Reporting on Court Causes and Crime for Dummies

Whew! Finally done with the reading for this week.
The readings on court and crime cases were very interesting, mostly because it was very informational. I really was not educated in either subject to everything I read was relatively new to me. So here is my break down on the reading, chapter by chapter:

Chapter 1.
This chapter dealt with getting into the crime reporting field and offered lots of good tips. First off, it said that most crime reporters do not get any training when they start the job so they either need to know about crime before hand or be a quick learner. OR they could read this chapter.

This chapter also, distinguished the differences between theft, burglary, robbery and all those other fun terms. This helped me because I didn't realize that there was such a difference between all of them. Now, I can be accurate. The author also suggested that in order to report about cops and crime, act like you are going to become a cop. Get into the element.

The author also urged to "tread lightly" because the crime happened to real people. Which I can see getting so wrapped up in the story that it could be easy to forget about that. He also mentioned the stress and danger of the field of crime reporting. I guess I won't really know until I try it but I don't think that crime reporting would be the right news reporting for me. It is a very stressful job, not that other reporting isn't but its stressful in a different way because you are dealing with people dying or who died, and other serious events. It would be hard to move from one depressing story to another and not have it affect me.

I liked the question that was asked at the end of the chapter: Do we give readers and viewers what they demand, or do they merely eat what we feed them? I think that this is a BIG question in the media right now. If you look at the headlines of the day you start to wonder. I think that some news outlets know what sells, and only reports about those topics, which is not what journalism is supposed to be about.

Finally this chapter emphasized standard reporting tactics such as to stalk sources, but make sure not to harass them and to be weary of everyone, always suspect.

Chapter 5
Chapter five was about dealing with victims. When you first meet a victim be careful and sincere. A good tip I got out of this chapter was that in order to stand out in an event where there are many reporters, be the one to just give a card with a note. This is because the best stories may come up after a while and/or the victim may remember you more than all the other journalists badgering them with questions. This chapter also said to use judgement with graphic details, not everything is fit to print.

Chapter 7
Chapter 7 is basically a crash course in the U.S. court systems and how a journalist should handle stories about court cases. It is hard to grasp all of the information so quickly, so this chapter would be a great reference if I needed to look something up really quick. While I was reading it though I wished that I had paid more attention to my civics class back in middle school.
I liked how the author related covering a court case like a sporting event. There is a winner and loser. So true.

Another good tip to remember was that it's about more than words. Watch how everyone in the court room acts, the jury sees this and the public should be able to also. Adding details about facial expressions and such would also be great elements to storytelling.
I liked that this chapter reminded that it is important to be respectful to everyone. Everyone and anyone could be helpful and no one wants to help you if you rude.

Chapter 7 also emphasized to make use of legal documents because a document can't turn on you. Then it also went on to explain the different sources that would be helpful to a reporter on a court case including; docker clerks, court clerks, law clerks, etc.

Of course, lawyers are excellent sources, although the chapter reminded me that a reporter must remember to keep objectivity when writing. Lawyers are representing their client and thus, may say things to only help their client. But they may also know when anything big in the case is going to happen, so they would be a good one to get a heads up from.

Finally, when reporting on court cases be prepared to stand up for what you wrote. And, this why having a documents as sources is important too.