Gimme that beat yo

I read Chapter 14 in my textbook, and it focuses on covering a beat. That explains the catchy title. After talking about a female reporter who has apparently been through everything when it comes to following stories, the chapter gets right into a case-by-case breakdown and a summary of the Principles for Reporters on a Beat:

1. Be Prepared. Probably more common sense than a step to follow, but looking up information and being a step ahead when you get to a location of interview is key. Reading reports and talking to sources may seem like a bore, but the results will be worth it.
2. Be Alert. You gotta roll with the punches as a reporter and work with whatever you got. Maybe you aren't let into a crime scene or something big develops from a seemingly unimportant story. If you're ready as a reporter, you can look on and take the news as it comes.
3. Be Persistent. Follow up on interviews, ask tough questions, and always try and get the definitive answers. Some reporters will just give up after one try and file a mediocre story, but the good newspeople are the ones who keep trying 'til they get everything they need.
4. Be There. Unless of course you want to...be square. You can read all you want about a story and make some phone calls, but part of being on a beat is experiencing the story first hand. When you have a true perspective, readers can tell.
5. Be Wary. The point of all news reports are to inform the readers, and they expect the information to be factual and error-free. Everyone makes mistakes now and then, but the more fact-checking and revisions you do, the better the final product will be.

Also in this chapter they highlight the most important local beats to cover. They are:

City & Council Government
Schools
Police
Courts
Religion

Now of those 5 beats, all of them are discussed in other chapters (and blog entries) except religion. If you think about it though, politicians running for office, terrorist extremists, and pro-life campaingers are often in the news and all have some kind of ties to religion. The book says that more Americans attend church services than football games, so the need for commentary on the subject(s) is important.

The chapter closes with a reminder to prepare for everything and expect the unexpected. Accuracy is key as well. So as you can see when dealing with beats such as the main ones listed, many challenges may come into play, but good reporters will work through the problems and get to the bottom of things. Just like I made it to the bottom of this entry.