Chapter 1: The Crime Beat
I liked how this chapter started out by saying that crime can be a great story to tell, which is what journalism is at its core--story telling. As it continues, it seems like reporters are often happy when something criminal rolls along so they get a chance to write about it. Honestly, that sounds a tad bit selfish. It's one thing to write about it if it happens to occur, but it kind of comes across that reporters are almost hoping for something bad to happen.
The "sink-or-swim test" seems rather brutal, but I guess it makes sense. If you can deal with the pressures of a crime beat then you can deal with the pressures of almost anything. But this test can lead to not training beat reporters. If I was just thrown into police reporting, like the example with Prusher, without any guidance, I would be extremely nervous in the actual reporting and fearful that I wasn't doing my job correctly.
This quote from Stanley Walker is great:
"News is the inexact measure of the ebb and flow of the tides of human aspiration, the ignominy of mankind, the glory of the human race. It is the best record we have of the incredible meanness and the magnificent courage of man."
I do not think I would like the aggressive nature of crime reporting in NYC that Krajicek writes about. It seems like it could possibly get dangerous? The relationships between cops and journalists seems interesting, and I like this quote. "Cops are leery of journalists, and many journalists are cynical about cops. Perhaps this is healthy." I think that is very healthy. You don't want the two to be all buddy-buddy. It would be hard to trust.
The next thing that I found helpful were the definitions of terms used in civil law. Here they are.
- Larceny encompasses any wrongful taking of property.
- Theft is larceny without a threat or violence, such as a picked pocket. Many forms of white-collar financial crimes are variations of theft.
- Fraud is a form of theft, sometimes defined as theft by deception.
- Tax evasion is another form of theft.
- Auto theft is self-explanatory.
- Robbery is a larceny accompanied by violence or threats, including a finger under the jacket to indicate a gun.
- Burglary is the unlawful entering of a premises with the intent to commit a crime. A burglary does not involve violence. But if a homeowner discovers the burglar and violence ensues, the burglary becomes a robbery. ("Home invasion," a phrase that became popularized in the 1990s and was followed by special-penalty laws, is a break-in robbery.)
My eyes hurt from reading all of this online.
I thought the example of the kindergarten boy shooting a classmate was very interesting (under 'Bad News' Beat). Writing that story must've been extremely difficult. I can't even imagine where I would start with writing a story like that. How it was criticized was also interesting to read, and I can see where it is coming from. I don't think there will ever be a story that was difficult to write that won't be harshly criticized.
The excerpts from Edna Buchanan's memoir were equally interesting...and make me never want to be a police reporter. "It can be lonesome and arduous. People blame you for the bad news," she writes. I understand that this is how human nature generally works (people need to place the blame on someone, media can be an easy target) but that really sucks. It takes a strong person to be able to deal with that day in and day out.
All this safety stuff makes me nervous.... Note to self: "Consider protective gear, such as a helmet."
Okay, I need to stop writing about everything. This chapter is really, really long.
What to do if you ever face arrest...sweeeeet, I can get arrested for doing this stuff. Just what I want to hear. This portion of the chapter tells you more of how to avoid getting arrested, and not what to do if you actually are arrested. I guess that it's more important to know how to avoid being arrested.
Chapter 5: Covering Crime and Its Victims
Good, this chapter is shorter. One needs "perspective, persistence and patience" while covering crime and its victims. 3 p's. Good. Easy to remember. A lot of the stuff in the beginning of this chapter was covered in Chapter 1.
"As reporters, we must remember that though we have deadlines, victims or their families have quite a bit to do, too." Uh, yeah. Think about it. They are going through a lot more than you are. Be respectful. If they want to be left alone, just leave them alone. Let them be with their family. Get out of their face. You're probably just making it worse.
All of this is irking me right now. I don't think I could do this line of reporting. I would not want to annoy a victim. I mean, it seems really annoying to have a reporter asking you all these questions right after something tragic has occurred. Being interviewed is probably the last thing a victim wants, unless it's something they want the public to be aware of. It just adds on to all the stress they are already dealing with.
Chapter 7: Covering the Courts
The beginning of this chapter is informative about the courts. There was a lot I didn't know. Actually, I didn't know most of this before. If I was to include what I didn't know (which is what I mostly do in these entries) I would basically give a summary of the entire chapter. I'm not about to do that.
You need to do a lot of research when covering the courts. Not only do you have to do the research, but you have to be able to understand EVERYTHING. This chapter says where you can find every document you will ever need basically.
The portion on access was helpful. It is necessary to know all your rights in the courtroom.
This reading has taken me 3 days now. I'm done...until tomorrow when I do the next two chapters.
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