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Strategies to Elevate Meeting and Speech Coverage

Learn how to avoid dull coverage in government meetings, speeches, and news conferences. Tips for preparation, attending, and reporting with insight.

lillianchapman
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Strategies to Elevate Meeting and Speech Coverage

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  1. Chapter 18 Speeches, News Conferences and Meetings

  2. Avoid a journalistic dead end • Reporters often • Receive tons of government reports • Attend meetings with strict agenda • Leaving little time for questions • Get little useful or newsworthy information from these • There are several ways to avoid this dead end

  3. Dull but important • What do you think a government meeting is like? • ZZZZZzzzzzzz……. • That’s probably true • As a reporter you have to • Make dull content interesting • Find the story that the public needs to hear • Write it in a way that is informative & interesting

  4. Reporting the meeting • Getting ahead of the curve • Most meeting agendas are available beforehand • Get to the meetings where agendas are developed • Find unelected community leaders • May be aware of problems to be addressed • Taking advantage of these • Helps you get stories out first • Provides diverse source • Allows you to give insight/depth into issues

  5. Sometimes the most important part of a meeting story is • What you cover before and after • Interviews from participants • City leaders • Community members • Off the cuff quotes • Spontaneous reactions

  6. Media Manipulation • Sources at speeches/news conferences • Often use the media • To further their own agenda • To balance your story • Ask good questions after • Add points of view from opposing sources

  7. Preparation • To ask good questions you MUST prepare: • Research the speaker • Research the issue • Check clips, blogs & online databases • Try to get transcription of speech • In case deadline is before speech ends • Be careful with quotes • Especially if they vary from the written speech

  8. Preparation cont. • Jot down reactions from • The speaker • The audience • Write follow up questions for post speech interviews • For speaker • Audience members • Be prepared to get names of people • Speaker • Audience members, etc • An aisle seat will allow you to move quicker

  9. Stories about speeches • Always include basic information • Size of audience • Location of the speech • Reason for the speech • Highlights of the speech • including good quotes • Reaction of the audience • Especially at dramatic points

  10. Don’t clutter your lead with basic info • Unless it is absolutely needed there • Most speakers • Don’t put strongest points first • Don’t speak in chronological order • When you write • Put the most emotional/newsworthy info first • Storytelling techniques can be used

  11. Stories about news conferences • Similar to speeches • Post conference questions often more important than prepared content • Questions usually provide the story • Research issues before the press conference • Politics, crime • Community based • Sports • To help develop questions

  12. Stories about news conferences should include • Person/People who conducted the news conference • Reason for news conference and background • Highlights of news, including responses to questions • Location, if relevant • Reaction from sources with similar/opposing views

  13. Stories about meetings • Try to include the real impact on the reader • States have open-meeting laws • Requiring those who spend public funds to make decisions in public • Most meetings are announced ahead of time

  14. Understanding the system • Understand what kind of authority the board has • Are they final decision makers • Are they advisory boards • You need to make sure your readers know

  15. Writing the advance • This is a pre-meeting story • Alerts the community of the upcoming meeting • What will be discussed • What issues will be covered • Allows people to prepare public comments

  16. Covering the meeting • Arrive early • Get the names of the board members • Try to line up later interviews • With board or audience members • Review the agenda • Might be a hidden item that makes for a GREAT story • Stay until the end • Unless your deadline prevents it

  17. Writing the story • Type of meeting and location • The vote on ANY major issue • The next step • Impact on readers • Quotes • Background of the issues • Many meeting stories use summary leads • But they don’t HAVE to follow that format

  18. The next news story due on Nov. 26 • Should be a story covering a speech or a meeting • You MUST attend the meeting or speech in person • Do not report on something you watch on TV • Follow the guidelines from the text

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