Fire, Crime, Accident reporting

1. Fire, Crime, Accident reporting

2. Preparation • Sometimes you can check your newspaper library. • At other times, breaking news is occurring and you must gather information at the scene. • Sometimes you find out about a crime when you arrive at a police station on a routine check of reports.

3. Crime reporting sources • Police officials and their reports • Victim or victims • Witness or witnesses

4. Good crime reporting • Do not depend on the police report alone. • You may miss: • Accurate information • Interesting details • Police cover-ups • A multiple-source story

5. Information from police reports • A description of what happened • Location of the incident • Name, age and address of the victim • Name, age and address of the suspect • Offense police believe suspect may have committed. • Extent of injuries, if any. • Names, ages and addresses of witnesses.

6. Information to obtain at scene of accident, fire • Description of what happened • Location of the incident • Name, age and address of the victim or victims • Extent of injuries, if any. • Names, ages and addresses of witnesses, if any.

7. At the accident scene • Question the person in charge of the investigation • Try to find and interview witnesses • Try to find friends or relatives of the victims • If possible, interview the victims • Talk with others at the scene • Be sensitive to the victims and their families. Don’t ask, “How do you feel?”

8. Source checklist for accidents, fires, disasters • Civilian witnesses. • Victims of personal injury. • People who were involved but escaped injury. • Victims of property damage • Neighbors and passersby • Relatives and neighbors of victims. • Rescue workers • Government regulatory agencies

9. Tips for writing the story • Be an active observer – many of the facts and all of the color are gathered at the scene. • Actively solicit information from those who are there. • Move as quickly as possible to collect basic information

10. More tips • What basic information do you need? • Names, ages, addresses and conditions of the victims. • Accounts of witnesses or police reconstructionists of what happened • Why or how it happened or who was at fault, as determined by officials in charge of the investigation.

11. Writing the story • Decide what the most important element is for your lead. • Death or injury? • Property damage? • Charges filed? • Number of accidents or crimes in area?

12. More on writing the story • Use color • Use more than one source • Use chronological order (sometimes), but only after lead. • Use inverted pyramid • Use quotes • Consider sidebars

13. Matters of taste, ethics • When should the media reveal details of how a murder or another crime was committed? • When should the media reveal details about sex crimes or print the names of sex-crime victims? • When should the media reveal a suspect’s confession or even the fact that the subject confessed?

14. Matters of taste, ethics • When should the media reveal a defendant’s prior criminal record? • When should the media reveal the names of juveniles charged with crime?