RFTM Ch. 18: Public Affairs Reporting

Reporting on government and actions taken by government entities that affect citizens is known as public affairs reporting (PAR). That includes reporting on government (officials and elections) and agencies and policies (police, crime, accidents, fires, taxes and laws) and decisions made at all levels of government and public service.

(There is a general misconception that PAR reporting only involves politics and govering public bodies like city councils and Congress. In fact, it extends to anything where the ultimate outcome is determined by a public body. For example, a tuition increase at MSU is PAR story, since MSU is a owned by the state and a tuition increase therefore is a government decision. Gay rights is PAR, because ultimately it's state and federal laws that determine what rights gay citizens have.)

Habits of PAR include diligence (making a regular pattern of checking with sources; inspecting documents; covering meetings and public bodies); knowledge of sources (people who work in government, people affected by government decisions, documents recording decisions and plans and events); accuracy (duh); and the ability to write clear explanations (so citizens understand potential impacts and effects of decision-making).

There are various types of PAR, including:

Crime and accident reporting. This is a common training ground for young reporters. It forces young reporters to learn the community; trains reporters in news values and the need for accuracy; and gives reporters the chance to develop first-hand sources on the street.

It also has its challenges. Crime and accident reporting exposes reporters to the harshest aspects of urban life (death, harm, loss), and deadline pressures can be severe (crime news doesn't happen on a fixed schedule; you have to be ready to go and report at any time). But if you can get through this, you can succeed in any type of reporting.

Sources can vary. You may get information from official contacts like police spokespeople, press releases, press conferences, media briefings, talking directly to investigating officers, and talking to police supervisors and officials.

You may also get information from secondary sources that have an interest in the issue, like police union officials, community activists, citizens impacted by or concerned about crime, and attorneys.

There are also documentary sources like police blotters and crime logs (which usually list calls for assistance and people arrested) and incident/arrest/accident/fire reports (offering detailed descriptions of crimes or accidents).

The availability of the latter reports may be limited by state information laws; you may have to file a Freedom Of Information Act (or FOIA) request to obtain one. Still, details may be blacked out. There is a legal right to withhold details if the release would arm an ongoing investigation, but usually all records must be released after an investigatin is closed or an arrest is made.

Other information sources include arrest warrants, search warrants and affadavits (which is a sworn statement of fact), usually found in court files; jail booking records (that list who is in jail, and for what, with bail amounts); autopsy, medical examiner or coroner reports (listing the manner of death); criminal history information (like prior arrest histories, usually available from court clerk's offices) and police misconduct reports.

Crime stories carry a high risk of libel and sensationalism and other problems, especially since crime stories are likely to harm someone's reputation (with harm to reputation being a key component of a libel claim. We'll get into journalism law details later this semester).

To limit risk, first we need to take care to confirm facts and to make our writing clear. An absolute libel defense is the truth; if it's true (and accurate), then there cannot be libel.

Plus, we cannot overuse the word allegedly in describing actions and who committed those actions. Someone is alleged to have committed a crime at the time they are arrested. Use allegedly frequently and often in describing the circumstances.

Look for key elements, like deaths or injuries or impact to people. Such elements usually are the most important ones; what this means to people.

Other elements include the nature and value of property stolen or damaged; as complete an ID of the suspect as possible, the IDs and statements of victims and witnesses; a narrative of the crime or event (what happened, and how and why); exact charges (if any); the next step or steps (if any); and anything unusual.

Another major type of PAR is local government reporting. This consists of covering city, county and township governments that usually provide basic public services like police, fire, street maintenance, water and sewage service, and public transit.

Local governments elect local officials -- like mayors and council members -- and those officials hire day-to-day managers like city or county managers, police and fire chiefs, and engineers.

Those local governments collect taxes, mostly on property like homes and businesses; and then use those revenues to set budgets on what they plan to spend on the following year.

(Such budgets help reveal priorities or lack thereof; such as, a big increase in the police budget means they're taking public safety seriously; a big cut in the police budget indicates they are not. And those priorities may be worth focusing upon in story form.)

