Transcript Broadcast Journalism

Broadcast Journalism
Chapters 16 & 17
Freedom of Information
• The 1966 Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). Also called the “sunshine laws,”
the FOIA grants the public access to the
records of most federal agencies.
Freedom of Information
• To obtain this information, a formal letter
must be written to the agency holding the
information. The format for this letter is on
the next slide.
Freedom of Information
• Information Request Format:
– Use official letterhead
– Refer to the FOIA in the first sentence.
– State what you are willing to pay or request
the fees be waived (if the information is of
direct benefit to the public).
– Specific description of the documents.
– Remind the agency that they have 10 days to
comply with the request.
Freedom of Information
• Go to pages 293-301 in the textbook and
look at the FOIA letter format used by
Mark Lagerkvist to obtain information
about insurance company kickbacks paid
to doctors for not providing proper care to
patients.
Government Reports
• Government reports are a good starting
point for investigative reporting. The
information found in these reports may
prompt a reporter to file an FOIA request
for further information.
Government Reports
• Reports and sources for reports:
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General Accounting Office
The Code of Federal Regulations
The Congressional Record
The Federal Regional Directory
The Federal Register
The Federal Regulatory Directory
The U.S. Bureau of Census Publications
The U.S. Government Manual
The Washington Information Directory
Business Publications
• For investigating corporations, the
following sources are useful:
– Dun & Bradstreet’s Directory
– Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations
– Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
Business Publications
• To gain the industry perspective on an
issue look at:
– The Wall Street Journal
– Forbes
– Fortune
– Business Week
Databases
• Library resources such as LexisNexis,
InfoTrac catalog hundreds of academic
journals, newspapers, trade publications,
and magazines. These are essential in
supplementing your findings and providing
background to your story, and fact
checking.
Other Public Files
• Police Records, Court Records, Birth and
Death Records, Licenses, Land Records,
Financial Records, Tax Records, and City
Directories can also be of tremendous use
to the investigative reporter.
• Cultivating a good relationship with
employees at these offices goes a long
way toward what you will have access to.
Computer-Assisted Reporting
• Computer-Assisted Reporting is “the
acquisition and analysis of electronic
information.” Accessing and constructing
databases for fast and easy access to
information is the main activity of this type
of reporting.
Three Basic Tools
• There are three basic tools in ComputerAssisted Reporting:
– Online Resources (websites and databases)
– Spreadsheets (Excel)
– Database Managers (Access)
Online Resources
• Search Engines
– Yahoo, Google, Ask
• Use Boolean Logic (“and,” “or,” “not”) for
precise results. Read the directions
offered for advances searches because
they vary among search engines.
Online resources
• Finding People
– Yahoo People Finder
– Switchboard.com
• Businesses
– http://www.sec.gov (EDGAR database)
Online Resources
• Some other resources
– (Congress) http://www.thomas.loc.gov
– (Elections) http://www.fecinfo.com
– (Environment) http://www.epa.org
– (Defense) http://www.nrdc.org
– (Crime) http://fbi.gov
Spreadsheets
• Information from online sources can often
be downloaded and imported into
spreadsheets for further calculations.
Database Managers
• Database managers enable reporters to
use the information obtained from online
sources and cross-reference them with
other files.
• Database managers can effectively
search, summarize, and compare
information.
• Database managers also permit reporters
to construct their own databases.
Conclusion
• There are a number of excellent resources
for learning computer-assisted reporting.
Two are listed below:
– Houston, B. (1999). Computer-Assisted
Reporting: A Practical Guide. Bedfort/St.
Martins.
– http://www.ire.org