1 / 7

Covering Beats

Covering Beats. Tips for handling any kind of beat coverage. Geographic vs. Topical. Jefferson County - You are responsible for covering newsworthy stories that have a Jefferson County connection.

miya
Download Presentation

Covering Beats

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Covering Beats Tips for handling any kind of beat coverage

  2. Geographic vs. Topical Jefferson County - You are responsible for covering newsworthy stories that have a Jefferson County connection. Education - You write stories about education topics. They could focus on one school or a trend that impacts many schools in your area or around the U.S.

  3. Be Prepared Read books and stories to research local and national issues and sources. Take notes. Talk to sources. Start in your office. Make note of frequently quoted sources and work to develop new ones. Be interested, not ignorant. Make connections and meet people in person.

  4. Be Alert Be ready for anything. Have the background knowledge to work fast when needed. Look for the important stories behind press releases and offhand comments.

  5. Be Persistent Keep trying until you get clear answers. Keep track of ongoing and slow-developing stories. Maintain regular contact with important sources.

  6. More Tips for Covering Beats 1. Get started fast. 2. Set daily goals. 3. Build sources. 4. Ask broad questions. 5. Listen carefully. 6. Watch carefully. 7. Look at the record. 8. Set up a system for calls/phone checks.

  7. Be There But don’t waste people’s time. - Do favors when you can. - Don’t ignore good news. - Don’t screw people. - Don’t be wrong.

More Related