Sources include people sources (like elected officials, appointed officials and bureaucrats, residents involved with or affected by or interested in local government actions); and documentary sources (like tax records and property value records -- also known as assessments -- and property ownership records -- also known as deeds -- and expense records, bid records, contracts and licenses, inspection reports, zoning records, campaign contributions, and such. Many of these records are public and available from the clerk's office upon demand.

A third common type of PAR is school district reporting. School districts are headed by school boards (which usually consist of elected officials); superintendents (which are chief administrators hied by the board, who oversees day-to-day district operations); and principals (hired by the superintendent, running individual schools). Teachers run individual classrooms, and parents are another relevant interview source, of course.

Public records include rules and policies; budgets and financial data; salaries; accreditation reports; and assessment records. But many other records -- like information about specific students -- are off-limits due to privacy laws.

A fourth type of PAR is court reporting. In general, there are three levels of courts: trial courts, which hear criminal cases and civil lawsuits; appeals courts, which consider whether trial court decisions were correct; and supreme courts, which are the final arbiters. Their rulings become final precedents for all courts to follow in similar future cases.

Criminal cases in trial courts are almost always held in public. There is a pretrial process where a complaint is first filed (alleging a criminal act); then bail (also called bond) is set (which the accused has to be as sort of a deposit to get out of jail while awaiting trial).

From there, the case can go one of two ways: either the basic allegations are publicly presented in a preliminary hearing, where a judge decides if there's enough evidence to go to trial; or the case goes to a grand jury, which meets in private, considers evidence in secret, decides if there's enough evidence to go to trial, and then issues a true bill of charges.

If the judge or grand jury decides there isn't enough evidence, then the case is dismissed here, If they decide there is enough evidence, after the preliminary hearing/grand jury phase comes an arraignment, where the defendant pleads guilty or innocent. If the plea is innocent, then a trial date is set, and the attorneys hold a pretrial hearing to set the rules of the upcoming trial.

Sometimes, a criminal case ends before trial, when both sides agree to a plea bargain, in which the defendant admits to certain charges in return for a certain sentence.

Then, the case goes to trial. The defendant has the choice of having a jury trial (where a jury selected from the general public rules on innocence or guilt) or a bench trial (where a judge alone rules on the case). The trial begins with opening statements from the prosecutor (advocating the charges on behalf of the government) and defense attorney (defending the defendant); laying out their arguments.

During the trial, the court will hear from a number of witnesses. Usually, witness testimony is the best and most compelling item to report. Concentrate on the most relevant, insightful, memorable testimony; not necessarily the sequence of testimony, just like you would covering a meeting or speech.

Also, during the trial evidence will be presented, after which the prosecutor and defense attorney make closing arguments, summing up their cases. Then, if it's a jury trial the jury will meet in private, make a decision, and announce their verdict in public. In a bench trial, the judge will privately consider the case, before publicly rendering a decision.

The post-trial phase is a busy one for journalists. You should seek interviews with the defendant (if possible), prosecutors and defense attorneys; victims and/or their family and friends; and even jurors (if there is something extraordinary about the deliberations or the case itself).

If the defendant is found guilty, then the judge will schedule a sentencing hearing, where the defendant will learn of his sentence (jail time/probation/fines/ect.). After that, the defendant has the option to file an appeal with the appeals court.

Civil cases are ones where a court considers a lawsuit. In lawsuits, instead of the government charging a criminal violation of law, an individual or entity alleges a violation of civil law against another individual or entity by filing a lawsuit.

In a typical lawsuit, instead of jail time the plaintiffs (the ones filing the lawsuit) makes allegations and seeks damages (usually for a cash amount) from the defendants (the ones who are the target of the lawsuit).

(Another common type of civil matter could be some sort of court order, like a restraining order where the plaintiff will seek legal protection from the defendant.)

As journalists, it's critical that we treat initial lawsuit filings carefully and with skepticism. Anyone can allege anything in a lawsuit, without evidence. It's only once the case gets moving that the evidence -- or lack thereof -- is revealed. Be sure you try to double-check the claims yourself; always seek comment from the defendants ASAP; and use the word allegedly frequently.

The trial process is similar to that of a criminal trial. Often, lawsuits are settled before trial via an out-of-court settlement (where both sides agree to a disposition, often including some sort of cash settlement).

And those are the major types of PAR. For a good PAR checklist, see RFTM, p. 473-4.