REP: Reporting Crime

(These articles are written by students as a part of their assignment exercise during the period of COVID-19. Views expressed are their personal. Blog owner does not take any responsibility for their authenticity, correctness or appropriateness and shall not be responsible for any matter arising out of their interpretation.)  

Beat reporting refers to thematic specialization and routines in journalism. The term reflects the distinction between general assignment reporters and specialized (beat) reporters. Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with the topic, allowing them to provide insight and commentary in addition to reporting straight facts. Crime Beat has long been a central part of news coverage in free press societies, because crime stories are usually newsworthy.  Crime reporting is part of the objective, interpretative and investigative reporting. Public have tremendous interest in crime stories and newspapers cannot afford to ignore them without damage to its circulation and credibility. It is about unearthing facts and studying cases that may require dedication of months or even years, depending upon the news story; as persistent follow up of the same prove beneficial to uncover some hitherto unsolved cases. Crime reporting teaches some of the essential techniques of journalism. You learn how to dig for a story, how to follow leads, how to interview people to extract information and how to write crisp, clear, interesting stories under pressure of a deadline. As with all news, crime stories should be as up-to-date as possible (NEW), out of the ordinary (UNUSUAL), have a significant value attached (INTERESTING), and involve familiarity among the masses (ABOUT PEOPLE). Crime news forms an important part of daily news coverage by media. Every day, a number of incidents are reported in a city. While some crimes are about greed, violence, sex, revenge etc, some reflect important social tensions.

             

In small newspapers, radio and television stations, general reporters cover crime stories, while in bigger organisations there may be a specialist crime reporter or team of reporters who cover nothing else but crime. Crime reports should not glorify the activities of criminals. The crime reporter should follow standards of decency and good taste.

Types of Crimes:

• Personal Crimes – Offenses against the Person- These are crimes that result in physical or mental harm to another person; Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment, Kidnapping, Homicide, Rape.
• Property Crimes – Offenses against Property- These are crimes that do not necessarily involve harm to another person. Instead, they involve an interference with another person’s right to use or enjoy their property; Larceny, Robbery, Burglary, Arson, Embezzlement, False Pretences
• Inchoate Crimes – Incomplete crimes that were begun, but not completed; This requires that a person take a substantial step to complete a crime, as opposed to just “intend” to commit a crime. Inchoate crimes include- Solicitation, Conspiracy.
• Statutory Crimes – A violation of a specific state or federal statute; can involve either property offenses or personal offense. Alcohol-related crimes.

Crime Reporter:
A Crime Reporter will need to analyse crime trends and statistics in order to comment on and analyse relevant issues and write about breaking crime stories.  The reporter should have good contacts in the police and other departments of the administration. He must have a working knowledge of the penal codes and law on libel and other relevant matters. They will need to be self-motivated and generate stories through a wide range of contacts:  for example through the police, social workers, crime and forensic investigators, informants.
     

What does a Crime Reporter do?
• Always alert to breaking crime through informants and other networking systems.
• Constantly keeping up to date with crime statistics and crime information.
• Up to date with new technology relating to forensics and police procedures attends police press releases.
• Visiting crime scenes to take photographs and get their own point of view.
• Interviewing relevant parties: friends, neighbours, work colleagues, etc of suspect and victim.
• Researching background of crime and similar crimes for comparison.
• Must understand the chart, graphs, accounting and legal jargon in order to present the story to the readers so that they could get whole information including numerical data
• Writes factual and interesting articles or posts for newspapers, magazines or blogs and reports objectively and ensuring accountability.

Importance of Crime Reporting:
• Readers or listeners often want an explanation of why crimes happen. They ask: "Could it happen to me?" They may want to know so that they can prevent a similar thing happening to themselves, especially people living in a small-knit community.
• Your readers and listeners need to know how laws are broken, and how people who break laws are caught and punished. This helps them understand what laws are and what the penalties for breaking them are.
• Most people obey the law, so crime stories are about unusual events - one of the criteria for news. The more unusual crimes are generally more newsworthy.
• Some people are interested in the way and methodology of a crime conducted. This increases the audience for crime beat. Moreover, it is generally true that a crime becomes more newsworthy if there is a strong chance of it happening again - usually because the criminal is known and likely to strike again.


