

Internet as source When using the Web, journalist is operating with unverified, source- originated material – that may be correct or may be downright wrong or have ulterior motives Layer I reporting – be careful

Reportorial enterprise Verification, background checking, direct observation and enterprise reporting amplify and correct material from sources

Layer II Reporters initiate the gathering of info Dig for more info than what a source hands them When story moves beyond control of those trying to manage it, the reporter has gone to Layer II News conference: Announced statement – Layer I Q and A later – Layer II

Layer II Reporter digs deeper to ask probing questions Seek out truth for people who can’t see or understand the events that affect them

Investigative reporting IRs dig the deepest in Layer II IR work falls into two categories: Checking on illegal activities Looking into systematic abuses

Finding sources Two basic types: Physical Examples: databases of political campaign donations Minutes of city council meetings Human

Layer III reporting Competent reporters encouraged to tell readers how and why something happened Describe the causes and consequences Analyze and interpret Tells people how things work, why they work or why they don’t work

Advice Be ready for a breaking news story by being up-to-date on what’s going on in your community Look for stories everywhere Always check all names in the phone book, a city directory or the library Follow the money. Where does it come from, where is it going and who’s handling it

More advice Do what you don’t want to do or are afraid to do or you’ll never be able to dig into a story Question assumptions Above all else: QUESTION AUTHORITY Just because someone has a title or a degree doesn’t mean the person can’t err