More beats than a boombox

Well, the saga of the beat coverage continues. The reading started out as an all-encompassing tutorial of the different beat areas and ended up as Courts-R-Us with the Justice Journalism Reading. Yes, I found certain elements to be informative and quite important in the grand scheme of need-to-know journalism knowledge, but sorry, this pretty much reaffirmed the fact that I have no interest in being a beat reporter. EVER.

News Reporting and Writings' chapter 14, "Covering a Beat," started out an a high note, mentioning the importance of convergence in today's media. Yes, I realize that as a reporter I need to be able to write copy, take photos and video, write captions, and make slide-shows. I am completely fine with that. Is there actually any option that I could just do those things and forget about schmoozing with politicians. That'd be great, thanks.

Anyway, as the reading went on, it explained the importance of writing news that relevant and useful to the publication's readers. You think? I always thought that we were supposed to find the most unrelated gobblygook and then fill section A with it. Humph. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood because the that thought of covering budgets, what's his face's divorce, and political bullshit makes my stomach turn.

Okay, okay, on the upside the piece did speak to the difficulty of creating a trusting relationship with sources while remaining objective. Of course this is something that every journalist struggles with. We have to try to get all of the information, which usually has to come from a person but retain enough independence that we remain unbiased: not exactly an easy task.

As for the Justice Journalism reading, a few key points stuck out at me. One, the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony. Two, the different burdens of proof for civil and criminal cases and three, what a motion actually is and the types possible. The types of motions actually run like a laundry list including change of venue, gag orders, postponements, depositions, bond dismissal, subpoenas, severance, forensics, production of evidence, mental competency, legal representation and financing. Good god.

There are so many court cases every day that page upon page of newspapers could be filled with only court reporting and the police reporting that overlaps with it. Chapter nine said that the two aspects of news found in court reporting come primarily from:
1. When parties are known to the public and
2. When factual and legal issues are of public interest.

Above all, the chapters echoed that fact that as a journalist I need to keep in mind that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty and even a slight mis-use of a court term could completely libel a person. Court is scary for me and I'm not even on the stand.