Crime Beat Reporting:

Phase I: Obtaining data
• Do not rely exclusively on police or district attorneys’ explanations.
• Try to understand the exact nature of crime.
• Get as many details as possible about any victims. This should include their names, ages and addresses (although not always for publication), possibly their occupation and certainly details of any injuries they suffered. Get details of any witnesses, so that you can talk to them.
• Try accessing Social Media: Facebook pages can be particularly helpful as people often share a great deal of information about themselves there, including birth dates, schools they have attended and current and former employers. Social media platforms also will make it easy to identify some of the friends, family members and acquaintances of the individual you are researching.
• Check the international press archive, national or local public records for past coverage, and note the names of persons and organisations mentioned.
• Search your newsroom’s archive. If there is any existing coverage on the victim or criminal, it might provide a basis for your coverage and generate leads.
• Include sources such as judges, drug treatment staff and probation officers as they could change the content of some stories.
• Build your own database.


Phase II: Analysis
• Paul Bradshaw highlighted the importance of understanding the difference between the two key pieces of crime data:
                            1) Data on recorded crime,
                            2) Data on experiences of crime.
The second type of data is important because many crimes don't get reported, and particular types of crime are more under-reported than others. Moreover, Pamela Colloff, who built her career reporting on character-driven narratives about the criminal justice system, says that some crime and courts topics demand a deeper sort of training.
• Reach out to the experts — for example, a leading criminal-justice scholar or a researcher at a major university. Experts may not be able to speak about the specific person or crime you’re covering. But they can talk about similar situations as well as related trends and research. All of this can add valuable context to your piece.
• Try to determine whether there have been local efforts to stop this type of crime in this area. If so, find the people involved and interview them. Check with the local police chief or the head of the local neighbourhood.

Phase III: Content Writing
• Heading: Every crime report must have a good heading. It must be as precise as possible giving the reader a clear idea of what the writer wants to report on. The heading may take the form of a short phrase or a simple sentence or even a word whose meaning can be easily understood.
• Introduction: This must give the reader a brief idea about what is going to be said in the body of the report. It must be only one paragraph.
• Body: The body of a crime report is nothing but detailed development of the incident being reported .It is made up of as many paragraph as possible depending on the various points being discussed. Each paragraph must be based on ONE main point. We only move on to the next paragraph as we completely exhaust that point.
o Always try to think of ways of illustrating your crime stories. A good picture is worth a thousand words and a simple diagram can save readers struggling through lines of text of description.
o The sudden and brief nature of many crimes means that you cannot always rely on descriptions of what happened, from victims, witnesses or even the police. Only report as a fact what you know to be true. All the rest must be attributed.
o Accuracy must extend all the way through your work, especially doing crime reporting. One must always use the correct terms to avoid legal complications.
• Conclusion: This ought to be a brief summary of all the points raised in the body of the report. This must take just one paragraph.
• Recommendation: In many reports the writer usually makes his or her own recommendation as to what he or she feels about the whole case. The police will often ask for help from your readers or listeners, particularly in finding wanted men, stolen property or get-away cars. Recommendation should be based on the available evidence before the writer and nothing else.

Checking if an article is suited for Crime Beat-
Carole Kneeland; a News Director instituted a five-point checklist for deciding whether a crime merited coverage:
1. Is the crime a threat to public safety?
2. Is the crime a threat to children?
3. Does the viewer need to take action?
4. Will it have significant community impact?
5. Does the story lend itself to a crime-fighting or prevention effort?

