Advanced Reporting: Discovering Patterns in News Events

by Shaw, Donald Lewis; McCombs, Maxwell; Keir, Gerry

• ISBN13: 9780881339123
• ISBN10: 0881339121
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-09-01
• Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Part I The Profession of Journalism	1	(52)
Chapter 1 Patterns	3	(12)
Seeing Events, Making Events	4	(2)
Journalists in a Changing World	6	(3)
Changing Media Use	9	(2)
Seizing the Agenda	11	(2)
Pulling People Together	13	(1)
References	14	(1)
Chapter 2 The Skills of the Professional Journalist	15	(14)
The Education and Skills of a Journalist	16	(3)
How Journalists Enrich Perspectives	19	(8)
The Active Audience	27	(1)
The Challenge for Journalists	28	(1)
References	28	(1)
Chapter 3 Vantage Points	29	(24)
Routine Shortcuts	31	(1)
Strategic Observations	32	(4)
Perspectives for Reporting	36	(3)
Descriptions and Explanations	39	(12)
Three Major Steps	51	(1)
References	51	(2)
Part II Beats, Interviews, and Sources	53	(52)
Chapter 4 Beats	55	(16)
Traditional Beat Organization	57	(1)
Departing from Tradition	58	(2)
A Strategy for Covering Beats	60	(3)
Society as a System	63	(1)
Leaders as News Sources	64	(3)
Tapping Other Information Sources	67	(2)
Using Some Common Sense	69	(1)
References	70	(1)
Chapter 5 Personal Interviews	71	(22)
Getting the Interview	72	(2)
The Interviewing Process	74	(11)
Telephone Interviews	85	(1)
Source Attribution	86	(4)
Cleaning Up Quotes	90	(1)
Be Skeptical	91	(1)
References	92	(1)
Chapter 6 Digging In: Students Pursue a Trail of Heroin	93	(12)
"A Tale of Two Users"	96	(2)
"Risking Death for a `Rush'"	98	(2)
"Price, Purity Lead to `90s Popularity"	100	(1)
"A Killer Returns"	101	(2)
"Behind the Scenes of a Drug Bust"	103	(1)
Reference	104	(1)
Part III Community Connections	105	(76)
Chapter 7 Surveying the Public	107	(28)
Surveys: To Believe or Not to Believe	110	(2)
Sampling Problems	112	(7)
Public Opinion Polls	119	(1)
Political Polls	120	(8)
Nonpolitical Polls	128	(2)
When to Publish a Poll	130	(4)
A Final Caution	134	(1)
References	134	(1)
Chapter 8 Good and Bad Surveys	135	(28)
The Basics of Taking a Sample	136	(3)
Bias and Sampling	139	(1)
Types of Surveys	140	(6)
Randomness of the Sample	146	(1)
Size of the Sample	147	(4)
Who Does the Polling?	151	(3)
Questionnaire Drafting	154	(4)
Interviewer Training	158	(3)
A Final Note	161	(1)
References	161	(2)
Chapter 9 Using the Self-Administered Survey	163	(18)
A Close-Up Look	164	(1)
"UNC: A Hard-Drinking School?"	164	(2)
"Critics Challenge `Binge' Definition"	166	(2)
"Woman Recounts Drunk Rape Ordeal"	168	(2)
"Fraternities Drink at Higher Rate"	170	(1)
Achieving Successful Results	171	(1)
References	172	(9)
Part IV Documents and Electronic Records	181	(68)
Chapter 10 Documents	183	(32)
Documents as Primary Records	185	(1)
Documents Galore	185	(4)
Some Typical Records	189	(12)
Access to Records	201	(2)
The Uses of Many Documents and Databases	203	(3)
Using Computers as Detectives	206	(3)
Content Analysis of Documents	209	(4)
Officials and Documents	213	(1)
Sleeping Giants	214	(1)
References	214	(2)
Chapter 11 Using Databases for Reporting	215	(14)
Students and Computer-Assisted Journalism	216	(3)
Students Using Computer-Assisted Methods	219	(2)
"If Two's Company, 400 Is a Crowd"	221	(2)
"Give up the Keys, Not Your Life"	223	(1)
Some Cautions about Computer-Assisted Journalism	224	(1)
Sample Story Ideas	225	(2)
The Computer, a Support	227	(1)
References	227	(2)
Chapter 12 Reporters, Teams, and Computer-Assisted Reporting	229	(20)
Using the Internet to Cover a Breaking Story	231	(5)
Talking Directly with Readers	236	(2)
Information on CD-ROMs	238	(2)
Online Newspaper Editions	240	(2)
Librarians and Other "New" Team Reporters	242	(4)
Are You Computer Literate?	246	(2)
References	248	(1)
Part V Entering the Event	249	(52)
Chapter 13 Participant Observation	251	(16)
Seeing Everyday Life	252	(3)
Human Observation	255	(5)
Focusing Attention	260	(1)
Some Guidelines for Participant Observation	261	(2)
Planning Ahead	263	(1)
Some Final Caveats	264	(1)
References	265	(2)
Chapter 14 Field Experiments	267	(16)
Simple Experiments	268	(2)
The Journalistic Experiment	270	(1)
Setting Up the Experiment	271	(6)
Special Ethical Considerations	277	(2)
Exposing the "Unseen"	279	(1)
Professionalism	280	(1)
References	281	(2)
Chapter 15 How Voters Use News Media to Learn about Issues	283	(18)
A Historical Test of Voters and Press Use	285	(2)
Patterns	287	(4)
The Press as a "Leveling" Democratic Force	291	(4)
Politics and the Press	295	(3)
A Reorganization of Political Beats	298	(1)
Journalists' Responsibility to Voters	299	(1)
References	300	(1)
Part VI Professional Issues	301	(52)
Chapter 16 Journalists Are Objective	303	(18)
An Examination of Current Trends	304	(3)
Objectivity	307	(6)
Reeducating the Audience	313	(3)
Reinventing Journalism	316	(2)
News and Social Diversity	318	(1)
References	319	(2)
Chapter 17 Encouraging and Influencing Community Change	321	(16)
Mass Media and Agenda-Setting Power	322	(3)
The Role of People in Social Change	325	(2)
Combining Traditions	327	(2)
Allocating Time and Resources	329	(4)
Community Patterns and Change	333	(1)
Individual and Group Empowerment	333	(1)
The Challenge for Mass Media	334	(1)
References	335	(2)
Chapter 18 Getting Ready for the Twenty-First Century	337	(16)
Changed Roles	340	(2)
Changes in the Field	342	(2)
Walled-off Societies	344	(2)
Fitting the Newspaper to the Audience	346	(2)
Beats	348	(1)
Skills of the Twenty-First Century Journalist	349	(2)
Digital Thinking in a Disappearing Analog Age	351	(1)
Reference	352	(1)
Index	353