The REAL DEAL: crime reporting

The timing of this assignment could not be more appropriate. Just last month, I spend around four weeks outting together a story for The Ithacan regarding Ithaca's rising crime rate. I know that my story was just a report on a statistic and not a real crime, but I did end up speaking to the IPD and some burglary victims. We'll get more into that as the post continues...

Ch 1:
I loved how this chapter essentially told us that as "rookie" journalists, we possibly have the most chance of covering the crime beat. Apparently that is the best thing...after reading the chapter, I actually agreed with the author. Being assigned the crime reporter could possibly be the best way to gain experience on the job. It challenges every skill that every journalist has possibly learned: the ability to pursue a story. I really liked how they speeled out the different criminal proceeding for us. For instance the description of the arrest process was extremely helpful and I probably read one of the best versions of the Miranda Warning and their use. But one of favorite section was the description of the police-media relations. I spent 3 weeks trying to get in touch with the IPD. I called everyday. If I was them they should have been annoyed and just given me a second of their time. I went down there twice. I do not know what they had againsat me, but ever since then, I have definitely developed a skepticism towards police response to journalists. I also liked how they fcused on the rights of victims and what we owe them as journalists and as humans. I never really htought that I would get arrested on the job of a journalist, but I now know what to do...just follow through with the procedure. I just hope I don't get tasered!

Ch 5
This chapter was probably the most enlightening of all because it focused on the individual who would be most affected by a crime story: the victim. It is always importat to understand the fragility of the victim's mental state while asking them questions. Unlike the text book where this point was hardly emphasized, this websites dedicates a lot of space to drive this point home. I found the fact that they spent a few paragraphs describing who a victim was very intriguing, mainly becaue you would think that you knew who was the victim bit maybe not?! The one thing that I am constantly worried abut is how I would handle myself if I was on the scene of the crime. Would it not be hard to report amidst major chaos? I liked how they said that expressing sympathy for the event is a good way to begin. I completely agree. If sympathy was not expressed then the journalist could possibly be seen as a cold person just doing her job which could then affect the answers frm the interviewee. I especially found the part about the intensity of the graphic description of the story to bever useful We need to find a line between understanding what the public needs to know ad what you wantto tell the public and what the victim and the family and the criminal will experience. While on the topic of senstivity, I think that names of rape victms should not be divulged but the names of the offender should definitely be divulged. There is no issue of fairness here. The story here is about the crime and the one who committed the crime is the main focus, the focus on the victim is a byproduct of the whole report.

Ch 7
This chapter was sort of hard to grasp and I giggled when the author said that a journalist who cover court proceedings needs to have the time and patience to read documents that are generally long. I do not know how I would handle that. I am quite impatient by nature and I hate when readings do not get to the point immediately. So if I was to be a court reporter, my patience would definitel be tested to the max. I liked the tips that were given on how to cover the court proceedings..especialy the one about knowing when the lunch time was of each judge, etc. And the sources part was great too...I like these tips! And lastly they focused on the free speech amendment and the freedom o information...these two claused in the judicial system are opf major importance to journalsits..we're better off not messing with the law and knowing our limits.


I really liked this website because it essentialy gave me a ready made guide to crime reporting which I probabl will be doing in the future. I do anticipate returning to this website!