Sources for Crime Reporting:
• Police and Police Station
• Crime Scene
• Police Blotter
• Incident reports
• Arrest Warrants, Search Warrants, Jail booking records.
• Autopsy Reports
• Medical examiner Reports
• Defence Attorneys
• Local/Municipal/Government/International Records
• Experts on Crime Reporting
• Social Media
• Newsroom Archive
• Witnesses of the crime
• Friends/ Relatives of Criminal/Victim
• Criminal History Reports
• Police Misconduct Investigation Records

Ethics involved in Crime Beat:
Crime reporters face a number of ethical problems when doing their job. Perhaps the biggest problem is remembering where they belong in relation to the police, criminals and the public.
• Undivided loyalty: As a journalist, your first and over-riding loyalty must be to tell your readers or listeners the truth. Sometimes the police may want you to hide the truth or alter it, to help them catch a criminal. Always ask your news editor before making any agreement. You should always retain control over what you publish or broadcast. As a crime reporter, there is a danger that you may find yourself thinking more and more like a policeman, and less like a fair and balanced journalist. For the police to catch and prosecute a criminal, they have to believe that he or she is guilty. You do not have to make such a judgment, but state the facts.
• Copycat crimes: There are some crimes which are obviously modelled on what the criminal has seen, heard or read. We call these copycat crimes. Although the media might not encourage people to commit crimes, they often show how it can be done. As a journalist, you will occasionally have to make a difficult decision about how much you tell your readers or listeners. You must tell them enough to keep them informed and help them understand why something happened, but you must not encourage copycat crimes.
• Fear and alarm: Reporting crime needs special sensitivity because it is very easy to spread fear and alarm by what you write or broadcast. You must always balance the need of your audience to be informed with your duty not to alarm them unnecessarily. You also need to show restraint when reporting civil disturbances. Some journalists will use dramatic language to enliven the story and add interest, but the risks are too high that they will simply encourage more of the same behaviour.
• Releasing names: You should always check with the police before releasing the names of victims of crimes, especially when people have been killed. It is usually the job of the police to make sure that the victim's nearest relatives are told first, so that they can soften the shock.
• False conclusions: You must avoid drawing false conclusions. If you only report what you know to be true and attribute all the rest, you will be safe. If you start drawing your own conclusions, you will get into trouble.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, working in Crime Beat means spending time at police stations or firehouses; getting to know their problems and procedures. Misusing terms is a quick way to lose any credibility you’ve built up with law enforcement sources. For example, a burglary and a robbery are not the same thing. Crime reporters can also dig for data they can use to develop stories and supplement their coverage online. To cover courts, reporters must understand the judicial process from beginning to end. Good reporting on the criminal justice system should explore the experience of all people involved in the system — including victims, defendants, prisoners, guards and police officers. Reporters who cover crime also need to pay attention to the potential impact of the coverage itself.

By helping the audience understand how the system works, reporters can harness the interest-factor of a single case to educate the public about issues that extend far beyond.

Journalists should be wary of sensationalising findings. A periodic review of what you’re putting on the air is one way to make sure the images you use aren’t misleading or feeding stereotypes.  The real stories are more nuanced and harder to frame as good or bad, transformative or dystopian.

References:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332078682_Beat_Journalism_and_Reporting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_reporting
https://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%202/volume2_35.htm
http://siped.org/docs/what-are-the-different-beats-in-journalism-explain-any-3-with-examples/
http://osou.ac.in/eresources/DJMC-02-Block-03.pdf
https://newslab.org/beat-reporting-crime-and-justice/
https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/what-are-the-different-types-of-crimes.html
https://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%202/volume2_37.htm
https://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%202/volume2_38.htm
https://wikieducator.org/Lesson_2:_Police_Crime_Report
https://www.vskills.in/certification/blog/crime-reporting/
https://journalistsresource.org/tip-sheets/reporting/find-information-people-crime-journalism/
https://careerplanet.co.za/careers-listing/crime-reporter/
https://datajournalism.com/read/newsletters/data-on-the-crime-beat
https://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2020/01/27/a-high-stakes-beat-tips-for-balanced-and-informed-crime-coverage/
https://newslab.org/guidelines-for-covering-crime/

-Agrima Gulati
Department of Journalism
LSR 2022

(Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal)