Journalism

Chapter 9.1

Textbook Pages 234-239

Defining In-Depth Reporting

What is “In-Depth Reporting”

• Stories that provide more information than the five W’s and H

• Questions that can be answered only with time, energy, and extensive research

• Reporting that gives careful consideration to all details and aspects of a subject

• Also called Long Form Journalism• Longer than regular stories• Diverts from traditional inverted structure (more

storytelling)

In Depth ReportingHow’s it done?

• Use same research and writing techniques as breaking news or feature stories

• Expand the story by exploring the person issue, or topic in more detail

• Takes weeks or even months of research

Proper Subjects of In-Depth Reporting

• Exposing wrongdoing

• Explaining important issues

• Investigate government action or inaction

The Three I’s of Reporting

• Investigative

• Issue

• general In-Depth

Investigative Reporting

• Asking more questions

• Digging deeper

• Tracking down sources at home

• Confronting government officials

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/stress-and-anxiety/print.html

Issue Reporting

• Looks into special issues of concern to society

• To choose a topic, ask these questions:Is this a story that needs to be told?

Why should the public know about this?

What kind of change might happen if I report this?

What can I do to take this beyond a regular news story?

General In-Depth Reporting

• All stories that do not revolve around the investigation of a particular issue

• Sometimes called 3D Reporting:

Documents

Data

Diverse Sources

3D Reporting

• Documents: the paper trail.

tax records

property records

licenses

death and birth certificates

3D Reporting

Data: information and statistics that bring perspective

compare and contrast

teachers vs. students

national vs. local

men vs. women

conservatives vs. liberals

3D Reporting

Diverse Sources: People who represent all sides of an issue

Police / Prosecutors vs. Defense Attorneys

Republicans vs. Democrats

Doctors / Nurses vs. Patients

Your Assignment

• Working with no more than three other people (strictly enforced), develop a survey to determine the attitudes of a representative group of people on a particular issue

• Develop your survey questionnaires• Identify your target demographic• Calculate the margin of error• Conduct your survey• Publish and turn in your results

Some Suggested Issues

• Who should be the Republican Nominee?• Which Republican Nominee has the best chance

of defeating President Obama?• Does the average student do too much or too

little homework?• What do students think about the faculty and

staff overall, and vice versa?• Is there a bullying problem at T L Hanna?• How important are social media sites to

students?• How prevalent is cheating at T L Hanna?