Slides from a class given at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication on 16th November 2015, covering why this beat matters, examples of different stories and top-level reporting/writing tips.

1. Police
and
Crime
Reporting
Damian
Radcliffe
/
Reporting
II
/
11th November
2015
RECAP

2. Another
broad
beat…
...But
one
which
brings
together
much
of
what
we
have
covered:
1. The
importance
of
having
good
contacts
2. Knowing
which
sources
to
use
to
find/follow
stories
3. Live
reporting/blogging
4. Writing
against
the
clock
and
longer-­‐form
storytelling
5. Court
reporting
6. Human
interest
perspectives
7. The
importance
of
description
8. A
subject
which
ties
into
the
core
purposes
of
journalism
(à la
Health)

3. 1. Data
Journalism
2. Obits
3. Social
media
for
news
...And
much
of
what
we
have
coming
up:

4. Has
always
been
a
popular
genre

6. Leading
to
the
journalistic
phrase….

8. Reasons
this
matters
include:
• Holding
authority
to
account
• Importance
of
justice
being
seen
to
be
served
• Identify
wrongdoing
(on
both
sides
of
the
law)
• Fulfils
our
thirst
for
news
• Reflects
trends
• Understand
where
public
money
has
gone

10. Reporting
• Know
your
“Sunshine
Laws”
• Use
official
records
e.g.
arrest
report
• Get
quotes
• Visit
the
scene
if
you
can
• Double-­‐check
facts
• Recognize
you
may
get
different
interpretations
(and
acknowledge
them)
• Know
your
media
e.g.
release
of
names

11. Writing
style
• Inverted
pyramid;
especially
for
news
and
report
based
stories.
• Keep
it
simple.
• Try
and
avoid
clichés.
You’re
better
than
that.
v“Blood
curdling
scream”
v“Pool
of
blood”
v“Loud
explosion”
v“Brutal
slaying”
v“Ambulance
rushed
to
the
scene”

12. A
robbery
at
Charles
Dickens'
house
reported
by
the
Dover
Express
in
1859:
http://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2015/03/12/charles-­‐dickens-­‐and-­‐
the-­‐diabolical-­‐crime-­‐he-­‐survived-­‐in-­‐kent/

13. Sources
For
good
leads,
contacts
and
stories

14. Traditional Digital
1.
Press
Offices,
press
conferences
and
mailing
lists 1. Google
Alerts
2.
Personal,
corporate, Government
blogs
/
news
pages 2. People
and
groups
on
social
networks:
Twitter,
Facebook,
Craigslist
et
al
3.
Public
data
portals 3.
#tags
on
Twitter and
Instagram
4.
People
you
meet/talk
to
– your
network 4.
LinkedIn
for
contact
details
5.
Other
media
e.g.
newspapers,
listings
etc. 5.
Newsletters and
Alerts
(e.g.
SMS,
email
etc.)
10
potential
avenues
include:

15. Some
local
links:
http://www.eugene-­‐or.gov/crimestatistics
Eugene
Police
Calls
for
Service
• 2014
Calls
for
Service
Report
CFS
and
Population
by
Beat
• CFS
by
Month
Annual
DUII
Arrests
• Annual
DUII
Arrests
By
Month
2011
and
2012
• Annual
DUII
Arrests
By
Month
2013
• Annual
DUII
Arrests
By
Month
2014
2014
FBI
Oregon
Crime
Statistics
Report
Report
PDF
Link

16. Oregon
Death
Row:
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-­‐northwest-­‐news/index.ssf/oregon_death_row.html

17. CrimeReports website
(national):
https://www.crimereports.com/

18. Need
more
inspiration?
• http://tetw.org/Crime_and_Punishment
• http://tetw.org/True_Crime
• http://blog.longreads.com/2014/12/17/longreads-­‐best-­‐of-­‐2014-­‐crime-­‐reporting/
• http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/05/nearly-­‐100-­‐fantastic-­‐pieces-­‐of-­‐journalism/238230/
• http://blog.longreads.com/2014/12/17/longreads-­‐best-­‐of-­‐2014-­‐crime-­‐reporting/