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| MAKING THE ROUTINE SIMPLE |
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You want the assignment desk to support and encourage
enterprise stories for the daily newscasts, but the desk editors
say they don't have time--they're too busy dealing with breaking
news and "news of the day." One way to free time for enterprise
is to find ways of saving time on more routine stories.
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To that end, we offer three simple checklists that
can speed up the collection of basic information on the kinds of stories
that pop up every day. Make them widely available to save you from
having to place repeat calls to nail down a missing fact. Desk editors,
photographers working alone in the field, and interns "helping
out" may find these checklists useful. We've also provided links
to standard forms you can use to file FOIA (Freedom of Information
Act) requests and camera-in-the-courtroom requests. As always, we'd
like to hear your opinion. Please let
us know how you use these resources and what other resources you'd
like us to provide.
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| CRIME STORY: |
- Location and time of incident
- Nature of crime and how it occurred
- Deaths, injuries, property loss, damages
- Weapons or materials used in crime
- Status of investigation; name, phone, email of officer in charge
- Arrests, arraignment, bail information
- Description or name of suspect
- Relationship between criminal and victim
- Crime and safety factors
(unlocked door, high crime neighborhood, alarm system, etc.)
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| ACCIDENT STORY: |
- Location and time of accident
- Names, ages, addresses of dead or injured; nature of injuries;
where taken
- Number and type of vehicles involved; damages to cars and property
- How accident occurred
- Contributing factors (alcohol,
speeding, road hazards, seatbelts, equipment malfunction, etc.)
- Police/emergency responding and response time
- How long to clean up
- Lead investigator: name, rank, organization, phone number, email
- Arrests or citations issued
- Traffic affected: how and for how long
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| FIRE STORY: |
- Location
- Time/source of first call; number of alarms
- Origin of fire, how spread, when controlled
- Names, ages, addresses of dead or injured; nature of injuries;
where taken
- Type of structure; owner's name
- Damage estimate; insurance information
- Fire units responding (# firefighters, equipment) and response
time
- Contributing factors (code violation, smoke alarm, sprinkler,
combustibles, wind, rain, etc.)
- Rescue stories/heroes; if criminal, any arrests/suspects (see
Crime Story)
- Status of investigation; name, phone, email of officer in charge
- Traffic affected: how and for how long
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| FOIA REQUESTS: |
| To file a reqest for state or local government records
or documents, you need to know the open records law that applies in
your state. The Student Press Law Center makes it easy by providing
a "Fully Automated, Fill-in-the-Blanks State Open Records Law
Request Letter Generator." Just
follow the directions, fill in the required information, and presto:
your letter is ready to print and send.
If you're filing a request for federal records or documents, use
this letter
generator provided by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of
the Press.
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| CAMERAS IN THE COURTROOM: |
| Most courts require a written request for permission
to photograph, record or broadcast judicial proceedings. The form
on this
page is used by the Court of Appeals of the 9th Circuit of California,
and may provide you with a template to work from if your own court
system does not have a similar form.
Please note: Checklists adapted from News in a New Century,
by Jerry Lanson and Barbara Fought
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