Searching for Sources

Beat Reporting What is the purpose of having a beat? Stay a step ahead of the competition to avoid being scooped –Someone else got the story first When covering a beat: –Build sources –Listen carefully –Check your facts, ask more than one person

Searching for Sources Physical Sources

Records Documents Reference works Newspaper clippings Direct observations—don’t rely too much on interviews Journalists gather information for stories the same way you would for a research paper

Kinds of Physical Sources Clippings Encyclopedias Telephone Directories Cross-Directories City & State Directories Facts on File World News Digest Libraries Other References

Clippings Stories recycled from newspaper to newspaper Morgue—reference libraries that store clippings of stories Provide background information on person you will interview Verify answers of interviewee Example? –Student Council Information

Encyclopedias Provide cross-references, maps, charts and illustrations Look up a variety of topics Example? –Eating Disorders

Telephone Directories Set up interviews Also include: –Zip Codes –Street Indexes –City Maps –Information about city and county government

Cross-Directories List residents of a community in three ways: –Name –Address –Telephone Number Example? –Break-ins in a particular neighborhood

City & State Directories City: –List by names, addresses, and telephone numbers of residents –Street address guides, telephone number directories, zip codes, school districts –Average income per household, news, etc State: –Branches of government, state schools

Facts on File World News Digest Weekly publication –Summarizes, records and indexes the news –National and foreign news events included –Includes deaths, science, sports, medicine, education, religion, crime, books, plays, films and people in the news –Subjects and names of people, organizations and countries

Libraries Background about a story Newspaper indexes published in bound volumes Other sources

Other references Editorials on File—editorial reprints from more than 130 American newspapers Dictionary of American Slang—definitions of catchphrases from the past 5 centuries Famous First Facts—useful when researching the first instance of anything Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations—passages and phrases from American Literature Guinness Book of World Records—valuable resource for adding color to stories

Using Records and Documents Gaining Access to Public Records: –Everyone leaves a paper trail –Reporter’s Handbook—explains where to find public records State and Federal Records: –Freedom of Information Act—enacted in 1966, requires that government records except those relating to national security, confidential data, and law enforcement be made available to the public –If agency turns down request, it must state under which exemption it is withholding info