JRN 200: More On Public Affairs Reporting

Posted here is a handout given to JRN 200 instructors on how to define public affairs reporting. Instead of translating it for you, I thought it was direct enough to simply share with you. Here is the text:

The public affairs story assignment that culminates JRN 200 is meant to help students transition to JRN 300, where many of their stories will involve public affairs topics and issues.  Moreover, many of the JRN 300 students attending our session on “Thinking About Your Courses” said they would have liked more preparation for public affairs stories in JRN 200.

The draft below is meant to address this concern.  It first deals with the definition of “public affairs,” the kinds of local government institutions and processes that mostly make public affairs news, and the kinds of sources and stories student reporters can find.

Public Affairs:  A Definition

Many students are confused about the distinction between “public” and “private” when it comes to institutions and organizations they may be covering.  Some are even confused about what constitutes “government.”  So the definitions below are meant to help resolve these confusions.

1.      “Government” is made up of institutions and their operations that (a) use tax dollars and (b) derive their power from elections by citizens.  Government is the only  institution that has legal authority to collect taxes and, if necessary, to use coercion to enforce laws and rules.

2.     Public affairs is about the activity of government institutions, but is more broad than that: Public affairs involves any activities that in some way or other use tax dollars and/or impact governmental decisions.

3.     The implication of 2 above is that groups, businesses, etc., that try to influence government are also part of Public Affairs and therefore of interest for public affairs news coverage.

Local Government Institutions:

City/Township Governance:

1.      City Councils are elected by voters and have the power to enact “ordinances” that govern a number of aspects of civic life including law enforcement, fire protection, sanitation, etc.

2.     Mayor/Manager:  Mayors may be elected directly by voters or, in the case of smaller towns (e.g., East Lansing) elected from the city council.  An elected mayor has a full set of administrative officials to enforce laws.  In the case of smaller communities, a council hires a manager who serves at the pleasure of the council to do the same kind of administrative duties than an elected mayor would

3.     Courts:  These are district courts and circuit courts.  The district courts handle lesser crimes (dui, etc.,) while circuit courts handle major ones (murder, etc.)

School Districts: 

School districts are special governmental entities that perform a single task:  educating youth.  They have legal authority to raise tax revenue and expend tax dollars. 

1.    Boards of Education:  these are officials elected in the same way as city council members who have the power to make educational policy.

2      District Superintendent:  an official hired by the Board of Education to take on day-to-day administration functions.

Informal Business and Interest Groups:

1.      Although not governmental institutions, these groups often attempt to influence governmental policy.  Such groups include:

a.     Chambers of Commerce, Business Interest Groups, etc.

b.    Neighborhood Associations

c.     Unions, particularly public employee unions

d.    Issue Interest Groups such as Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, etc.

2.     Council appointed boards and commissions (e.g., recreation commission, etc.):  these groups make recommendations to councils on selected areas being considered.

Government Processes (relevant for news reporting) 

1.      Votes by councils/school boards on policy, finance, etc.

2.     Decisions by executive leaders/administration

3.     Citizen ballots on finance, etc.

4.     Trials in district and circuit courts

Public Affairs Story Sources

People Sources:

1.      Mayors/ administrators and their staffs.

2.     Elected council members/school board members

3.     Group/commission members

4.     Ordinary Citizens

Activity Sources:

1.      Official meetings of councils, commissions, school boards etc.

2.     Rallies, demonstrations, strikes, etc.

3.     Speeches, etc.

4.     Trials, sentencing, etc.

Document Sources:

1.      Web sites

2.     Official reports/studies

3.     Statistical data

Routine Public Affairs Stories

1.      Votes by councils and school boards and commissions

2.     Discussions by councils and school boards and commissions

3.     Interest group activity to influence 1 and 2 above

4.     Proposals by administrative officers

5.     Protests, strikes

6.     Court Activity

Reporting Skill Sets Needed

1.      How to cover and write stories involving some sort of meeting

2.     Interviewing

3.     Accessing and integrating documents into stories

4.     Sourcing beyond government actors for stories

5.     Fairness and balance in reporting controversy